“AAH! Don’t move that pi— Nooooo…!”
“Kaji, could you please pass the ketchup?”
“Checkmate.”
“Get it yourself, woman.”
“No, no, wait! Not yet!”
I think this will be a futile attempt, but let me describe the scene I am seeing: “The word ‘chaos’ simply does not cover it.” I think this was the same thing that was going on in Aiko’s head when she entered the Deathrose dining room for the first time.
Yuki and Kamui were on one end of the table, playing chess. Hikaru was watching the game, reacting every now and then about the moves Yuki decided to make. Sara was making a hotdog sandwich, the different ingredients spread out before her. Kaji was reading a book amidst the group, occasionally throwing remarks into the air, not really caring if anyone listened to him.
“That’s a checkmate, Yuki, accept it.”
“There’re a lotta things you gotta accept–”
“I told you not to move that piece–”
“Anybody want a hotdog sandwich?”
“It’s not my fault; it was too late when you told me!”
“If nobody wants this, I’m going to eat it.”
“If I told you earlier, then that’d be cheating–”
“Then eat it.”
“Hey, sis, make me one, will you?”
Ran smiled, popping a piece of popcorn in his mouth as he sat back on the couch. It had been quite a while since the whole cast had assembled in the palace, and it felt really nice, seeing them all friendly again. Even if being ‘friendly’ involved paper balls being thrown across the table, an over-sarcastic mouth, sighs of exasperation, and piercing blue eyes.
There was one thing missing to complete the scene, though.
He glanced at the girl sitting beside him, his ashen eyes narrowing. Feeling his gaze on her, she turned to look at him, too. She smiled, but she didn’t say anything else before turning her attention back to the group around the table.
“You’re pretty quiet today,” Ran said.
No response.
“Aiko?”
Still no response.
“Hey. Aiko,” he tried again, nudging her. She gave a start, then turned to him, blinking.
“I’m sorry, what did you say?”
A pause.
“It’s nothing.”
She frowned, looking absolutely remorseful. “I apologize for not listening,” she said. “I suppose my mind has been elsewhere lately…”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ran said, waving his hand dismissively before getting another piece of popcorn. “It’s OK.”
“I’m sorry for not paying attention… What did you say earlier?”
Ran gazed at her for a moment. Despite his furrowed eyebrows, he smiled curiously. “Since when do you not comment when the boys throw a comment about any of the girls?”
“Well… I—”
“And since when do you speak in proper sentences?”
Ran’s eyes narrowed at her even more, and Mai had to make a conscious effort not to take a deep, steadying breath.
OK. It’s showtime.
She stood from the sofa, and produced a pretty confident smile. “Well, I just decided to have a personal make-over.”
Ran’s eyebrow rose. “Oh?”
Before Mai could answer, though, Ran turned to address the Stars…
“Oei! Aiko has an announcement to make!”
…only to be ignored.
“No no no no! That’s the wrong move again—!”
“Will you stop interfering with my game?!”
“Sara, why are there pickles on this? You know I don’t like pickles—”
“See, if you place the rook here—”
“You’ve already taken a bite out of that. Eat it.”
“Can I have just a plain hotdog without the bread—?”
“Hey! Watch it! I’m readin’ ‘ere!”
Mai blinked. A crazy group of people, this is.
“Well, Aiko-chan?” came Ran’s voice again. “Aren’t you going to make your announcement?”
“But… it looks like no one’s listening…”
“You say that as if you don’t know us, Aiko,” Ran said, laughing. “What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing. So here’s my personal make-over plan, Ran-sama.”
“Ah, finally, we get to hear it.”
Mai smiled, somewhat relieved. “Well,” she started, counting with her fingers, “I decided to try to be less assertive, but not to the point of being passive. I thought maybe I’d try to be quieter than I was before. I think I’d like to see how it is when I’m not over reactive; I’ll restrain my violent tendency. Maybe I’ll stop myself from commenting on the smallest things. Instead, I’m just going to keep my opinions to myself unless it was necessary to share my thoughts. Also, this’ll probably be the last time I’ll explain something in a long paragraph — unless it was necessary, of course — because I’m going to try to be a girl of a few words from now on.”
When Mai finished, she involuntarily released the breath she didn’t know she had been holding. It was only then that she noticed the utter silence in the room, and that everyone was looking at her as if she had spoken in a different language.
Until Kaji stood up.
“WHAT?! Rookie, are you insane?!”
“OK, Ai-chan, you got our attention. What’re you really going to say?”
“And what made you suddenly decide to do this?”
“Yeah, right, Aiko. You? Quiet? Puh-leeze!”
“Isn’t this what they call schizophrenia? This is schizophrenia, ne, Oniichan?”
Mai stepped back as all five Stars barraged her with questions and disapproving or unbelieving comments. “Uh…” was all she could muster as she side-glanced Ran. Somehow, she wanted him to intervene like he was her manager and say, ‘One at a time, please, one at a time…’ But he didn’t.
“Don’t ask me,” he said, grinning, as he tossed another piece of popcorn into his mouth. “I’m just here to watch.”
————–
What a beautiful afternoon to fly.
Aiko took a deep, refreshing breath as she lowered herself down on the grass and sat down, her princessly dress brushing against her legs. Her grey eyes under her brown contact lenses scanned the wide expanse of green grass before her. For a moment, she just sat there, hugging her knees, and enjoyed the silence. Just as it was on the Thinking Mound, it didn’t take long before she fell into a contemplative mood.
“That man…that man that had your mother killed. What was his name?”
“His name…was Ran.”
That revelation about Ran-sama was the mother of all jaw-dropping, mind-boggling, world-crumbling revelations. Honestly, she just wanted to strangle Mai right then and there. But, just to be fair, she didn’t. Instead, Aiko formulated a plan.
“You want to switch places?” Mai had asked. “But—”
“Take note that my faith is still with Ran.” Aiko clarified. “See, that’s the thing. I can’t investigate Blue Star properly because I’m biased for them. Same goes with you and Deathrose.”
“But what if they get suspicious of us? We’re not exactly the same when it comes to our personality. Not to mention Hikaru already knows.”
“I don’t think Oniichan found the letter yet. If he had, he would have hid it somewhere, or he would have told me about you. As for everybody else, we’re just going to make an excuse in advance. First thing this morning, we tell them that we’ve decided to do a personal overhaul. This way, they won’t be suspicious of the overnight attitude change because we’ve already explained it.”
When Aiko had delivered her speech at the Rose palace, she was still a bit tired and sleepy (she barely had sleep), so her ‘Aiko-ness’ was lowered a notch. This was good because the change didn’t appear to be as drastic as it already was.
And now, it was already almost sunset. Although Mai had already taught her the places she was supposed to know, Aiko had spent the day familiarizing herself with the palace. It turned out that, despite being hailed as a princess, Mai wasn’t given full access to every room and corner in the palace. What a ridiculous concept. Therefore, Aiko was in the midst of people who wanted to kill her, and had limited access to the palace. So she decided to just hit the library to do research, instead.
She stood up, brushing her dress clean.
“Well, better get back to work, then, Princess.”
————–
The week passed by quickly, and once again, the Thursday afternoon found the Group in their usual booth.
Kamui didn’t remember specifically when he started to hang out in the Spazio, but he did remember that he was with Aiko the first time he tasted their mocha shake. They were in fifth grade at that time, and, from then on, he was hooked. He ordered mocha shake when he needed to cool down after soccer practice, when he wanted something to lighten his mood, and when he was celebrating something.
In short, he always ordered mocha shake.
Sometimes he got it in their regular-sized glass, and sometimes, in their Colossus glass, like today. It was 12 inches tall, and he could finish his drink in at least an hour. Perfect for hanging out. Also perfect for hiding from Midori, who seemed to be the master of glaring. No, scratch that. She was the master of using her emerald eyes to bore a hole through him.
Like what she was doing right that very moment.
“Midori…” Kamui said, wishing his glass was even bigger than it already was. “Can you please turn your deathglare somewhere else?”
“I refuse to believe what you just told me,” she said, still staring at him.
“Believe it, Mi,” Rei said beside her. “And that’s no deathglare, dude. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet–”
“But that’s impossible!” Midori exclaimed.
“Woo-hoo…Let’s hail the media, shall we?” Kamui said sarcastically.
“Don’t treat this as if it’s not a big deal!”
“But it isn’t a big deal!”
“You call Toriyama Kamui being late for class not a big deal?!”
“As if the world’s going to crash down just because I was late.”
“But you’ve NEVER been late before! You’ve never even come close to the first bell. You were always WAY too early!”
“Just because it’s never happened before doesn’t mean it’s impossible, Midori,” Kamui said. “And stop looking at me like that. It’s unnerving.”
“C’mon, Midori, give the guy a break,” Rei finally mediated, pulling Midori back into her seat.
Despite the frown on her lips, Midori finally relented. “What do you have to say about all this, Ai-chan?” she asked, turning to the black-haired girl beside Kamui.
“Well…” the other girl said, glancing at Kamui. “Why were you late?”
“I woke up a bit late. I’d rather not go into the details why.”
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed at Kamui’s sudden seriousness, but she wasn’t able to think about it when Midori spoke again.
“But doesn’t Ishida-sensei punish latecomers? What was your punishment?”
Kamui instantly flushed. He mumbled something as he made a show of intently staring at his shake, stirring the contents of his glass with his straw.
“What?” she asked, leaning closer. “I didn’t hear you, what did you say?”
“Nothing,” Kamui said. He seemed to find his drink to be the most interesting thing at the moment.
Midori turned her eyes to Mai questioningly. “Well, Ai-chan?”
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to answer my question for him?”
Mai sideglanced Kamui, and found him looking at her, as well. The boy had a look in his eyes that clearly begged, ‘Please don’t.’
“It’s not mine to answer,” she said. Kamui visibly sighed in relief.
“Ai-chan,” Midori said, “what was Kamui’s punishment?”
“He’s to sing in front of the class first thing tomorrow morning,” Mai answered without hesitation.
“AIKO!”
“Yes?” Mai smiled innocently at Kamui’s glare.
“I thought you said it wasn’t yours to answer!”
“Her question to you wasn’t mine to answer,” Mai explained, “but then she had a question for me, did she not?”
Midori laughed and exchanged high fives with Mai, whose gaze and smile for Kamui didn’t waver. “Kamui, why are you so shy to sing, anyway? Don’t even attempt to say that you don’t have a singing voice, because you do.”
“I do not have a singing voice.”
“Hey, Ai-chan,” the emerald-eyed girl said, ignoring Kamui. “What’s he going to sing?”
“Ishida-sensei said she was going to just randomly pick a track from a CD she’s going to bring.”
“Aha!” Midori exclaimed. “Your fangirls are going to enjoy this, aren’t they?”
“According to the Group Constitution Article II Section 5, the term ‘fangirls’ when addressed to Toriyama Kamui is authorized to be used only by Kazetenshi Aiko,” Kamui told Midori pointedly. “Any user of the term aside from the aforementioned authorized user will be subject to—”
“Your fangirls are going to enjoy this, aren’t they?” Mai interrupted.
While the girls laughed, Kamui could only roll his eyes and sink into his seat, hiding behind the trusty Colossus glass.
“Kamui ol’ buddy ol’ pal,” Rei said, “I sympathize with you.”
————–
The sun had already set.
Ran yawned, stretching his arms as he walked through the corridor. He had just gotten back to the palace, and he just wanted to crash down on the bed and recharge his batteries. Despite his level, the Blue Star Sensei got tired sometimes, too. You will NOT open that door, Ran, you will NOT, he repeated over and over when he entered the hall that led to his room — as well as his office. Whenever he was in his office, he couldn’t help but suddenly tranform into a workaholic. And, right now, work was the last thing he needed. What he needed was sleep. Sleeeeeeeeep.
Despite his mantra, Ran’s footsteps slowed down to a stop in front of those mahogany doors. His eyebrows furrowing, he took the brass handle and opened the door…
“Seventy-four collections. Broke your own record, Ran?”
Ran’s frown deepened as he narrowed his eyes at the man sitting in his leather chair. Odd. He didn’t sense any other person in the palace when he got in. He must be tired.
“What’re you doing here?” he asked, looking straight at the silver eyes that seemed to taunt him.
“Why, am I forbidden to come here?”
“If you asked me that 10 years ago, I would’ve said ‘no’.”
Youko laughed as he leaned back on the chair. “I expected you to say that. Really, Ran… Holding grudges is bad for the health.”
Ran scoffed. “You’re one to talk,” he said sarcastically.
“You wound my heart, brother. I only wanted to visit—”
“Why are you really here, Youk—”
The question was never finished as Youko was suddenly in Ran’s face, a dangerous glint in his silver eyes. His reflexes taking over, Ran effectively blocked the hand that was about to pierce his stomach, and, in a split-second maneuver, slammed Youko to the floor. But the Rose had already put his leg between the two of them, enabling him to send Ran flying to the ceiling.
“Nice to see you’re still training,” Youko said, grinning, flicking a lock of his hair away from his eyes with a finger as he stood up. Ran remained silent as he lowered himself to the ground. “The reason I’m here is to as you a few questions. My memory seems to be failing me recently…”
“You must be getting old.”
“Funny.”
“Hurry up and ask already, you’re wasting my tim—”
“Do you remember Yume?”
Silence.
“Remember that powerful Elemental that all the guys wanted to have, but never got? Strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes—”
“What about Yume?”
Youko smiled, absolutely satisfied with Ran’s reaction. The Star’s face darkened even more, and his hands were clenched into tight fists. “Ah, so you remember her. Good.”
“What does this have to do with anything?”
“A lot, Ran. A lot. Back in the old days, you had everything. Your father’s love, your clan’s trust, and everyone’s attention… But that wasn’t enough for you, was it? You just had to bask in the fact that Yume worshipped you. “
Again, silence.
“You know, I’ve always wanted to ask you: did you ever find her irritating? I mean, the way she clings to you, I wouldn’t be surprised if she’ll gladly take her clothes off just to—”
Youko’s sentence was cut short when suddenly felt his back hit the wall hard. He blinked when he saw the crackling, glowing, black ball of energy held a few inches away from his face. Right beside it was Ran’s furiously glaring ashen eyes.
“Speak so low of Yume again,” Ran said in a dangerous voice, “and I swear, you will regret having been born with a tongue.”
“Tsk. Temper, Ran, temper.”
Ran tightened his hold on Youko’s collar even more. “I’m serious, Youko.”
“I can see that,” the Rose answered. The smile on his face didn’t wane. “You really loved her, didn’t you?”
“None of your business.”
“Why did you always push her away, Ran? You could’ve had her. You had her wrapped around you finger, Ran, you had everyone wrapped around her finger. Why did you throw it all away?”
Ran’s jaw clenched. The ball of energy he had been holding dissipated as he pulled Youko from the wall, and pushed him towards the door, instead.
“You’ve stayed long enough, Youko. Out.”
The Rose straightened his clothes calmly as he squared his shoulders. The smile on his face was finally gone, replaced by a thin line that was his lips. “You can’t have it all forever you know,” he said almost inaudbly. “The tables have turned.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Simply put, whereas before, you had something I wanted… I now have something you want.”
Before Ran could do anything, Youko was suddenly gone.
————–
Mai scratched her head as she stared at the piece of paper before her. She took it from her desktop, replacing it with her feet, and held it up at the flourescent bulb above her. She leaned back on her chair, rocking it back and forth on its two hind legs.
“Dear paper,” she said out loud, “why on earth are you still empty?”
“It’s because you hadn’t written anything on it.”
The rocking stopped. Mai turned to the window to see Kaji floating outside, grinning at her.
“Evenin’.”
Mai smiled as she put her feet down and sat upright. “Hao,” she said, using Aiko’s ever-famous greeting. “Is it time for Kaji-sama’s nightly question and answer session?”
“Do ya hafta call it that?”
“That’s what it is, isn’t it?”
“Whatever. May I come in?”
“If you must.”
Kaji rolled his eyes as he stepped into the room. “Does that personal make-over thing really include you being hostile towards me?”
“I’m not hostile towards you,” Mai replied as she sat on the bed.
“Oh, so this,” he said, pointing at her nonchalant face, “isn’t hostile.”
“If this is hostile to you, then I wonder what you call the Roses.”
“Alphabetically? Antisocial, belligerent, cantankerous, disagreeable—”
“OK, I get the idea,” she interrupted, frowning. “Stupid question.”
Kaji frowned, as well, as he sat down on the chair. “Oei…Why so grumpy?”
“Nothing.”
“Rookie… It’s just the Roses—”
“Just the Roses, huh?” Mai kept her eyes on the wall, trying her best not to get angry at the maroon-haired Star who just spoke so antagonistically towards her friends. She knew she couldn’t blame him, but she couldn’t let this go without saying something. “Ever thought that maybe the Roses are thinking the same way about us?”
“I’m sure they do,” Kaji said, surprising Mai, “I mean, this is a war, ain’t it? In every war, each side thinks they’re the ones who are right.”
“So we’re just going to sit back and let this go on? Aren’t we going to try and resolve it without violence?”
“We already tried to talk to the Roses, but their answer was always a punch or a kick.” Kaji paused as his eyebrows furrowed again. “Didn’t we already talk about this before?”
“We have?”
“Yeah. It was right before your first fight with the Roses. Don’t you remember that?”
“Uh… That was… That was a year ago already, wasn’t it?”
Kaji’s frown deepened. “Are you sure your make-over thing doesn’t include your brain? You’ve been forgetting a whole lotta things lately.”
Before Mai could open her mouth to answer — she didn’t have an answer, anyway — the door opened, and her savior for the day arrived.
“Aiko, someone’s on the phone for you.” The two boys acknowledged each other with a nod as Hikaru handed the cordless phone to Mai.
“Hello?”
“Is this Aiko?” came a hushed voice.
“Yes, who’s this?”
“I called to ask about a black rose…”
Mai automatically glanced at Kaji. “Just a second,” she said, then covered the mouthpiece with her hand.
“Uh…” was all she got out before Kaji stood up and smiled, saying, “I’ll go on ahead.”
“OK. Thanks…”
“No prob. G’night.”
After Kaji left, Mai went to close the door, then spoke into the phone again. “What about a black rose?”
“Was that Kaji just now?”
Mai’s eyebrows furrowed. The voice from the other end suddenly sounded odd. “Yes…”
“Is he gone?”
“Yes.”
“Can you go out of the house?”
“Yes, why? Where are you?”
“Thinking Mound. 10 minutes.”
The line suddenly went dead. Mai shook her head as she took her jacket, then went to knock on Hikaru’s door. She heard a muffled “Come in!” amidst the rock music playing in the room.
“Here’s the phone, Oniichan, thanks. I’m going out for a while, OK?”
Hikaru frowned as he lowered the volume of CD player. “Where to?”
“A friend who wishes to remain anonymous is currently bawling her eyes out,” Mai fabricated. “I’m gonna come to the rescue.”
“I’m coming with you,” Hikaru said, standing up.
“No, you’re not,” Mai objected. “This is girl talk, Oniichan, I doubt you’d want to be there.”
“But it’s already late!”
“Please let me go outside alone,” Mai said, putting her hands together as she did when she pleaded to Yuuji. “I’m no porcelain doll, you know…”
For a moment, Hikaru just looked at her. Then, he nodded, but his frown didn’t wane. In fact, he even narrowed his eyes at her. “Just try to avoid shuriken, OK? Just because you’re a Star doesn’t mean it’s all right to get hurt over and over. Do you understand me?”
She smiled. Aiko sure was lucky to have Hikaru as a brother…
“Hai, Oniichan.”
Then again, so was Mai.
Mai arrived at the Thinking Mound right on the dot. “Are you OK?” was her question upon arrival.
“Hao. Yes, I’m fine. I just wanted to see how you were doing.”
Mai sighed in relief as she sat down beside Aiko. “Oh. You scared me. I thought something bad happened.”
Aiko shook her head. “Nope. Just wanted to be filled in.”
“Ah. So I trust everything’s well at the palace?”
“Fine and dandy. Everyone bought my make-over excuse. Both Fuu and Yuuji looked puzzled, but they didn’t ask anything. No one objected… You’re used to having your way, aren’t you?”
“Most times, yeah. Maa… I still can’t believe we survived a week! And here I thought I was going to get caught on the first day. Pretending to be you for half a day around three Stars was hard enough. Doing it it amidst all the Stars… Let me just say I’m amazed with my own guts.”
“Did you encounter any problems?”
“Not really. Although everyone still occasinally throws comments about ‘the new Aiko’, no one seriously questioned me about it. But… Ran looked so scary since day one…”
Aiko laughed as she leaned back on the grass. “Ran? Scary? Girl, you definitely need glasses.”
“OK, so he didn’t look scary in the strict sense of the word. But he smiles so much, I get the feeling that he knows something I don’t.”
“Mai. Of course he knows something you don’t. That’s the whole point of this switch, right?”
It was Mai’s turn to laugh. “Oh yeah.”
“Ran isn’t scary at all. Sometimes he acts more like a mascot than a sensei!”
“Hey! That’s mean, isn’t it?” Mai said, laughing again.
“Yeah, it is,” Aiko said. “Maybe you only perceived him to be scary because of the image already formed in your mind.”
Mai nodded. “I guess I’m going to make a whole lot of effort to forget what Youko had told me about Ran for a while… But, really… The way he looked at me on my first day almost convinced me that my investigation had ended before it even began.”
“Ran is perceptive…”
“He looks pretty easy-going, but there’s a deep, unknown, untouched side of him.”
“The man is, simply, an enigma.”
A pause.
“What a weird guy.”
Aiko laughed again as Mai voiced out exactly what she was thinking. “Right on.”
“Actually, he reminds me a lot of Youko…”
“Oh?”
Mai blinked at Aiko’s clueless face. “Haven’t you met Youko-san?” When Aiko shook her head, Mai eyed her disbelieveingly. “No way. You’ve been there for a week and you haven’t met him?!”
“The man doesn’t show himself. Yuuji always says that Youko doesn’t want to be disturbed.”
“Hmf. Typical,” Mai said. “But still… A week? That’s gotta be a new record. Let me remind you: it’s better not to barge into his office—”
“–lest you want him to throw daggers at you through his eyes, I know. Yuuji told me that, too. But, I have to ask: he’s nice to you, right?”
“Of course he is. Why wouldn’t he be?”
“It’s just that the way the Roses talk about Youko gave me the idea that they’re distant from him.”
“Youko-san isn’t as close to the Roses as Ran is to the Stars. But, although he’s nice to me, remember to be extra extra careful with him. He’s one discerning man. But I guess you’re already used to keen people, aren’t you?”
“You mean Ran?”
“I mean everyone.”
“Like who?”
“Like Kamui, for one. The first time we switched, he was the one with all the questions. But I guess that’s a good thing, because he didn’t ask a lot, this time. Sara is, of course, included in the list.”
“Without question. Remember not to think too deeply when she’s around–”
“–because she can read minds. Right. You’re right about Yuki, too. She’s an observer; she never pokes around. Kaji, though, is another story.”
Aiko smiled as she gazed at the girl beside her. It was funny, looking at Mai wearing her clothes and talking about the Stars. She was amused as it felt like a dream where she got to watch herself. At the same time, there was this odd feeling in the pit of her stomach, knowing full well that someone else was living her life for her.
“What was Kaji doing in my room tonight, anyway?”
“He visits every night. Does he normally do that?”
Aiko’s eyebrows furrowed. “No. Why? What does he do?”
“He asks a lot about your past experiences. Good thing you already told me most of them. Aiko, I think he knows something’s up.”
“Really?” Aiko didn’t know whether to be sad, to panic or to be elated. Sure, if Kaji found out the truth, then that meant that their investigation was going to be interrupted. But then again, that also meant that he noticed that Mai was different from Aiko despite Mai’s make-over excuse, right? She didn’t know why she felt excited over this fact, but she did.
“Aiko, are you in love with Kaji?” came Mai’s voice, breaking through Aiko’s thoughts.
“W-What?!” Aiko exclaimed. “How’d you–… I mean, why would I–… I mean—…”
“I’m not trying to poke around. I just want to know how you feel about him so I’d know how to act.”
“How I feel—?” Aiko echoed. “Just act normally and you’ll do fine. It’s not like I act differently towards him.”
“Just a while ago, he told me that I was being hostile towards him. I know for sure that I wasn’t trying to be hostile towards him or anything… If he’s suspicious, Aiko, I’ve got to make adjustments. Tell me, how do you act around him?”
“I…I just…” Aiko started. How does she act around Kaji? She didn’t recall doing anything special… She did what felt natural when he’s around, and that was it.
“Aiko, are you in love with Kaji?” Mai asked again.
This time, Aiko didn’t know what to answer.
————–
It was already 11:30 p.m. but Sara was still wide awake. It wasn’t that she wasn’t sleepy; in fact, she was already tired. She couldn’t sleep because she didn’t want to sleep. She didn’t want to have that dream again. The one dream she’s been repeatedly having the past four nights.
It always starts with something recent that involved the Group. Sometimes it’s them in the Spazio, or maybe they’d be watching Kamui’s team practice. The starting scene changed every night, but the constant element was Aiko, her hair color strangely back to the original midnight blue.
Everything would go as it did in real life, until the elements suddenly go berserk. First, lightning would strike, and it would suddenly rain hard, but only for a few seconds. An earthquake would violently shake the ground, then all the leaves on the trees would be blown off by a gush of wind. Finally, a raging fire would engulf the Group. Then, as quickly as it started, everything becomes deathly silent, and there would only be darkness. In the middle of it all, Aiko stood, her grey eyes frighteningly cold and emotionless. It was at this point that Sara always woke up screaming.
Tonight, Sara knew she was going to have that dream again.
Maybe I should have told Oniichan, after all.
Every time the dream ended and it was time for Sara to wake up, Kamui was instantly by her side. She had never told him what she had dreamed of, saying she didn’t want to talk about it.
Sara specifically didn’t want to talk about it with Kamui (but of couse, she didn’t tell him that). The dream had to mean something, but she knew that Kamui was probably the worst person to discuss it with. He was Aiko’s best friend, so, either his judgement about the dream would be impaired (just as Sara believed that her own judgement was impaired), or his trust in Aiko would be ruined. The previous night, he had unsuccessfully tried especially hard to get her to talk. She reckoned that was why he was late for school that morning.
Sara sighed heavily. She couldn’t avoid that dream forever, she figured, so maybe she had to stop running away from it and start trying to figure it out. Maybe, this time, I’m going to get a clue, she thought as she closed her eyes.
At that moment, she absolutely hated the human capacity to dream.
————–
Your face lights up the sky on the highway
Someday, you’ll share your world with me, someday
You mesmerize me with diamond eyes
I try to fool myself to think I’ll be alright
Then I am losing all control
My mind, my heart, my body and my soul
Never in my life have I been more sure
So come on up to me and close the door
Nobody’s made me feel this way before
You’re everything I wanted and more
Just beacon out to where to begin
The great dilemmas I’m finding myself in
For all I know you only see me as a friend
I try to tell myself, ‘Wake up, fool!
This fairy tale’s got to end.’
Never in my life have I been more sure
So come on up to me and close the door
Nobody’s made me feel this way before
You’re everything I want and more
You’re everything I wanted…
Silence.
Mai almost jumped when the class erupted into an applause. At the front of the classroom, Kamui’s eyes seemed glued to her still, until Ishida-sensei patted his back and told him that he could go back to his seat. He smiled wanly, then, scratching the back of his head, went to take his seat behind Mai. The Princess instantly bowed her head and stared at the desk as Kamui passed by. She desperately wished that her cheeks would return to their normal color as she tried to ignore the onslaught of her classmates’ teasing.
“Hey, are you guys an item now?”
“Uwaaa! Aiko-san, that was so cute!”
“That’s your declaration of love, isn’t it, Toriyama-kun?”
“When did you two start going out?”
“OK, OK, settle down, class,” Ishida-sensei’s voice came amidst the excited noise. “Let’s give another subdued applause for Toriyama-kun, who bravely sang the song I randomly picked for him.” Another applause. “That, class, was a song from the Philippines. It’s a country south of Japan that…”
Kamui wasn’t listening as his teacher went on about the Philippines in relation to Japanese history. He stared at his hands as his heart irritatingly thudded on his ribcage. Inside his head, he was hitting himself over and over. He had always known that art imitates life, but this is just too absurd. Imagine, he had to sing that in front of the class. In front of Aiko! Sheesh.
He threw a quick glance at the black-haired girl in front of him. Although this was a perfect time for Aiko to tease him about his popularity again, she didn’t.
Well, duh, Toriyama. Maybe she’d act more normally if you didn’t stare at her practically all throughout the song.
Kamui had honestly tried real hard to tear his eyes from her while he was singing, but he just couldn’t. Why? Maybe because the lyrics of the song was precisely what he wanted to tell her. But he didn’t want to tell her now, that’s for sure. Kamui stopped, suddenly surprised with his train of thought. But he wasn’t able to ponder about it when the exact person he was thinking of spoke.
“Hey,” she said. Kamui’s head snapped up to see those beautiful, mysterious brown eyes smiling at him. “You did really well, for an impromptu performance.”
“…Thanks.”
She turned around again to listen to their teacher, while Kamui couldn’t wipe the grin off his face. So what if Kaji likes her? Maybe Kamui still had a chance, after all.
Rei ol’ buddy ol’ pal, ‘yet’ is finally here.
————–
A loud thud echoed in the library as Aiko closed the heavy book. She stared up at the fantastically high ceiling, her lips arched in a small pout as she rocked her chair back and forth on its hind legs. She must have looked into a hundred books already, but everything related to Deathrose’s past just reiterated what Mai had told her. This was to be expected, of course, but Aiko had hoped she’d find a loophole or an inconsistency in there somewhere.
Well, you got about a million more books to look into—
“Taking a sudden interest in history, Mai-sama?”
With a gasp, Aiko jumped in surprise, making her chair tip over, and she would’ve fallen on the floor unceremoniously if two arms didn’t catch her. Relief washed over her for being saved from hitting the floor, but only for a second.
No. Way.
Aiko remained frozen as she looked up at his silver eyes. The silver eyes she didn’t think she would ever see again.
The tall man smiled at her as he set her on her feet. “Jumpy today, aren’t you?”
Aiko blinked herself awake. “You surprised me, that’s all,” she said, trying hard to keep her voice calm. She picked up several books on the table, and went to put them back on the shelf. In her mind, Aiko was panicking big time. Who would’ve known — or maybe Aiko should’ve known — that the silver-eyed cloaked person at the race that day was a member of Deathrose?
“Let me help you with that,” he said, almost making Aiko jump again, as he took the books from her. His eyebrows furrowed. “Are you all right, Mai-sama? Your hands are cold.”
“I’m fine,” Aiko answered, mustering up a smile.
“If you say so,” he said, smiling, as well. Aiko instantly remembered what Mai said the other night about Ran.
“…he smiles so much, I get the feeling that he knows something I don’t.”
“Actually, he reminds me a lot of Youko…”
So this is Youko. The one who could most probably answer all her questions. Now, if only Aiko knew what questions to ask without blowing her cover…
“I have something to show you, Mai-sama,” Youko said. “Won’t you come with me?”
The way he was smiling at her then already gave her the creeps, and the way he held her arm to lead her out the room didn’t help at all. But, if Aiko wanted her investigation to progress, she’d have to go with the flow. Although, it would’ve been much easier if she didn’t have a gut feeling that something was terribly wrong…
————–
“Dang!” Kamui exclaimed. “You’ve improved a lot, Hino! Have you been training behind our backs?”
“Excuse me,” Kaji said, raising an eyebrow as he threw a towel at Kamui. “Who do you think taught you how to be a Star? I think you’re forgetting which one of us is the teacher, and which is the student.”
“Ah, my apologies,” Kamui said with a bow. “I give honor to thee, O Great Fire Soul.”
“That’s more like it,” Kaji stated regally as he sat down on the floor. “You may now serve me my food, peasant.”
“Yeah, right. You wish.”
The two boys laughed at their own antics as the wind blew in from outside.
“Here,” Kamui said, tossing Kaji a water bottle.
“Thanks.”
For a few moments, the two Stars just sat in silence as they rested from their spar. Kamui was leaning on the wall with his eyes closed, while, a few feet away from him, Kaji gazed at the garden outside.
“Oei, Toriyama…”
“Yeah?”
“I got a question.”
“OK…”
“What do you think of Aiko lately?”
At this, Kamui opened one eye to glance at Kaji. “What do you mean?”
“Don’t you think she’s acting strange recently?”
Kamui scoffed. “Have you already forgotten her monumental ‘announcement’ last week?”
“No. But… I dunno. I just find it weird. Why would she wanna be someone new?”
“Maybe she just feels like it.” Kamui studied Kaji for a few moments when the older boy remained silent. It was obvious that Fire Soul was not taking this issue lightly. Truth be told, the changes Kamui had seen in his best friend was more than he expected, and he could actually understand why Kaji was puzzled by it. But still…
“Why are you making a big deal out of this, anyway?”
“I’m not making this a big issue. I just—… I just think…”
“You think what?”
“I just think she’s being a bit odd.”
“Hino,” Kamui said, rolling his eyes, “we’re back where we started. So Ai-chan wants to change her image. Let her do it. Everybody changes, anyway, right?”
“Sure, people change, but…” Kaji sighed, scratching his hair.
“But…?”
“But…”
“But what? Out with it already!”
“She’s just not being Aiko.”
“Dude. That’s the whole idea of the word ‘change’.”
“What I’m sayin’ is: she just acts WAY too different for her to be the same person.”
“So, what,” Kamui asked, laughing, “you think Ai-chan’s possessed or something?”
“Maybe. Who knows.” Kaji frowned when Kamui laughed even harder. “Think about it! Maybe she’s that person the Roses carried off before! Y’know, the one Ran told me about? What if she happens to look exactly like Aiko and she decides to take her place?”
“I thought that happened before you became a Star.”
“It did. Maybe…Maybe, like Ran-sama, she hasn’t aged a day.”
“So you’re saying Aiko’s a Rose.”
“Well, her ki is a bit different, didn’t you notice?”
“Would you like me to call the mental hospital now?”
“Dammit, Toriyama! This is serious!” Kaji raked his fingers in his hair in frustration. “Just be careful,” he said darkly. “Sometimes the people you trust are exactly the people who will betray you.”
Kamui’s grin fell. “What’s that supposed to mean? You’re not saying Ai-chan of all people will betray me, are you? Watch it, Hino, that’s my best friend you’re talking about.”
“I know full well Aiko’s your best friend, ayt? Look, just don’t get too close to that girl until I make sure she really IS our Wind Angel.”
For a moment, Kamui didn’t answer. Judging by the serious look on his face, Kaji thought the black-haired boy was finally considering his ‘crazy’ theory. Kaji thought wrong.
“You’re just saying that to separate Aiko and I, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.
“What?! Why would I—… Listen, man, I’m just looking out for—”
“Looking out my foot,” Kamui said, standing up. “The truth is you want Aiko for yourself, you want me not to trust her!”
“HEY!” Kaji said, standing up, as well. “I may be in love with her, but I won’t go as far as put a wedge between the two of you! Do you actually think I’d stoop so low?!”
“Who knows? Maybe you would!”
Mai hummed as she gathered her hair into a ponytail. Oddly, she was in such a nice mood the whole day. Maybe it was just fun to watch Kamui being flustered as his fangirls worshipped the ground he walked on. Or maybe it was just fun watching Kamui, period.Mai’s eyebrows furrowed, her footsteps slowing down to a stop, when she heard a commotion in the training hall. She was never one to eavesdrop, but she had no choice. It’s not like she wanted every word of the boys’ heated argument to reach her ears so clearly.
“Just listen to yourself, Toriyama!” came a voice that she assumed to be Kaji. No one else in the palace called Kamui ‘Toriyama’. “Could ya please just stop being biased for one freaking second—”
“I am NOT being biased!”
“You are! You’re being biased because you’re in love with her! Don’t even try to deny it—”
“FINE!” Kamui yelled. “Fine! I won’t deny it! I’m in love with my best friend, Kazetenshi Aiko. There. Happy? But if my judgement is impaired because of my feelings for her, then doesn’t that apply to you, too?”
Everything froze.
After a few moments of…well… nothing, Mai turned around and headed back to her room. With her brain turning into a huge jumble of random thoughts that don’t seem to make any sense, she felt like she was back at that plaza that night. She felt like the shuriken’s poison was quickly spreading through her veins again. Except, this time, it was worse.
She had never felt so numb.
Mai was aware that Kamui saw her as Aiko. That was the plan, wasn’t it? But, at the back of her mind, she had a small hope that maybe… after this issue with Blue Star and Deathrose was over… when Kamui finds out who she really was… that she was Mai, the girl he had met at the carnival all those months ago… she had hoped that they could be friends. She had hoped that maybe, by some wild phenomenon, Kamui would even return the feelings she had for him…
But that had been wishful thinking, she knew that now. She heard him say it, crystal clear: Kamui was in love with Aiko. He wasn’t singing that song to her; he was singing it to Aiko. He was looking at Aiko. The whole time, it had been Aiko, not Mai.
She had been walking in a daze, Mai didn’t even notice that she had reached her room — Aiko’s room. She went to the window and opened it, letting the wind rush inside. A tear escaped from her eye, but she quickly wiped it away.
“Stupid… Stupid, stupid, stupid!”
Why did she let herself even begin to like Kamui, anyway?!
“Forget my name, forget my face, forget everything you know about me.” That was what she had asked of Kamui at the carnival. She remembered that he had refused her request. But now, it looks like she got her wish.
According to her agreement with Aiko, Mai was to ask Ran about the history of Blue Star. But, even after a week of getting friendly with the Stars, she had yet to conquer her fear and actually face Ran. Her investigation hadn’t made progress at all. She knew she’d be breaking her agreement with her twin, but…
Mai gripped on the windowsill tightly, and, without even thinking twice, she jumped.
————–
Next on Blue Star
In an unexpected confrontation, at long last, the truth is uncovered… Or is it? Discovery, defense, and disbelief. Love, as beautiful as it is, if not handled properly, can be fatal…
“I said, STOP IT!!!!”
Episode 23: Desperation
————–
From the Author
I’m not usually one to put a whole song into a fic, but this one fits Kamui SO much, I couldn’t help myself. The song is not mine. It’s ‘Balisong’ by Rivermaya, one of my favorite bands. 
NOTE: I changed a teeny tiny thing in Fuu and Yuuji’s conversation in Episode 14: Fever. It’s a very small detail, and maybe you won’t even realize that it changed, but it has an effect on later episodes, and the characters of Fuu and Yuuji in general. So…yeah. Check it out if you want to.
Also note that I might be inserting additional scenes in earlier episodes after I finish the whole thing (or maybe even before I finish the whole thing). I’ll notify you guys when this happens. The changes won’t affect the plot, but it will affect the characters.
Review topics
- My writing style for this episode. I realized I narrated way too many flashbacks instead of showing them.
- Kaji and Kamui’s argument
- The last scene, Mai’s reaction: Was Mai too suicidal?
References to earlier eps
Episode 1: Blue Child — The day of the race when Aiko first encounters Youko
Episode 8: Pointless — Kaji, Yuki and Aiko discussing trying to talk with the Roses
Episode 15: Witness — Kaji telling Kamui of Deathrose “carrying someone off”
Episode 19: Fading — The plaza and shuriken scene Mai had thought about in the last scene.
Special Notes
moon314, SkyWarrior, jean-grey and foxyfox: Thank you so much for sharing your insights, but I’d like to invite you to review on fictionpress, instead so I have a more organized log of the reviews :Þ
emi-chan: OK, you can post your review in DA if it’s a bit inconvenient for you to review here.
Maggy d: About the ‘hair thing’, I actually expected some of the readers to get a bit lost. It’s always hard when you have two people who look alike, and it’s even harder when you read it in prose. I think it would’ve been more clear if this was a manga or anime… Yey! Glad you’re finally warming up to Kaji. About cockroaches, yeah, they fly. Bug phobia? You and me both, girl :þ
Bentfender: Aw, too bad for the original deliciously review. Here’s a tip: when you’re writing something extremely long for a website feedback or something similar, type it on notepad first, and then copy and paste it into the text area. The same thing (my work disappearing, I mean) happened to me before while I was writing an email. Frustrating. Aaaanyways… You really are Kaji’s female equivalent in real life, aren’t you:þ About your comment on Yuki, you’re right. I’m not sure if I’ll disclose who that guy is, though. I mean, the episodes get longer and longer by the month, and I’m not sure if I can insert that small detail in here. It’s the same thing with your comment on Kaji’s not being sure of his age, too. I don’t know if I can insert the explanation in the next episodes; in the original draft, I never explained it at all. Maybe I’ll release it as an interlude or side story… Not sure yet. But basically, Kaji doesn’t remember anything apart from being a Star.
Everybody else that I didn’t mention: Thanks for reading, and I hope you drop a line next time. Hehe. :þ
