Fanfic / Inter Nos

Inter Nos is a My-HiME / My-Otome fanfiction that also throws in characters from Destiny of the Shrine Maiden, Strawberry Panic!, and Azumanga Daioh, as well as numerous OCs.

It was started in 2007 by EthneWinter and ran until 2018, where it stopped abruptly without being concluded. It is currently 83 chapters with well over 1 million words, making it a Doorstopper.

It takes the characters and places them in a Roman-styled setting, with a grand, overarching story and a little bit of everything, from military action to historical settings, political intrigues, romance, and personal tragedies. There are some NSFW scenes, but they aren't the main focus of the work.

Shizuru Fujino is a Senator of the Himean government and a General in the armies of Hime. An encroachment by the northern Mentulean Empire into their territories sees her leading her armies, as well as a group of soldiers on loan from the allied nation of Otomeia, to route them before they become too firmly entrenched.

As a part of the arrangement, Otomeian ruler King Kruger assigns the head of his elite Lupine Division, Natsuki, as Shizuru's personal bodyguard. Shizuru is immediately captivated by the beauty, and intrigued by the reticence of the mysterious Natsuki. She learns in short order that Natsuki is not Otomeian by birth. She is the last princess of the Ortygians, a forest people who were cousins to the Otomeians, and who were wiped out by a betrayal by the Mentuleans.

Shizuru faces a betrayal of her own, as her cousin, Tomoe, who desires her, concocts a scheme to have Shizuru elected to an office that would take her from the field, just when she is needed there the most.

When Masashi Takeda is assigned in Shizuru's place, he leads the Himeans right into a blatant and obvious trap.

Shizuru is able to foist off the shackles of the office she did not want, and convince key members of the Himean government that the Mentulean threat is growing, returning to the field just in time to save her army a complete loss, but not in time to save the sister of a close ally, and not in time to spare Natsuki grievous injury.

Shizuru has been granted a charter for a five-year campaign to seize the Mentulean Empire, convert it into Himean territories, and govern.

The story contains examples of:

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Examples:

• Abhorrent Admirer: Tomoe for Shizuru, Takeda for Natsuki.
• The Ace: Shizuru excels at everything she puts her hand to. She is reputed, in story, to be directly descended from two gods, Venus and Mars, thus explaining her skills in battle, as well as her passion in her one love.
• Absurdly Sharp Blade: The sickle end of Natsuki's daos, in one swing, cuts through Takeda's sword, Takeda's cheek, and a heavy wooden table.
• Accidental Innuendo: In-Universe Haruka launches into a rant against a Senator who had illegally tapped the water mains to add to his own home. The Senator in question was a known pederast, so Haruka's rants about him taking out his pipe and not sticking it in someone else's plumbing sparked sniggering and laughs not only from her fellow Senators but also from Shizuru and Natsuki, who read about it in a letter from home. Shizuru tells Natsuki that things like this were why she couldn't bring herself to hate Haruka.
• Action Girl: Natsuki, Nao, Shizuru, Miyu, and many of the other named female characters.
• Adopting the Abused: Natsuki, orphaned last princess of the Ortygians, is taken in by a noble family of the Otomeians at the age of 12. The eldest son, mistaking her Elective Mute tendencies for weakness, tries to force himself on her. She killed him in self-defense. She was then taken in by King Kruger, who made sure she wanted for nothing, eventually making her the Captain of the elite Lupine Division, but by ensuring she earned it rather than nepotism. Her lover, Shizuru, learns all of this from the old Otomeian soldier who found Natsuki buried under the corpses of her family.
• Affectionate Nickname: Shizuru refers to Natsuki as "meum mel", or "my honey" when she's feeling affectionate towards her. She'll also call her "Brat" when Natsuki shows a playful side, but it's also said affectionately. After the second half, she also refers to Natsuki as mea vita, "my life".
  • Nao will call Natsuki "Kid" if she's in Shizuru's presence, or "Pup" if she knows Shizuru won't overhear her.
• Age Lift: In My-HiME, Shizuru was 18, Natsuki 17, and Nao was 14. Here, Shizuru starts at 21, Natsuki is 19, and though not specified, Nao is implied to be older than Natsuki. In addition, Alyssa, who was 10 in the original series, is implied to be slightly older than Natsuki, as well.
• An Arm and a Leg: Halfway through the story, suffering from an infected wound, Shizuru is forced to give their surgeon permission to amputate Natsuki's left leg.
• Antiquated Linguistics: To give the story a more old-world feeling, words and phrases such as "felt her gorge rise"(had to throw up), "calumny"(slander), and "uxorious"(submissive to a wife) appear frequently, as well as tons of Gratuitous Latin.
• Artificial Limbs: Natsuki has a wooden prosthetic made up to replace her lost leg. Artisans, at Shizuru's request, carve it to match the look of her remaining leg, even down to the veins on her foot. Natsuki, in a bit of practicality, asks that it be made of ship's wood so that it won't be subject to rot in wet climates.
• Badass Bookworm: Alyssa tells Shizuru that her people prefer oral tradition over the written word and that while Natsuki is accomplished militarily and tactically, she is seen as strange by her people for preferring books and reading. Several times, Natsuki is able to demonstrate that her reading has given her unique insight above other Otomeans, though. On one occasion, she suggests to Suou that before they attempt to move their army past an opposing force at night, they should set a fire in the opposite direction, as it will blind their foes AND draw their attention away from the move.
• Baffled by Own Biology: Natsuki and Shizuru have had a Relationship Upgrade and are about to engage in Their First Time. But no one has ever explained intercourse to Natsuki before, and so when Shizuru tries to caution her that the initial act might hurt a bit, Natsuki is both concerned and confused.
  She does not know, she thought, before answering herself: Of course she does not know! She did not even know how to kiss, and their culture is clearly different in treatment of this matter.
• The Beastmaster: The Mentuleans believe Natsuki is this, and given that she has a full-grown black panther as a pet, and can ride a horse side-saddle at full gallop with only one leg, they may not be entirely wrong.
• Berserk Button: During a Senate hearing on Shizuru's current elected status (she'd been voted into an office she hadn't actually run for) her political opponents put forth a man who made crude references to her relationship with Natsuki. Shizuru's response, venomous and swift, was compared to Vesuvius erupting by those who witnessed it.
  • Don't mistake Natsuki for a slave, and offer to buy her from Shizuru.
  • Don't call Natsuki a whore in Shizuru's presence. This one is shared by Natsuki's Lupine Division. A regular Otomean officer who made that mistake was dispatched by the Lupines.
  • Do not suggest, no matter how badly injured Natsuki is, that she is going to die. Shizuru nearly strangled the medical officer for that.
  • In another instance, Shizuru is informed by her men that an Otomian had challenged Natsuki to a duel. Natsuki tried to anchor her in place, without much success, until she explained that she'd already dealt with the matter.
• Big "SHUT UP!": Delivered in Latin as "TACE!" Katsu Hitagi had been maligning Shizuru, both accusing her of theft and referring to Natsuki as a "foreign whore". Shizuru's initial cry of "TACE!" is compared to a thunderclap, and it startles everyone present. She later follows it up.
  Shizuru: Shut up, damn you, else I cauterise that festering sore of a mouth on your face! I told you not to speak!
• Blatant Lies: Shizuru informs Alyssa that King Kruger gave Natsuki to her. This is not the lie. Natsuki overhears and is upset by this. Shizuru tells her it was not a sale, as one might do for a slave, and no one gave coin for her. While technically true, Shizuru feels it's a blatant lie, because Kruger did it to curry favor with Shizuru, and Shizuru arranged it because of her desire to keep Natsuki by her side.
• Bloodstained Defloration: When Shizuru and Natsuki have Their First Time, Shizuru discovers that Natsuki is "intact", and cautions her that the initial act may hurt. Natsuki, who was raised in ignorance of sex, is concerned and confused. There is blood, but it's easily dealt with since they're in the bath for this interlude.
  She saw some of the blood still streaked over her fingernails when she brought her hand out of the water and washed it off. Then she stroked Natsuki's head and waited for her to recover, murmuring praise and encouragement.
• Bodyguard Crush: During the first half of the story, Natsuki's duty is as Shizuru's bodyguard. And they are both taken with one another, before long.
• Bodyguarding a Badass: Natsuki is assigned to protect Shizuru. Shizuru is a renowned general who is not noted for sitting on the sidelines or directing troops from afar. She carries a heavy naginata, and it's not for show.
• Bound and Gagged: A Mentulean agent arranges a secret meeting with Natsuki after she has achieved the rank of Polemarch to try and convince her to have the Otomeians defect. Natsuki, very much loyal to Shizuru, has her cousin Shizuma dress in Otomeian garb to sit in. After Natsuki points out the empty promises of the Mentuleans, the fact that they offered no political marriages to ensure loyalty, and the idea of breaking oaths was odious to Otomeians, they bind the woman. She tries to throw out a Hannibal Lecture, only for Natsuki to gag her, telling her that only in bad plays do the vanquished get to make speeches. When Shizuma tells Shizuru about it later, Shizuru bursts out laughing.
  Shizuru: She denied her an exit speech?
• Cast Full of Gay: Nearly every main relationship in the story. Natsuki and Shizuru. Chie and Aoi. Chikane and Himeko. Nao and Pollonia. Shizuma and any woman she can get her hands on (save Natsuki, who is faithful to Shizuru). About the only straight couples are Takumi and Akira, and Mai and Kanzaki.
• Cannot Tell a Lie: Chikane tells Haruka this is one reason why she didn't even bother hiding her relationship with Himeko. She caught Himeko trying to practice deception in her own mirror and noted that not even Himeko's reflection looked convinced.
• Chekhov's Gun: In chapter 58, it is revealed that Natsuki has adapted a bandolier with darts to be concealed under her dress, so that even crippled, she is not unarmed. This comes into play in Chapter 78, when an Otomean named Bemys, enraged that he was denied promotion, challenges Natsuki to a duel. She tugs at the side of her dress, something that Bemys mistakes for nervous fidgeting, and he reaffirms his desire for a duel. She half blinds him with the first thrown dart, and then nicks his carotid artery with the second.
• Corrective Lecture: At one point in the story, two of Shizuru's soldiers accost a slave bringing food to their master, stealing the food the slave had been carrying. The slave's master is a wealthy politician in the port city of Argus whose support Shizuru needs. She is thankful it's not a rape charge, as that necessitates by law the cutting of noses. She is forced to administer a flogging, but the true punishment is the lecture she gives in front of her assembled soldiers about how she has always dealt fairly with them, and that none of them need to steal, that their behavior reflects badly on her, the army as a whole, and the citizens of their nation in the eyes of the foreigners in the port city. By the time she's done with the lecture, the two guilty parties are in tears, begging for the lash. Nao, Shizuru's Torture Technician, notes they were hurt worse by Shizuru's words than by the whip.
• Creepy Loner Girl / Dandere: Alyssa tells Shizuru that Natsuki is thought of as the former by Otomeians, since her stutter prevents her from participating in their oral traditions, and her love of books and reading alone makes them think Loners Are Freaks, but that Natsuki is really the latter, just needing someone kind and understanding to open up to.
• Crossover Relatives:
  • Natsuki and her My-Otome Expy, Nina, are cousins in the fanfic. Also, Alyssa, usually Natsuki's half-sister, depending on adaptation of anime or manga, is also her second cousin, though she was hoping here to make it a case of Kissing Cousins. But Shizuru got to Natsuki before that could happen.
  • Shizuru of My-HiME and Shizuma of Strawberry Panic! are cousins. This is given special attention in a later chapter, when Natsuki meets Shizuma for the first time, and Shizuma decides to test Natsuki's faithfulness to her cousin.
• Curse of The Ancients: * The story uses a good deal of Antiquated Linguistics, as well as Gratuitous Latin. This includes swear words and insults. In one instance, Nao tricks Natsuki, part of a foreign auxiliary unit assigned as Shizuru's bodyguard, into casual swearing (Something Natsuki is not known for) by telling her that a particular term meant "rodent" when in fact it was a vulgar term for part of the male anatomy. ^note  The term was "verpa", the Latin equivalent of "prick".
• Dark and Troubled Past: Natsuki was injured as a child, and her wounded leg slowed her down, causing the enemies of the Ortygians to catch up with them. She was found buried under a pile of her dead kinsmen. She's put with a family of the Otomians, cousins to and allies of the lost Ortygians. The eldest son of the first surrogate family mistakes her silence for weakness and tries to force himself on her. She manages to kill him. She is then sent to live with King Kruger, who takes her in and cares for her, even making her the head of his Elite Guard, the Lupine Division. She enters into life-and-death combat at the age of fourteen.
  • Nao also has a Dark and Troubled Past. She is the daughter of a town prostitute, and her mother was murdered by a politician. Nao sees something of herself in Natsuki, and for that reason agrees to share information she learned about a man who rescued Natsuki as a child, and could thus provide more of her past, with Shizuru. She believed that Natsuki's own troubled past would destroy her if it were kept inside for much longer.
• Death Glare: Natsuki. So fearsome that in early chapters, before she speaks to anyone, her glare sends the Himean men and women who attempt to flirt with her in the other direction.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: As this work simulates a Roman-styled civilization during a B.C. time period, slavery is treated as a casual thing, with Shizuru sending several captives off to the slave trade, and "Hime" citizens regarding those from outside their nation as "barbarians".
• Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Natsuki will openly acknowledge, after the loss of her leg, that she's a cripple. She will also go out of her way to demonstrate that it doesn't hold her back, and grow absolutely furious when people, even Shizuru, try to make her live a restricted life because of it. Even if its done out of love, she won't have it.
• Elective Mute: Initially, Natsuki says nothing to the visiting Himean army, and they believe that she is mute. They realize this is not the case when Shizuru sees her talking to her cousin, Nina, though too far away to hear her voice. An Otomeian informs them that Natsuki is reticent, The Himeans begin taking bets on when Natsuki will finally speak to one of them. They all lose the bet, when Natsuki speaks a few days earlier than expected, after capturing Prince Artaxi on the battlefield.
• Even the Girls Want Her: Natsuki's beauty attracts attention from male and female suitors alike. Most flee from her Death Glare, though.
• Everyone Can See It: Shizuru quickly falls for Natsuki, and it's not long before she starts thinking of her as "my Natsuki". All of her senior centurions and legates notice immediately.
• Eye Scream: A belligerent soldier who had been denied promotion confronts Natsuki, the Otomian Polemarch, about it. This is after she's lost her leg. He outsizes her and she's a cripple. She calmly agrees to the duel and then puts out his eye with a flung dart. She nicks his carotid artery with another, causing his eventual death.
  • Shizuru teases Suou at one point by telling everyone a story from their youth when Suou, having first met Shizuru, went screaming her head off to the grown-ups that Shizuru's eyes were bleeding. She had not been prepared for the striking red color of the older girl's eyes.
• The Exile: Takeda is banished from Hime after being found guilty of his incompetence when the Mentuleans invaded, having cost an entire legion, several casualties among the others, and nearly wiping out the elite Lupine Division of Otomeia, as well as the deaths of the offspring of numerous patrician families.
• A Mother to Her Soldiers: Shizuru takes great pains to treat those under her command as people, not disposable resources. Early on, she gives an impassioned speech to her forces about how their Otomeian allies are their people, and deserve just as much protection on the battlefield as any Himean soldier. She also takes care to divvy up the spoils of war carefully before the armies are divested, so that the Himean tax collectors can't gouge her soldiers (which has the practical effect of having them eager to reenlist with her when she needs them). And when two of her soldiers are accused of theft, she gives another speech about how her people shouldn't need to steal (it was a drunken prank on the part of the guilty soldiers), and by the time she's done talking, the offending soldiers are crying and begging for their punishment. She works as hard as she can to keep losses low, not only for pragmatic reasons but because she views every death as a failure of planning on her part.
• Forceful Kiss: After Takeda mistook Natsuki for Shizuru's slave and offered to buy her, prompting a heated "The Reason You Suck" Speech from Shizuru to him, she is led off to her rooms by Natsuki. There, in the heat of the moment, she seizes Natsuki and kisses her. She then believes herself no better than Takeda, and runs off, prompting Natsuki to find her.
• Foreshadowing: There is a good deal of foreshadowing of events throughout the story.
  • Shizuru's separation from her army, and from Natsuki, is hinted at in various conversations either about her being elected to a position without having actually run for it or about her relationship with her Otomeian bodyguard and lover.
  • The loss of Natsuki's leg is hinted at early on when she sees the paleness of her feet by Shizuru's and says that her own "looks dead".
• Framing the Guilty Party: When Takeda's command causes the military forces of Hime to lose an entire legion, and cause the deaths of the offspring of many a noble family, including Suou Himemiya, sister of Senator Chikane Himemiya, Chikane takes letters for Shizuru that Suou had sent, which describe in great detail his failures at command, and inserts one false line about him taking a gift from the Mentuleans. The overall effect is that he now is viewed no longer as merely incompetent, but as a deliberate traitor.
• The Gadfly: Early in their relationship, Shizuru delights in flustering Natsuki with ribald jokes and suggestions that the obviously shy girl bathe with her. After their Relationship Upgrade, Shizuru still teases her, until one prank accidentally triggers a bout of PTSD. Shizuru largely halts her teasing after that.
• Gratuitous Latin: Various Latin phrases are peppered through the story, as it is supposed to be a pseudo-Roman setting.
• Handicapped Badass: Losing her leg does nothing to halt Natsuki's combat prowess. See Eye Scream for details.
• Happily Adopted: After the death of her sister, Suou, Chikane reads in her letters from her late sister of her fondness for Natsuki. She travels to meet Natsuki and offers to adopt her as a sister of the Himemiya house, which would make her a citizen of Hime. Natsuki seems very agreeable to the idea.
• Happiness in Slavery: Shizuru's Head Slave, Hermias, sold himself into slavery. He's also the first in Shizuru's household to start referring to Natsuki as "Dominilla", indicating he already considers Natsuki to be Shizuru's wife and defers to her accordingly.
• Heartfelt Apology: In Chapter 59, Shizuru and Natsuki have a fight over Shizuru attempting to leave Natsuki in the port city of Argus rather than taking her on her march. Natsuki, in her fury over believing that Shizuru is demeaning her because of her being crippled, delivers a slap that surprises both women. Natsuki immediately regrets doing so, and Shizuru takes the hand that slapped her and kisses it, acknowledging that she had been unfair.
  Shizuru:I am not angry, I promise. And I apologised just now because I did deserve it.
• Helping Another Save Face: Nao and Natsuki are Vitriolic Best Buds, and in an attempt to embarrass Natsuki, who prefers Lactose over Liquor, Nao pours her a full cup of undiluted wine while proposing a toast. Shizuru, Nao's General and Natsuki's lover, to save Natsuki from embarrassment, feigns a parched throat and downs half the cup. Nao makes it clear she knew what Shizuru was doing, but wisely refrains from further antagonism.
• Holding in Laughter:
  • In an early chapter, Shizuru, who is The Ace, is intrigued by Natsuki's prowess with a weapon known as a daos, a sickle on one end tethered to a weight by a strong chain at the other end. Trying to learn to use the weapon, Shizuru nearly brains herself with the weight, only to see Natsuki staring at her, shaking, her hand shoved firmly in her mouth. Shizuru realizes that Natsuki is laughing at her, and calls her out, "Oh, you wicked girl!" This only makes Natsuki finally lose it and laugh openly with a loud braying laughter.
  • When Shizuru's cousin, Shizuma joins them in Argus, the silver-haired woman, known for sleeping with half the married women in Hime, and only because she hasn't gotten to the other half, yet, decides to test Natsuki's fidelity to her cousin. She thinks Natsuki has failed when she elicits a gasp until she realizes the girl is shaking with suppressed laughter, with little snorts escaping her nose. "You," Natsuki laughs at last, "...Are her cousin." Shizuma decides she likes Natsuki, after all.
• Indignant Slap: In Chapter 59, after Natsuki has suffered an amputation below the knee, Shizuru states that she intends to leave Natsuki in the port city of Argus while she marches on to take the Mentulean Empire. Natsuki balks at being treated like an invalid, saying, "I can fend for myself!" Shizuru, in frustration and fear, says, "And see what has come of it!" Furious at the slight, Natsuki slaps Shizuru, an act which surprises both women, and Natsuki immediately regrets it, while Shizuru has a Jerkass Realization and apologizes, kissing the hand that slapped her.
• Jerkass Realization: Chapter 59. Shizuru intends to leave Natsuki in Argus to keep her safe. But Natsuki feels she is being treated as an invalid because of her amputation. When Natsuki argues that she can take care of herself, Shizuru replies, "Look where that got you!" It earns her a slap, which makes Shizuru realize that she had been effectively caging her lover, leading her to apologize, and altering her plans so that Natsuki will be waiting for her on the border.
• Kill the Parent, Raise the Child: Downplayed. When the Himean forces and Otomeian reserves come across a circus caravan that had been overturned by a landslide, the owners and performers killed by the big cats, with all the animals loose, General Shizuru Fujino orders that the animals be recaptured so that they can sell them in the port city of Argus and add the funds to their war chest. They ended up having to kill one animal, a black panther. The panther, it turns out, had been guarding a cub, which Shizuru presents to Natsuki as a gift. Natsuki raises the cub, naming it Shizuki (a portmanteau of the two lovers' names), and the creature then proceeds to treat Natsuki as her mother from then on. Although Natsuki didn't personally kill the cub's parent, she was part of the collective effort to subdue the animals.
• Kindly Housekeeper: Hermias, Shizuru's chief slave. Shizuru trusts him explicitly. And while he is respectful of Natsuki, he doesn't fear her, because he feels that unfair to her. He is attentive to her needs as a cripple without being patronizing or condescending. And Natsuki rewards his efforts with the sort of gentle smiles she usually reserves for Shizuru. He also warns Shizuru about Natsuki's thinning temper regarding her injury, which Shizuru doesn't much heed until she tries to leave Natsuki in Argus during her campaign, and receives a slap in response.
• Kissing Cousins: Alyssa had hoped to invoke this and end up Happily Married to Natsuki. She's still hoping, but will "indulge" her cousin in her current relationship with Shizuru.
• Lactose over Liquor: The Himean soldiers all drink wine. The Otomeians prefer beer. Natsuki prefers milk. She gets some mild ribbing from Nao about it, but, having proven herself already in combat, no one actually questions her abilities at this point.
• Last of Her Kind: Natsuki was living with the Otomians, but is actually the last Princess of the lost Ortygians.
• Love Interest vs. Lust Interest: Natsuki's Elective Mute status and her tendency to have Luminescent Blushes when teased make her interesting to Shizuru, who also admires her prowess and skill in combat. During a stay in a neighboring province, they run into Masashi Takeda, a renowned swordsman who tags along when Shizuru is trying to engage in official business, getting in the way, trying to be close to Natsuki. His prurient interest is revealed when he mistakes Natsuki for a slave and offers to buy her from Shizuru. Shizuru remarks on his desire to force himself on Natsuki while delivering a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to him.
  Shizuru: I did not think you would actually be fool enough to try this. Did you think that, since she refused your advances, you would force them on her after bartering with me? Did you think I could not see your intentions from a mile away? Indeed, if that is so, you were wrong. Yes, you were planning to do that to her, were you not? Such base intent, really.
• Lying by Omission: Shizuru learns that a governor has been selling Himean citizenship illegally and allowing exorbitant usury rates by tax collectors who double as money lenders. She tells him if he puts a list together of everyone to whom he sold the citizenship, refrains from doing so in the future, and restricts the lenders' fees, she won't bring charges against him in bribery court. She doesn't tell him that she sent a full account of his transgressions to her fellow Senator, Mai Tokiha, who will be the one to bring charges.
• Meaningful Name: Otomeians names are supposed to be meaningful and unique. When told Natsuki's name means something akin to "summer child" or "summer girl", the Himeans quip that it's a very cold summer.
• Memetic Badass: In-Universe Natsuki has a pet panther, has developed a special saddle to ride her horse Niger full tilt despite being short a leg, and took out a towering Otomian who menaced her over a denied promotion. Consequently, their Mentulean foes tell stories of Shizuru's "Witch" consort, who commands beasts and can fell giants with a flick of her fingers. This is actually helpful because the belief that Natsuki is a witch dissuades their foes from attempting to poison Shizuru.
• Mythology Gag: Several to the various series incorporated.
  • Chikane is wed to Himeko, but people see Himeko as unworthy of Chikane, much like how she was treated in Destiny of the Shrine Maiden.
  • Shizuru kisses Natsuki without permission, leading to a temporary rift that is mended when Natsuki finds Shizuru and gently kisses her back.
  • Takeda is interested in Natsuki, while she wants nothing to do with him.
  • Takeda is a renowned swordsman, much as how his original incarnation was Captain of the kendo team.
  • Kanzaki is interested in Mai. Some things never change.
  • Haruka sees Shizuru as a rival, and one whom she can never seem to best.
  • Sakaki still has a thing for cute animals.
  • Oogami Souma was Chikane's rival for Himeko's affections.
  • Chie is still an inveterate gossip. And still very interested in Aoi Senou.
• Neck Lift: When the chief medic tells Shizuru that Natsuki's wounds will prove fatal, she hoists him into the air one-handed, then tells him and all of his associates that if Natsuki dies, they die too. They prove to be very motivated in saving Natsuki's life, though it does come at the cost of her left leg.
• Obstructive Bureaucrat: The Traditionalists in the Senate oppose Shizuru at every turn. When it is made clear that Shizuru did not run for the office she was elected to, the Traditionalists try to force her to keep it, anyway, knowing that Shizuru on the battlefield is a Shizuru who gains fame with the populace. They even put up a New Man to accuse her of flouting rules and decrying her "affair with a foreign whore". Since the person in question was Natsuki, Shizuru is not gentle in her rebuke.
• Off with His Head!: The Obsidian Emperor's preferred method of dealing with people who fail him, and, later, merely displease him.
• Oh, Crap!: More than a few moments.
  • The entire Senate, allies and enemies alike, have this reaction when Shizuru loses her venom on a Tribune who had accused her of theft and called Natuski her "foreign whore". They had never seen her angry before and were reeling from the intensity of her response. And then they realize that she's still holding back, and they've only seen a fraction of her fury, which was already formidable.
  • Shizuma's reaction when Shizuru releases the panther, Shizuki, into the room with herself and Natsuki, not knowing that Shizuki was perfectly docile and merely heading to see her owner, Natsuki.
• Omniglot: Several characters, but Natsuki is the standout example. She speaks her native Otomean, Himean(Latin), and Greek. In fact, she is able to avoid stuttering when she swaps to Greek.
• Only a Flesh Wound: Tragically averted. Natsuki takes an arrow to her left leg. Cut off from proper medical help or reinforcements, the wound festers and eventually becomes gangrenous. By the time Shizuru finds her on the battlefield, Natsuki is at death's door, and the leg had to be amputated to save her life.
• Phantom Limb Pain: Natsuki has been gravely injured in combat, and lost one of her legs. She is initially delirious and blissfully unaware, until the fever breaks and she wakes one night with an itch in her (missing) left foot. She goes to scratch and finds nothing there. She lifts the sheets. Her scream rouses everyone nearby from slumber.
• Proud Industrious Race: The Himeans, standing in for the Roman Empire in the story, are renowned builders. In one instance, a kingdom with ties to the now overtaken Mentulean Empire, tears down a bridge that linked the two lands. The king believed it would take at least a year to restore the bridge and that the Himeans would have better things to do in the meanwhile. He is very surprised, then, when it takes General Fujino's engineers just over a month to reestablish the bridge. Shizuru does smugly inform the king they were aided by the fact that his people tore down the span, but left the caissons standing, meaning her people had much less work to do.
• Reasonable Authority Figure: Shizuru is this to her armies. She doles out the soldiers' share of pay and spoils herself before the Himean tax assessors can take big wet bites out of the soldiers' pay. She also is highly judicious in her meting out of punishments for infractions. when she learns of a governor selling Himean citizenship, Chie notes that the penalty is typically flogging. Shizuru points out that some of the people bought the citizenship for such reasons as the special privilege of grain allowing them to feed their families. And for those, she was willing to turn a blind eye. For others, if she determined their motives were less pure, she would resort to seizure of lands or such.
  • Midori is another example. She governs the port city of Argus, and when Mentulean citizens of Argus are being murdered, Midori puts a stop to it quickly, recognizing that it could lead to unwanted consequences, like spies out of people who would otherwise want nothing to do with their former homeland. She also gives Shizuru advice as regards her relationship with Natsuki, pointing out that since Natsuki is technically a "barbarian", being with her might hurt Shizuru's quest to be First Citizen. She does note, however, that that was advice offered as her teacher. As a friend, she says that Natsuki has been good for Shizuru, and says that she approves.
  • Various members of the Himean Senate fit, as well. Chikane Himemiya. Mai Tokiha, and a few choice others.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Shizuru doles these out to her enemies quite handily.
  • In their first encounter, she lays deeply into the Obsidian Lord, causing him to run back to his empire, despite outnumbering her forces.
  • She delivers a scathing one to Takeda after he mistakes Natsuki for a slave and attempts to offer to buy her.
  • When it is learned that her cousin Tomoe set her up to be elected to an office that took her from the field, and then, to keep her from regaining her command, one of her opponents called Natsuki a whore, she laid into him with a furor described as Vesuvius erupting.
  • Natsuki, after being challenged to a duel by a belligerent solider, whom she dropped quickly, calls the man's immediate superiors on the carpet and asks them if that sort of soldier was what they thought was suitable for the ranks of the army, then asks them sarcastically if they also wish to duel her, as she'd like to finish all of her duels by nightfall. The men she calls on the carpet are suitably appalled at the action of the soldier and deeply shamed by the public calling out.
• Related in the Adaptation / Unrelated in the Adaptation: In this fic, Natsuki and Nina are cousins. Natsuki is also distant cousins with Alyssa, who had hoped to make it Kissing Cousins. Shizuru is cousins with Tomoe and Shizuma, as well. Sergay and Nina have no connection in the story.
• Romantic Ribbing: continues with the tradition of Shizuru teasing Natsuki. In one instance, when Shizuru takes Natsuki to her home in Hime, their amorous activities leave very noticeable hickeys on Natsuki's neck and shoulders. Natsuki is very conscientious of them, and Shizuru light-heartedly suggests that she can blame them on lampreys. When Natsuki learns that lampreys are a type of fish, she balks.
  Natsuki: No one sensible swims in the winter! I was attacked by a senator!
  • Later, when Natsuki leaves a hickey on Shizuru, Shizuru is completely unconcerned. Natsuki, however, is horrified that people will see it and know she caused it. She weakly suggests that Shizuru can say a lamprey did it, causing Shizuru to laugh loudly.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: Natsuki is a Princess, the last Princess of the Ortygians. Her cousin, Alyssa, is also a Princess. The two of them regularly ride out into battle, as the Otomeians are a martial society, and they respect either prowess in combat or cunning of mind. Alyssa notes that Natsuki has both, but is unfairly discounted on the latter by her people because of her stutter.
• Secretly Wealthy: Natsuki, as the last Princess of the Ortygians, has the entirety of that lost nation's wealth at her disposal. When asked by Shizuru, Natsuki informs her that she could summon 10,000 silver talents without any difficulty.
• Secret Test of Character: When Shizuma meets Natsuki, she attempts to flirt with her. In part, it is because she genuinely finds her attractive, but in part it is because Shizuru had spoken of Natsuki's faithfulness, and Shizuma, famed for seducing half the married women of the Himean Senate (and only because she hadn't gotten to the other half yet), wanted to see if Natsuki actually measured up to Shizuru's claims. When she gets close and Natsuki gasps, she believes that the girl has failed, until she realizes that Natsuki is laughing at her.
  Natsuki: (laughing) You...are her cousin.
  Shizuma: (smiling)I see. I see. Did she do that to you, often, in your early acquaintance.
• Seduction as One-Upmanship: Shizuma has slept with half the married women of Hime, and only because she hasn't gotten to the other half yet. Her favorite targets of seduction are the wives of senators of the arch-conservatives, who stand in opposition to her cousin, Shizuru.
• Self-Harm:
  • In Chapter 18, after kissing Natsuki without permission, Shizuru beats one of her hands bloody against a tree. Natsuki finds her and takes her back to their shared room, where she treats the injury.
  • In Chapter 51, Suou discovers that Natsuki has been clutching at herself hard enough to leave welts and bruises out of grief for missing Shizuru, who had been recalled to Hime.
• Shared Fate Ultimatum: After being recalled to the capitol as part of a plot against her, Shizuru returns to the battlefield just in time to route the Mentulean Empire. She finds her lover, Natsuki, at death's door and rushes her to the medics. When the head medic tells Shizuru that Natsuki will die, she hoists him in the air with one hand and tells every medic in the tent that Natsuki will live, or they won't.
  Shizuru: I shall see this girl alive, or I will end you superfluous worms myself!
• Shipper on Deck: Many of Shizuru's friends are in favor of her relationship with Natsuki. Midori cautions her as a teacher that it could jeopardize her quest to be named First Citizen but tells her as her friend that she approves. Chikane is willing to adopt Natsuki, both to make Shizuru marry her a possibility, as well as because of her own late sister's fondness for Natsuki. Even Nao has a grudging admiration for their relationship. And Shizuru's chief slave, a man named Hermias, is the first to address Natsuki as Dominilla, suggesting he already sees the pair as married.
• Serious Work, Comedic Scene: This work is often almost deadly serious. War, death, and invasion are common themes, and Natsuki loses a leg to amputation in the story. There are, however, comedic moments.
  • In one early chapter, Natsuki, who is Shizuru's bodyguard, mind, initiates a snowball fight with Shizuru.
  • Shizuru is trying to learn to use Natsuki's daos, and nearly brains herself with the weight on the end of the chain, only to find Natsuki laughing at her.
  • Nao tricks Natsuki into casual swearing by telling her "Verpa" meant "small rodent" when it's actually the Latin equivalent of "prick" (and not in the verb sense).
  • Shizuru is reading a letter from home where her rival, Haruka, had gone off on a fellow senator and known pedarast, for illegally tapping a water main. It was filled with Accidental Innuendos about not sticking his pipe where it didn't belong, and finding somewhere to pay for it. Natsuki and Shizuru were literally rolling on the floor laughing as they read it.
  • After a literally heated battle at a town that essentially was the center for the enemy nation's iron works, where Shizuru had tricked the enemy into dumping molten lead against their perimeter walls which were made of limestone, Shizuru orders kettles of vinegar poured on the heated rock to cause it to give way, breaching the wall. Shizuru, when the battle is over, explains that she learned the trick from Hannible, and said it was something in the vinegar's sourness that made it work. Natsuki then asks if that meant that throwing Nao against the wall would have had the same effect, causing all the Himean soldiers who knew Nao to burst out laughing, though Shizuru notes that Nao's temperament is better suited to starting fires, not putting them out.
• Sexy Flaw: Natsuki's stutter is one of the things Shizuru finds adorable about her lover, in part because it contributed to her Elective Mute tendencies that made her so mysterious in the first place.
• Shown Their Work: The author goes to great lengths to include glossaries of historical terms, tactics, and events that tie into the story.
• Single-Target Sexuality: Shizuru notes to herself that she had never been particularly interested in matters of sex until she met Natsuki.
• Miss Swears Alot: Nao. The author largely gives her Latin invectives, but a few Cluster F Bombs are dropped as well.
• The Soft-Hearted Warrior: Shizuru and Natsuki both fit this.
  • Shizuru is a combat veteran who is kindly and well-loved by her soldiers. When she learns of a governor illegally selling Himean citizenship, she does not order floggings for those who bought it, though that is the prescribed penalty. Indeed, for those whom she learned bought the citizenship to be able to use a citizen's discount to afford basic goods for their family, she turned a blind eye. And for those who were more well-to-do, she settled for seizure of goods.
  • Natsuki is described during the heat of the first battle in the story as having a look of utter boredom on her face as she sent one enemy after another to their death. But she is shy off of the battlefield, fawns over puppies, is delighted to have a panther cub as a gift, and Shizuru reflects that when she's had a hard day, Natsuki will hold her and hum songs to her to relax her.
• Somber Backstory Revelation: Shizuru is determined to learn more about her lover, Natsuki, who serves as an Otomeian captain, but is the last princess of the lost Ortygians. An old Otomeian soldier who was there, and rescued Natsuki, has heard the two had become lovers. When Shizuru explains that she wants to help Natsuki, to understand her, he reluctantly agrees to tell her. Natsuki's people were betrayed by the Mentuleans after offers of peace, and Natsuki had been found alive, but buried under a pile of her dead kinsmen. She had been placed with an Otomeian family, where the son of said family then tried to force himself on her, mistaking her Elective Mute condition for weakness. She'd ended up splitting his head open with a daos in self-defense.
• Speaking Up for Another: Swordsman Masashi Takeda has become intrigued by Shizuru's new bodyguard, Natsuki, and mistakes her for a slave, at which point he offers to buy Natsuki from her. Shizuru, who is herself in love with Natsuki, and also knows that she is the last Princess of an ancient dynastic line, is affronted on Natsuki's behalf, pointing out to Tadeda that there is nothing slavish in Natsuki's demeanor or standing, and that he has gravely insulted the woman's dignitas.
  Shizuru: How dare you insult her—and me—by bartering for her as though she were a mere slave and I some slipshod slave trader? Does either of us look so mean in your estimation to be treated thusly? How dare you?
• Speech Impediment: Natsuki is portrayed with a strong stutter, which gets more pronounced when she's stressed. Alyssa actually tells her to stop and choose her words carefully to lower the effects. Many of Natsuki's foes mistake her stutter as a sign of lower intelligence. For most, it's the last mistake they ever make.
• The Teetotaler: Haruka is adamant that wine, and indeed all alcohol, are bad. Natsuki will drink wine, but only if it's heavily diluted.
• Title Drop: Early on. "Inter Nos" means "Between Us", which is what Shizuru tells Natsuki when she insists that Natsuki address her not by ranks or titles, but by name.
• Too Good for This Sinful Earth: Suou Himemiya, sister of Chikane, ally of Shizuru. When Shizuru was removed from command due to a scheme by Tomoe, Suou agreed to watch over and protect Natsuki until Shizuru's return. Her death is perhaps one of the most tragic in story.
• Torture Technician: This is Nao's specialty in the Himean Army. She's very adept at getting answers when she wants them.
• Tragic Keepsake: During the time that Natsuki is separated from Shizuru, Suou Himemiya takes care of Natsuki as a promise to her commander and friend. They find themselves under siege by the Mentuleans after Shizuru's replacement, Takeda, led them into a blatant trap. An offhand remark reminds Suou that it is Natsuki's birthday, and she gives Natsuki a family heirloom, a katana, as a gift. Suou is killed shortly thereafter. Natsuki considered her a dear friend, and the sword remains one of her most treasured possessions.
• Trauma Button: Shizuru inadvertently triggers Natsuki's PTSD by pretending to still be asleep while lying on top of her. Shizuru thinks it's just a mild tease...until Natsuki goes into shock, and Shizuru recalls the detail of Natsuki's Dark and Troubled Past about being buried under a pile of her dead kinsmen. She apologizes profusely after she manages to calm Natsuki down, and vows never to do anything like that again.
• Universal Group Reaction: During the first battle between the Himean/Otomean Alliance and the Mentuleans, Natsuki kills a soldier who was trying to kill Shizuru, starting with a well-placed Groin Attack using the scythe end of her daos.
  All the males on the field close enough to see this vicious attack felt a spark of horror, regardless of their allegiances, as Natsuki cut the man cleanly from the groin, then lifted him momentarily in the air as the blade met resistance from the pelvic bone.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Natsuki and Shizuru for each other. When Takeda mistakes Natsuki for a slave, Shizuru tears into him. And when he tries to draw his blade on her, Natsuki intervenes, swinging in between them from the rafters and slicing Takeda's face. And when the Mentuleans cost Natsuki her leg, Shizuru orders the captives crucified, without breaking their legs.
  • Shizuru later sums it up this way, "A world without you in it would not survive me."
• Vitriolic Best Buds: "Best Buds" might be stretching it, but Natsuki and Nao have a healthy respect for one another. At one point in the story, Nao tricks Natsuki into swearing casually by telling her that a particular word was a term for a rodent instead of its true meaning, which is a part of the male anatomy.
• Walk of Shame: Shizuru and Natsuki have been intimate for some time. However, they have just arrived in Shizuru's villa in her homeland, and during a lovemaking session, Shizuru decides to tease Natsuki by leaving hickeys in very visible places. Natsuki is suddenly very embarrassed to be seen in public; not because people will know she's Shizuru's partner, but because they'll know exactly what they've been up to. Shizuru teasingly suggests that she can say that the marks were made by a lamprey.
• What Beautiful Eyes!: Shizuru's crimson eyes and Natsuki's emerald ones get a lot of attention in story.
• When She Smiles: Both Nao and Chie note that Natsuki's smiles have a way of transforming her whole face. And Shizuru is utterly captivated by them.
• The "Why Wait?" Combatant: An officer denied promotion for belligerent behavior challenges Natsuki to a duel. He informs her that he'll take her on anytime, and anywhere. She asks him three times if he's sure, to make certain that he really means it. When he confirms he does? She replies, "Then, now." and lobs a steel dart into his left eye. Then her second dart nicks a vital artery. She informs him the duel is over, and to go see the medic. He doesn't listen, and as a result, expires.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Downplayed. When Shizuru hits Natsuki with a snowball in a garden, Natsuki lies face down in the snow. Shizuru, concerned that she may have injured Natsuki, goes to check on her, only to realize too late that Natsuki was playing possum and readying a retaliatory snowball.
  • Later in the story, Nao and her lover, Pollonia, pretend to be survivors of a Mentulean fort captured by Shizuru, lulling an enemy force into a false sense of security.

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