Darkness greeted her when she opened her eyes. The air was cold around her, and she felt nervous without knowing why. With her heart pounding in her chest, she looked around, trying to determine where she was. Suddenly, a hand clamped over her mouth, and two strong arms tightly imprisoned her, pulling her backwards.”Nice necklace you got there, sweetheart,” said the voice behind her.
Her eyes widened as her whole body froze.
No…
NO!!!
—-0—-
“IYAAAAAAA!!!!!!”
Aiko shot up from the bed with a scream, her hands sweaty and her breathing ragged. Her hand flew to her neck, only to find her necklace missing, totally crushing her hope that that incident in the alley wasn’t real. “Oh, God… Oh, God…” was the only thing she could say.
Her eyes darted from left to right in the dark room as she tried to remember what had happened that night. She was on her way to the plaza when someone grabbed her from behind. She was hit twice on her head… And then… And then…
And then, what?
“Oh, God…”
Taking deep, steadying breaths, Aiko clutched her forehead and tightly shut her eyes.
You’re OK, Aiko… Calm down… Calm DOWN…
But she couldn’t calm down.
I wasn’t—… Nothing else happened to me… right?
Aiko’s eyes snapped open when, again, she felt someone encircle his arms around her. With a muffled yell (which was also a half-whimper), she instinctively (violently) tried to push him away. But he didn’t let her go. He wouldn’t let her go even as she pounded her fists on his chest. She knew he was saying something to her, but she couldn’t understand him… All she could hear was a repetitive “Sssh…”
When exhaustion started to wash over her (and she finally realized that her efforts to break free were fruitless), she stopped struggling, her whole body still tense.
“Sssh, it’s OK…” came his voice. Aiko was amazed she could even hear him through her heartbeat loudly drumming in her ears.
She felt his hand stroke the back of her head, gently inviting her to lean her head on his shoulder. It was only then that Aiko felt the familiar warmth enveloping her, and before she could stop it, a sob had escaped her throat, and tears stung her eyes.
“I’m here…It’s OK, I’m here…” he said quietly.
Another sob shook her shoulders. And another, and another…
Before long, Aiko was clutching on to him like he was her lifeline, her tears uncontrollably streaming down her cheeks. It was odd, she thought, that she should be this shaken. Hadn’t she gotten through worse situations? But then, there she was, crying almost hysterically on his shoulder as he gently stroked her hair.
Thank God for Kaji.
“Sssh…” he said again, his voice soothing. He sounded a bit strange, sure, but Aiko supposed it was because her brain’s a bit muddled right now.
After what seemed like forever, the sobbing subsided, and Aiko just leaned comfortably on him, though her hands were still tightly holding on to his shirt. With one last sniff, Aiko slightly lifted her head.
“I’m sorry,” she said in a broken voice, “I got your shirt all wet…”
He chuckled, putting his hand on her shoulders. “This isn’t the first time that’s happened, now, is it?”
Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed. True, she felt a bit embarrassed for looking so helpless again, but she didn’t recall crying like this in front of him before. Blinking, Aiko looked up at Kaji, only to find that she was not looking at Kaji.
I have GOT to be dreaming still.
The one who had held her, the one who had the soothing, calming voice, the man she had been clutching on to all this time…was none other than Yuuji, the Rose of Flames.
“Before you remember that you’re supposed to be angry at me,” he said, “I’m going to take this chance and apologize. I should never have shouted at you, and it was absolutely wrong of me to manhandle you, Mai-sama…”
“Mai-sama”
“Although I still maintain that it’s dangerous for you to go back there,” Yuuji continued, “I realized that shouting at you wasn’t going to help any. But…by the time I did…”
Aiko felt his hands tighten on her shoulders as he looked at her straight in the eye. At first, she thought he had realized just to whom he was talking to. But when he looked away, Aiko saw he had this look on his face that was far from what she had expected. It was the same look Kamui had the last time they were at the Thinking Mound…
“Aiko, you died right in front of my eyes,” Kamui had said. “I didn’t think I could handle experiencing that a second time…”
“Mai-sama,” Yuuji said, breaking through Aiko’s thoughts. He was looking at her again, and she was sure he was going to recognize her. “Please… Don’t ever do that to me again…”
“Don’t ever do that to me again, OK?” Kamui’s voice echoed in Aiko’s ears.
Aiko just nodded dumbly, making Yuuji smile slightly. He raised a hand to her cheek, wiping a dry trace of her tears with his thumb.
“Why don’t you lie down and rest?” he said. “I think you’ve been through enough for tonight.”
Again, she nodded, lying down, and let Yuuji tuck her in.
“Good night, Mai-sama,” he said, giving her another smile as he stood up. Aiko smiled at him, as well, figuring that, if he thought she was Mai, then she better act like Mai. Not that she actually knew her or anything…
“Good night, Yuuji-kun.”
When the door closed behind Yuuji, Aiko let out the breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She brought a hand to her forehead again, trying to process what had just happened. So it wasn’t Kaji who saved me in the alley, after all, she thought, only then remembering that the last thing she saw before passing out was red flames. Yuuji saved me…
She shook her head unbelievingly. She was simply dumbfounded at how Yuuji was gentle and kind and compassionate. Well, OK, maybe he wouldn’t be like that if he knew who she really was. But still, since he was trying to kill her every time she saw him, she had already reached a conclusion that he wasn’t capable of such emotions. Aiko remembered the first time she encountered Yuuji; he had called her “hime-sama”. So did that mean Kurobara Mai was actually the princess he had thought her to be?
Suddenly, Aiko shot up in her bed again.
If Yuuji had thought she was Mai…
then where was Mai?
————–
The Deathrose Princess blinked as she stared at the ceiling. She didn’t recall ever telling anyone to remove her canopy…
Slowly, she sat up on her bed, scratching her eyes, deciding to talk to one of the maids later. She felt odd sleeping without the dark blue tulle surrounding her bed. She turned to the window, and watched her green curtains billowing as the wind blew into the room. She smiled.
Gotta love the wind.
The birds chirped on the tree outside as the sun started to rise, giving a light blue color to the sky. This was gong to be a beautiful morning, she knew.
Her smile faded, though, when she realized something. She didn’t have green curtains; she always had white ones. And she didn’t have a window, either; she had glass doors that led to her balcony. Her eyebrows furrowing, her eyes quickly scanned the room.
It wasn’t her room. Everything was foreign. There was a desk, a box containing rolled things she presumed to be canvas, a stereo system on top of a cabinet full of CDs, a tall bookshelf… And there, sitting on the floor at the edge of the bed was…
“Ka-…Kamui?!“
The sleeping black-haired boy stirred, slowly blinking his eyes open. For a couple of seconds, he just looked at the floor. But when he looked up and saw her, he smiled widely, sighing in relief.
“Finally…” he said as he stood up. Mai just stared at him as he stretched his arms, yawning.
I have GOT to be dreaming… she thought.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Mai blinked. “Enjoying what?”
“Giving me a heart attack,” Kamui said, rolling his eyes. “Honestly. I looked everywhere for you like a madman last night… But then, whoop-dee-doo, you were here the whole time, sleeping like a baby.”
He dug his hand into his pocket, and fished out a necklace.
“I was wondering how you got blood on this, though,” he said, thumbing the pendant as he sat down beside her. “I mean, the only wound you had was on your arm…”
Before Mai could think of an answer, though, Kamui looked at her again and smiled. He leaned over and reached behind her neck, putting the silver necklace on her. Mai’s heart pounded loudly on her rib cage, she was sure Kamui heard it, what with him being so close to her.
“But then, who cares? What matters is you’re safe now, right?”
Kamui finished fastening the clasp, and sat back down on the bed. He was about to smile again, wanting to comment on how quiet she was today, when his eyebrows furrowed.
Aiko’s… blushing?!
Suddenly, Kamui found himself tongue-tied as he looked into her chocolate brown eyes. He never thought Aiko could look so mysterious… He felt like he was looking at somebody else…
His feet were pulled back to reality, though, when the door opened, revealing Sara. She smiled at them as she stepped inside.
“Finally,” she breathed. Kamui almost laughed at how his sister was so much like him sometimes. “How are you feeling?”
“I’m…a bit tired still, but I’ll be fine,” the black-haired girl said with a smile. But Kamui noted, though, that that bewildered look she had on ever since she woke up was still there.
“Would you like to go home now?” Sara asked. “I’m sure you’d be more comfortable there than here in Oniichan’s sloppy room, won’t you?”
“Hey, I resent that! My room is not sloppy.”
Sara just smiled sweetly at Kamui before turning to the brown-eyed girl again. “So shall I call Hikaru-kun now?”
A nod and a weak “Ok…” was her answer.
“Why don’t you lie back down, Aiko?” Kamui said as he stood up. “Hikaru shouldn’t be here in a while. You can still get some rest.”
When Kamui and his sister had left the room, Mai sighed heavily and collapsed on the bed. This was just too surreal… She actually met Kamui again! Mai felt warmth rise to her face when she remembered that she was actually sleeping in his room. And he gave up his comfortable bed for her!
“Why don’t you lie back down, Aiko?”
Then again, he didn’t give up his bed for her, did he? Kamui had thought she was Aiko…Kazetenshi Aiko. The girl who looked like her…
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed as she raised her left sleeve. There wasn’t even a trace of any kind of scratch there. But, didn’t Kamui say she had a wound? She checked her right arm, but there wasn’t anything there, either. Suddenly, Mai felt hugely scared. The only thing that could heal a shuriken wound was a Healer…
So, if Kamui was a Healer that Mai didn’t know about… and he knows Kazetenshi Aiko…
Did that make Kamui a Star?
————–
“HIME-SAMA!”
Aiko suppressed a gasp when Maya lunged at her, making them fall on the floor. She winced as the throbbing on her head returned. Aiko thought she wouldn’t be surprised if she woke up with amnesia the next day, what with all the banging her skull had been receiving the past days…
“Maya!” came Yuuji’s voice. “Be careful!”
“I– I’m sorry…” Maya said, getting off of Aiko. “I thought…Well, that’s never happened before, has it? I mean… Hime-sama had always—”
“But, Maya,” Yuuji started as he helped Aiko stand up, “Mai-sama isn’t feeling too well today, see?”
“I’m sorry,” Maya said, bowing her head. “I was just excited to see you OK, Mai-sama…”
“It’s quite all right,” Aiko said, forcing a smile. Let the readers know, however, that if she hadn’t known Maya before — and if her head wasn’t hurting so much — the smile didn’t have to be forced. Maya just looked so adorable!
“Actually,” Yuuji started, looking at Aiko pointedly. “You shouldn’t be running around yet.”
“I’m not running around,” she said automatically.
“So, I suppose you’d like to say that you’re walking around.”
“That’s correct. Besides, I’ve barely gotten out of the room.”
Yuuji smiled, shaking his head. “Well, at least it’s good to know you’re back to your old self.”
Aiko blinked. Either Midori was right that she was a psychic, or Mai and Aiko’s personalities were just naturally close. Either way, it was creepy.
“Um…” Aiko started. “If it’s all right… I’m a bit hungry…”
“Ah, yes, I ‘m pretty sure Kaori’s on her way up with your lunch. Would you like Maya to accompany you while you wait?”
“That’s not necessary. Actually, I was thinking of having lunch with you, if it’s all right…”
“Of course,” Yuuji said. “Maya, why don’t you go downstairs and tell the others that Mai-sama is having lunch with us?”
“Hai!”
When Maya had run off, Yuuji offered his arm. Aiko took it, and they headed for the dining room… wherever it was.
Truth be told, Aiko wasn’t sure what she was doing. She knew she was putting herself in danger of being found out by exposing herself more. Like, maybe Yuuji would sense that she didn’t know her way around the palace, or maybe the Roses would be suspicious because she would not know what Mai was supposed to know… But, she reckoned her curiosity just got better of her after seeing Yuuji being gentlemanly and Maya being childish. She could only guess what the others were like. She would just have to momentarily ignore the fact that Kaori had almost killed her the last time they saw each other… And that Haruna had stabbed Yuki then, too…
The whole trip to the first floor, Aiko had tried to prepare herself on how she was going to act around the Roses. But when they reached the dining room, she still couldn’t help but be amazed.
I’m in a parallel dimension. Yeah, that’s got to be it.
Sitting around the elaborate table was the whole cast being totally out of character. Kaori was laughing, almost falling off her chair. Maya had a totally innocent face on as she looked back and forth the black-haired girl and the fuming Haruna, who had her hands on her hips. Fuu was the only one silent, though an amused smile pulled on the corners of her mouth.
“Oei, oei, what’s all this commotion about?” Yuuji asked beside Aiko as they approached the table.
“They’re making fun of me!” Haruna almost whined. Yuuji just laughed as he pulled out a chair for Aiko.
“Thank you,” she said, gratefully smiling at him as she sat down. Her smile waned slightly, though, when her eyes met Fuu’s. The blue-eyed girl was oddly looking at her, but shifted her gaze almost instantly. Aiko gulped, silently wondering if she had been found out.
Stop it! she scolded herself. If you’re going to be paranoid, then you ARE going to be found out.
“Well, then, shall we dig in?” Yuuji initiated.
Lunch was utterly disorienting for Aiko.
She didn’t think it was possible, but she had finally found someone who could speak more rapidly than Sara. The Winter Rose was incredibly talkative, narrating everything that had happened to everyone since the night before at 360 words per minute. This was to Aiko’s advantage; she didn’t have to be as clueless as she thought. But it was a bit hard to follow everything Maya was saying at the rate she was going. Sometimes, she even said a whole paragraph without pausing to take a breath!
“And, you know, Mai-sama, I thought I heard dog barks outside my window last night! Imagine that, dog barks! Of course, it was impossible because we don’t have dogs around, do we? I wonder what it’s like to have a dog. Don’t you think it would be nice, Mai-sama? Having a dog, I mean? I bet it’d be nice if we had dogs here. I had a kitten once, but it ran away. I don’t know why, though, because I was soooo nice to it. Wasn’t I nice to it, Fuu-chan?”
“Yes, you were.”
“It was a cute little brown kitten, I gave it milk everyday, but then one day he was just gone! He just left, just like that!”
“I know someone who left someone just like that,” Kaori interjected, glancing at Haruna. The blonde girl glared at her, silently commanding her to keep quiet.
Aiko didn’t know what was up with Kaori and Haruna, of course, but the two have apparently made bickering with each other to be part of their hourly routine. Every comment that came out of Kaori’s mouth seemed to have an underlying meaning…A meaning that always, always seemed to ruffle Haruna’s feathers. And the Rose of Lightning was enjoying it. Haruna didn’t say much, except for an occasional “Shut up”, or an exasperated “Kaori!” The comments never seemed hostile nor destructive, though, since Maya and Fuu sometimes joined in with Kaori’s laughing. Besides, if Haruna was purely offended, she could always refute the other girls, or just walk out.
“How do you find the soup, Hime-sama?” Kaori asked Aiko.
“Ah, it’s delicious Kaori,” she answered, taking an intelligent guess that Kaori oversaw the kitchen. She was surprised, though, when Haruna scoffed.
“Yes, it should taste good, since you cooked it for three hours.”
It was Kaori’s turn to glare at the Autumn Rose. “I did not cook it for three hours.”
“Oh, my mistake! I forgot to specify that you cooked it for just a few minutes, but you spent more than two hours looking for the vegetables to put in it. Honestly, Kaori, you’re a great cook, but you really should remember where you put thi— HEY!”
Haruna glaringly took the ball of table napkin Kaori had thrown at her, and threatened to throw it back with greater force.
“Oei, oei. Stop it, you two.” Yuuji intercepted. “No throwing anything on this table. Do it during training.”
That was how Yuuji was during the whole meal. He was the observer, silently smiling at the girls’ antics, though sometimes he rolled his eyes, commenting on how childish they were. Actually, maybe it was because of Yuuji’s calm, consistent mediation that the girls didn’t engage in an all-out verbal war, or, judging from the available ammo, a food fight. Aiko had always known that Yuuji was the leader of the Roses on the battlefield, but his leadership right now made him look like everybody’s older brother. He was obviously older than everybody else (except maybe Fuu), and he was visibly more mature. Aiko thought that he had Kaji’s leadership, Yuki’s calmness, Hikaru’s brotherly authority and Kamui’s sense of humor.
Aiko shook her head when Kaori and Haruna decided to throw daggers at each other with their eyes, instead. From where she was sitting, the Roses looked…normal. They even looked like a family! Yuuji was the responsible older brother, Fuu was the sophisticated older sister, Kaori and Haruna looked like the stubborn twins, and Mai was the cute little sister. Somehow, the image of them being a threat to her life suddenly seemed so distant.
After lunch, Yuuji offered his arm again, this time to escort her back to her room. The other girls bowed to her as they made their way to the door. She noticed, though, that Fuu was looking at her oddly again. There was something in her eyes that Aiko just couldn’t read, and she didn’t really have time to read into it because the Gale Rose always turned away quickly.
“I trust you enjoyed our meal, Hime-sama?” Yuuji asked her.
“Yes, very much. It’s nice to see the girls as they were today.”
For a few moments, the two were silent as they climbed the carpeted staircase.
“Mai-sama…”
“Yes?”
“If I may be so bold… Where did you go last night?”
Aiko inwardly froze, but she tried to keep her face as straight as she could. Uh-oh…
“I’m sorry?”
“I only found you being attacked in that alley… But that had been a few hours after you left. I was wondering where else you went. If you don’t mind me asking.”
Aiko frowned. “Actually, I do mind,” she said in her most defiant voice. If she was a princess at the moment, then she had license to secrecy, didn’t she? Now, if only she knew what she was supposed to keep secret…
Yuuji stopped walking, and sighed heavily as he faced her. “Hime-sama… You may be right when you said that we don’t tell you much about what’s going on, but there are just some things that are better left untouched.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Mai…”
Aiko was already taken aback when Yuuji had dropped the ‘-sama’ when he addressed her. But she almost jumped when he reached for her hand. True, she may have adjusted her view about the Roses as she pretended to be their princess, but this was one step too far. Then again, Aiko wasn’t about to gamble her life just because one of her enemies touched her hand. As long as he wasn’t pulling on it to kill her, she would just have to try as hard as she could mask her anger with surprise.
“Yu— Yuuji-kun?”
“Things may be unclear right now, but…since I admittedly know more about you than you do, then…” Yuuji trailed off, and for a moment, he just looked at her. He was obviously struggling with himself, and Aiko herself was pinned under his purple gaze. When she thought she couldn’t handle him looking at her like that anymore, she dropped her eyes to the floor. But when she felt the tip of his fingers touch her chin, she had no choice but to look up at him again.
“Mai,” he said, looking at her intently, “I need you to trust me right now, OK?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but before anything came out, a stifled gasp echoed in the hallway.
Aiko turned sharply, her eyes widening when she saw who had just turned around the corner, and was now gaping at them.
“I– I’m sorry!” Fuu blurted out.
It was at that moment that Aiko finally figured it out. The way Fuu looked at Aiko earlier when Yuuji pulled a chair for her, and when he offered to escort her to her room… Her eyes had had a slight hint of sadness. And that hint had been multiplied a million times in Fuu’s dark blue eyes at this very moment, as she debated with herself if she was going to leave or not. Aiko had never seen the other girl so unsure of herself.
“I’m sorry,” the Gale Rose said again. She turned around to leave, apparently deciding that she should leave her two superiors alone. “I should go—”
“Fuu.”
Aiko looked up at Yuuji, and was bewildered when he saw that same sadness in his eyes. Did Yuuji and Fuu have a history she didn’t know about?
Well, DUH, Aiko. Of course you wouldn’t know about it.
She turned her attention back to the brown-haired girl, who hadn’t turned around again to face them yet.
“We’re sorry to have startled you,” Yuuji said in an even voice. “You were expecting we had already reached the third floor, am I right?”
“Yes.”
“Why don’t you go where you were supposed to be going?”
“Of course. Excuse me.”
The girl hadn’t even taken a step when Yuuji spoke again.
“But you were going this way.”
“Oh!” Fuu spun in place, then bowed her head again as she hurriedly brushed past Aiko. Aiko frowned, wondering why Fuu was so upset. Before she could ask Yuuji about it, though, she heard Fuu’s voice again from the end of the hall.
“Actually, Mai-sama…” she said, turning around to face Aiko again. “I was about to go to your room.”
The Wind Angel blinked. “Oh?”
“Yes, I was just about to ask you if we will follow our schedule and train this afternoon.”
Again, Aiko inwardly froze. No matter how good she was at acting as Mai right now, she was sure that as soon as she uses her element, the Roses will sense that she was indeed Blue Star Wind Angel.
“Mai-sama,” came Yuuji’s voice. “I know you want to train, as you’ve never backed out of an appointment, but… you don’t have to force yourself if you’re not up to it.”
Aiko bit her lip. If she said yes, she’ll be exposing herself. If she said no…well, she’ll be exposing herself, anyway.
Drat.
————–
“Watcha doin’?”
Mai looked up to see Kamui smiling at her from her doorway. Or rather, Aiko’s doorway.
“I’m just looking at old photographs,” she said, smiling back at him.
“Oooh, getting sentimental are we?” Kamui said as he sat down beside her.
“There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?”
“Point taken. Although…I don’t think I’ve heard you voluntarily use the word ‘photograph’ before…”
Mai blinked, quickly turning her attention back to the photo album in her hands.
“Photo, photograph, picture. Same banana.”
A smile crept up Kamui’s face again as she shook his head. “Kazetenshi, two; Toriyama, zero. Man. What’s gotten in you today?”
“Perhaps the question is ‘what’s gotten into you‘.” Mai quipped, sideglancing him. At this, Kamui laughed heartily, reiterating that she had a point there. Mai inwardly sighed in relief. There she was, pretending to be Kazetenshi Aiko in front of the other girl’s best friend. And she was actually pulling it off! She must be a good actress.
It was hard, though, pretending to be the Wind Angel. After all, she knew nothing about the girl. She had no idea what her personality was, either, since the only time she spoke with her was while the other girl was crying in the snow, and that had only lasted for less than a minute before they started throwing punches at each other.
What made the act even harder was the fact that Aiko’s best friend was Kamui. Kamui! It gave the phrase ’small world’ a whole new terrifying meaning.
Mai looked down at the photo album again, lightly tracing her finger on a picture of Aiko and Kamui laughing. Each had an arm draped on the other’s shoulders, and they looked pretty young in that picture; Mai guessed they could be 10 or 12 years old. If Kamui and Aiko had known each other since they were children, Mai thought, then she might not be able to keep this up much longer. It won’t be long before Kamui sees her disparity from his real best friend, especially since he was so intuitive.
“You know,” he started, “I was starting to wonder until when you’re going to keep that style…”
“‘Style’?” Mai echoed absently.
“You know, the black hair and the brown eyes…”
At this, Mai looked at Kamui. “What about the black hair and brown eyes?”
“Well, although you still look pretty that way, I still prefer your blue hair and grey eyes.”
“Oh…”
Kamui’s eyebrows furrowed when he saw Mai’s face fall. “Oei… What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
The blue-eyed boy was not convinced. “Hey…don’t get offended, Ai-chan. All I’m saying is I like your original look better.”
“I know what you meant,” Mai said, closing the photo album. “I just thought…” she trailed off. What was she supposed to say? That she distinctly remembered what Kamui told her on the Twister?
“You’re gorgeous when you have your hair down.”
So what was that? A joke?
“Well, being my best friend, I just thought you’re supposed to approve whatever hair color I have,” she finished instead, forcing a grin.
But Kamui still noticed that she was offended by what he had said, so he hurriedly tried to explain. “I do, Ai-chan, I swear. It’s just that–… Well, if you’ve got black hair and brown eyes, too–… it just makes everything confusing.”
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed. “How is it confusing?”
Kamui was visibly taken aback. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before finally standing up.
“Never mind,” he muttered. “I gotta go.”
“Hey!” Mai called after him as he quickly left the room.
What was that all about?
For all it’s worth, though, Kamui was right. Things were getting a bit too confusing for Mai, as well. Glancing at the album on her lap, she realized how relatively lucky she was, this time. True, she had evaded replying to questions she supposedly knew the answers to, but what if Kamui had asked about a certain picture there? What was she going to do, then?
This is getting way too dangerous.
Mai took the photo album again, and opened it to one of the first few pages. After a moment of looking at it, she carefully took one picture off of the page. Then, taking a deep, decisive breath, Mai stood up, putting the album on the desk, and pulled the curtains aside. After taking a last look around the room, she turned unvisible and jumped out the window.
————–
Well, this can’t be that bad, can it?
Aiko looked up at the high walls surrounding her, feeling nervous, excited, scared and relieved, all at the same time. It turned out that the training hall they were going to use today was one that was literally a labyrinth. If ever Fuu found out who she was during their spar, Aiko thought, then she could use the maze to get away from the Rose, or at least get a head start. Then again, the disadvantage of this place was that Fuu had probably already mastered the maze, and she might just jump out when Aiko least expected it.
“FOCUS!”
Her eyes widening, Aiko jumped up, somersaulting, barely avoiding wind daggers from behind her. Well, it certainly looked like Fuu had not lost her ability to eternally take her by surprise.
Aiko landed on the ground, only to jump up again when Fuu tried to sweep her feet. Aiko frogleapt over Fuu’s head, making the older girl go “ARGH!” When the Wind Angel’s feet touched the ground again, she instantly turned around to throw Fuu to the wall with her Element. But Fuu had already anticipated this, and had leapt to the air. Aiko jumped up after her, waving her hand to send concentrated wind to slice through the air. Aiko’s attack made only a little damage on Fuu’s shirt because the girl moved away at the last second.
“HAH!” Fuu exclaimed, throwing wind daggers at her a gain, which Aiko only deflected using a force field. The two girls charged at each other, their wind swords clashing when they met in the middle.
Aiko grit her teeth as she fought Fuu, trying as hard as she could not to let herself use lightning. As similar as she was to Mai, she wasn’t sure if the other girl had exactly the same abilities as her. And, as friendly as she had been trying to be to the Roses, it didn’t change the fact that they were her enemies. Tough luck for Aiko, though, because this duel was tempting her to forget that she was supposed to be the Deathrose Princess right now.
Fuu and Aiko pushed each other, and both landed on the ground. Aiko was already breathing heavily, and, from where she was, she could see Fuu’s shoulders heavily rising and falling, as well, despite the older girl’s unexpressive face. For a minute, they just glared at each other across the large distance between them, waiting for the other to make a move.
Finally, Fuu stood up straight as she elegantly lifted her hand.
What happened next was the exact opposite of her gracefulness.
Aiko’s eyes narrowed when a wind wave suddenly barrelled towards her. It was so strong, it was actually opaque; Aiko couldn’t help but be impressed. Deciding not to fall back despite the tall, thick wall of air pressure hurtling towards her, Aiko grit her teeth, assuming battle stance, and prepared to throw a counterattack. But before she could, though, she let out a choked gasp when she felt someone tug at her collar, successfully pulling her aside and onto the floor. Aiko’s eyes widened when she saw who it was.
Mai’s raven hair flowed as Fuu’s wind wave vacuumed the hall perpendicular to theirs.
“Get out of here,” the brown-eyed girl said, tossing her something silver. “Do not speak of this switch to anyone, or else I will have your head. I’ll make it a point that we’ll meet again.”
Before Aiko could answer, Mai turned her back on her and aimed both her hands at the junction of the two halls. A mere split-second later, Mai unleashed a powerful flame blast, rendering Aiko speechless with shock.
“GO!” Mai yelled amidst the booming sound of the fire.
Nodding once, Aiko snatched the necklace on the floor, and made a run for it.
————–
“Weren’t you wearing another blouse this morning?”
Aiko looked at her brother sitting across from her on their dining table.
“No…” she said as she chewed her food. “Must be your imagination.”
“Nah, I remember you had a collared blouse on after I picked you up from Kamui’s this morning…”
She rolled her eyes. “No, I wasn’t… Oniichan, does it really matter?”
“No…” Hikaru said slowly. “I was just wondering…”
Aiko smirked. “Why the sudden interest in my clothes, anyway? You’re not thinking of cross-dressing, are you?”
“HEY!!!“
The younger Kazetenshi laughed as her brother glared at her.
“Hai, hai, Otoko-Hikaru,” she said when he started to look dangerous.
The brown-haired boy harrumphed, still glaring at her as he violently munched on his tempura.
“Don’t get too worked up on it, Oniichan,” Aiko said, “I was kidding. I promise, I’ll never joke about that again.” She put her hands together apologetically, slightly bowing her head. “Forgive me?”
“Fine.”
Though Hikaru still looked a bit angry, Aiko knew it was going to subside in a while. She had just carelessly wounded his ego…And, Hikaru being Hikaru, he was going to forget about the whole conversation by the next day. It was selfish to the point of being cruel, she knew, but it was the only way she could divert his attention from her clothes.
It was true, what he had said. Aiko was wearing another blouse earlier that day. That is, the ‘Aiko’ that was there that morning. When she was looking through Mai’s clothes to pick her outfit for the day, she had picked out a white blouse and white pants from the closet, not realizing at once that Aiko herself had an ensemble almost identical to it. And, as luck would have it, that ensemble was the one Mai chose to wear that day.
It was an amazing — not to mention fortunate — coincidence that saved her from explaining where she had truly been the whole day. She imagined Mai had been saved from the same fate, as well.
And she was right.
Not one single Rose suspected Mai’s switch with a Blue Star. Apparently, they were too amazed with the intensity of her flame during her training with Fuu.
“Have you been training behind my back?” Yuuji had jokingly asked her.
Mai had only smiled in response, knowing full well that it was adrenalin — mixed with the fear of being found out — that gave her the energy to unleash such a flame wave. Of course, if it were any other Star (except maybe Kamui), Mai would have gladly handed them to the Roses, perhaps even to Youko himself. But she had decided to let the Wind Angel go, and even hide the fact that she had been there at all. Why? Because too many baffling events have happened one after another, flooding her mind with questions at an alarming rate.
First, there was the existence of Kazetenshi Aiko. Why was it that she had Mai’s physical features down to the last detail of her face? Why was it that she had the power of wind, just like Mai? Was it just a freak coincidence that two girls who were so much alike just happened to be on opposite sides of a war?
There was also the unfortunate chance that Kamui was a Star, as well. Oddly, though, when she found out that he was indeed a Blue Star, she suddenly felt guilty for promising herself that she was going to kill every Star she can find…
And then, there was the fact that it had been Aiko’s brother that had saved her the previous night, and that it had been Kamui’s sister that had healed her wound… They were so nice and friendly to everyone around them, she found it hard to believe that those people were actually the Blue Stars.
The Blue Stars that had killed her parents.
Of course, she was sure that the ones who actually murdered her parents were of the older generation. But still, a Blue Star was a Blue Star. And anything Blue Star was evil.
Now, though, everything Mai had known to be true seems so uncertain. She was so dizzy with everything that was happening around her that she actually decided to skip dinner, and go straight to bed, instead. But sleep seemed very far away…
Mai stood up from her bed with an unusual frown on her ever-smiling lips. She padded over to her desk and sat down, waving her hand to light the oil lamp Yuuji had given her a few years ago. She put her hand on the one of the drawers, and, in a second, the ki-sensitive lock opened for the Deathrose Princess. The first thing that she saw was the photo she had taken from the Wind Angel’s album. She placed it on top of her desk before pulling out a small picture frame from the same drawer. She removed the photo from its frame, and placed the two prints beside each other.
Looking at their photos side by side under the light of her burning lamp, it was crystal clear that they had the same face, the same physique, the same everything. The only difference was that the four-year-old Mai had brown eyes, Aiko had grey. Mai had black hair, Aiko had blue. Mai had her hair cut like a boy’s, and Aiko had hers down to a few inches past her shoulders. But their similarities wasn’t what Mai was looking at. She already knew they looked alike. Instead, her eyes focused on the woman holding Kazetenshi Aiko’s hand in the photograph the latter had labeled “Okaasan with Ai-chan (4 years old)”. She had midnight blue hair gathered in a loose but elegant ponytail. Her gentle brown eyes were smiling at the camera, and her lips were formed in a sweet, ladylike smile. Mai shifted her gaze from one photo to another, once again confirming her observation.
That woman with Aiko was, without a doubt, the exact same woman hugging Mai in the photograph that Youko had given her when she was small.
The photograph that, according to Youko, was one of Mai and her mother.
————–
Next on Blue Star
Everyone is afraid of something. But there’s always a time when you have to face your fears. Even if it looks exactly like you.
“So I guess this is good-bye, isn’t it?”
Episode 21: Dearest
————–
From the Author
Clarifications:
- Kamui is NOT the Healer. Mai just thought it was he who healed her, but, if you notice, that detail was corrected later that day.
-Mai has two Elements: wind and fire
-As of Episode 20: As far as Mai is concerned, the Blue Stars before Aiko’s generation had killed her parents.
Review topics
1) The scene where Aiko does the waterworks in front of Yuuji. I totally loved that scene, and I’d like to know what you think about it 
What do you think of Aiko’s aftershock regarding the alley incident?
2) The Roses. Yeah. Gimme opinions about the lunch scene.
3) The fact that both sides didn’t seem to notice that they had an imposter in their midst. Too unbelievable?
References to early episodes
- Yuuji and Aiko met in Episode 9: Surprise. He had called her “hime-sama”
- “Gotta love the wind” was Kamui’s line in Episode 16: Carnival. This is the same episode where he first meets Mai, and he compliments her about her hair.
- The last time Aiko (or any other Star) had fought with the Roses (except Mai) was way back in Episode 15: Witness.
- The first hints of the Yuuji-Fuu issue appear in Episode 14: Fever
So…yeah. If you got any other questions, feel free to ask them through your review, and I’ll answer the ones that won’t spoil anything for the later episodes
Special notes
Bentfender: YEY! It’s nice to know I’m not the only one who likes the moderately slow Kaji-Aiko development. I’m not saying that they’ll end up together (I’m not saying they won’t, either), but I guess we both don’t want to rush things. Which aspect of the last part was confusing to you? And, yeah, I enjoyed your review. It’s a lot of help, thanks
