"OOOOOH… lost, I'm lost! I'm misplaced and forlorn! I have no clue where I am at so I will sing a song! Blast! That didn't rhyme."
Tanichka Petrova frowned deeply as she wandered up the streets of Tokyo, hands in the pockets of her sweater. After attending her first day at a college in the Imperial Capital, the dipstick had gotten lost on the way back. Of course, the way there was simple enough, but the way back was different. It looked different, at least.
In her classes that day, there had been constant chatter regarding the new musical the Teikoku Kagekidan was putting on at the Daiteikoku Gekijou. Always being a lover of music, she had become rather curious as to where the theatre was. In an attempt to look for it, she had gotten even more lost than she had been before.
Tanya was now coming up on a dojo, and glanced in the window as she passed. Her eyes swept over some people preparing for something, apparently. The last bit of window was blocked by a poster, which obscured her view. At first, she ignored it, but the writing on it caught her eye. Tanya stepped back to look at it, taking a while to read the Japanese script. The girl grinned, as the poster advertised the Teikoku Kagekidan's new production. Her eyes swept down to look at the actresses featured on the poster.
For a second, her heart stopped beating, as the face of Maria Tachibana glared dispassionately back at her. Tanichka looked down at the name to confirm, and fell over on the spot.
"Woah woah woah!" A very tall man with wild red hair poked his head out of the dojo as Tanya fell, her eyes glazed over. He dashed over and stooped next to her, sitting her up.
"Miss, are you alright? That was a crazy fall! You just keeled right over, dincha?" His voice was very jovial and kind, along with his expression. Tanya gave him a stupid smile, and rubbed the back of her head.
" Errrr… I am okay!" she replied slowly, making sure the Japanese was correct.
The man arched a brow, then chuckled lightly, "You're a foreigner, I presume."
Tanya nodded, giving him a feeble smile, "I'm from Russia."
"Well, I'm from here! The name's Kyoko Katsuhito. Who're you?"
"Tanichka Petrova! But call me Tanya for short." She grinned at him, then squealed as he stood, pulling her up with him.
"Nice to meet you, then, Tanya-sama. What brings you to Japan?" Kyoko inquired, leaning his shoulder against the brick wall of the dojo.
Tanya's eyes darted, "Nice to meet you too – eh, I'm attending a college here in the capital."
"I see… so, going to the Teikoku Kagekidan's new production tomorrow night?"
"TOMORROW?" Tanya looked back at the poster, eyes filling with tears, "I don't have a TICKET!"
"Aw, hey, don't cry! Uhh.. I was just on my way there! Come on, you can't miss a play by them!" Kyoko laughed nervously, clapping the girl on the shoulder.
"I know her!" Tanya's knees buckled when Kyoko clapped her shoulder, but she regained composure, and pointed to Maria's picture.
"Maria Tachibana? You know her?"
"YES! I haven't seen her in ages and ages though."
"Well, as I said, I was just on my way to the theatre. Have some business there. Want I should show you the way?" he offered her a bright smile, gesturing to the poster.
"Yes, I want you should desperately!"
"Alright then!"
The two had been walking for a while now, as the dojo was a bit far from the Daiteikoku Gekijou. Tanya had been rambling for at least fifteen minutes about how much she appreciated Kyoko's help, along with a million other things. Kyoko simply nodded and smiled the entire time.
"And she was so nice! Offered me all this Japanese food and taught me how to use chopsticks. Wonderful lady. I like her. I need a job really badly! You know, you're really tall." Tanya took a deep breath and paused, looking up at Kyoko.
The man chuckled and put a hand to his head, grinning, "Yeh… well, you're not exactly short. I bet you stand out in your classes. Your hair is practically white!"
"I know, I dunno why though. It makes me look like an old woman."
"Nah, not really. I mean… you're hair is the old lady color, but you don't LOOK old. However, you do look totally foreign. It's the eyes mostly – really, really, really light blue." Kyoko leaned down and arched a brow at her.
"BAH!" Tanya pointed at him, nearly poking his eye, "Yours are blue!"
"Not pale like yours! Mine are more normal."
"Pish tosh!"
Chuckling, Kyoko ruffled her hair, getting an indignant squeak from the girl.
"We'll," he said, stopping, "we're here!"
Tanya craned her neck to look up at the massive building, eyes as wide as automobiles. The theatre was gorgeous! Squealing, she hung off of Kyoko's arm.
"It's so pretty! Can we go inside?"
"Hope so!" Kyoko nodded and made his way to the front doors, Tanya running ahead.
"Are we supposed to knock?"
Smirking, Kyoko shrugged and pushed the door open, peering around inside.
"Hellooo?" he stepped inside, looking every which way. Tanya followed him timidly after quietly closing the door behind them. The two began down a random hallway to the right, looking shiftily eyed through each open door.
"Who are you looking for, Kyoko-sama?"
"Ikki Yoneda, I think. I know its Something Yoneda."
"Japanese names are so strange!"
"Well, your name sounds like a sneeze!"
Tanya glared at him, then said her name aloud. "Tanichka. T'NICHK'. You're right!"
Kyoko chuckled, shaking his head.
"Excuse me…"
A soft voice behind the two made them whirl around, their eyes meeting another blue pair. Reni Milchstrasse tilted her head at the two strangers, then asked, "Can I help you?"
"Uh… yeh, I was lookin' for Yoneda?"
"Oh, yes. Right this way," Reni nodded and turned around, gesturing for Kyoko and Tanya to follow her. She turned and led them towards the left, past the front doors, past the cafeteria and the Musume's office… then took another left, where she stopped outside a closed door. Reni knocked and waited for Yoneda to allow her entrance, and led Kyoko inside.
Tanya stood frozen outside the office, as she had spotted a very tall blonde woman coming their way. Her eyes widened, and she took off at top speed towards her.
"MAAARIIIISHKAAA!"
Maria stopped in her tracks and gaped as the girl came running at her. Marishka? Who on earth…?
"Tan— ulk!"
Tanichka threw her arms around Maria's waist and sent the woman onto the floor, hugging her tightly. She gasped for air, stunned by the fact Tanichka Petrova had just body slammed her. The blonde sat up, switching to Russian.
"What on earth are you doing here?" Maria asked, now attempting to stand with her new Tanya Belt.
"I got to school here! Oh my God, Maria! I have missed you so much! I thought you died or something! After you left Andrusha I was so worried! You stopped writing me letters! I cried! Really, I sobbed my head off! So did Mother and everyone else! I'm so glad you're here! I could explode into a zillion pieces I'm so happy!"
Yoneda, Kyoko, and Reni were all standing in the hallway, eyes wide at the Russians' conversation. Yoneda stepped forward, "You know her, Maria?"
To say the least, Maria was touched that Tanichka and her family had cared so much. Now that she had finally staggered to her feet, she gave her friend a small hug, then gingerly pushed her back.
"I'm sorry, things came up with the letters. Please forgive my negligence. I didn't mean to make you worry," Maria forced her usual feeble smile at Tanya, then looked up at Yoneda. "Yes sir. She is a friend from Russia."
"Oh, well. How nice!" Yoneda nodded, smiling, then turned to Kyoko. "If you'll come into my office…"
Kyoko winked and waved at Tanichka, then disappeared into the office with Yoneda. Tanya returned the wave, then turned to Maria.
"Forgive your negligence? As IF it's possible to stay mad at you."
"Did you know Maria was in Japan?" Reni inquired, raising a brow.
"No, I didn't," Tanya replied, "I'm Tanichka Petrova, by the way. You can call me Tanya. Because apparently Tanichka SOUNDS LIKE A SNEEZE!"
Inside the office, Kyoko smirked randomly to himself.
Maria blinked, saying the name in her head, then chuckled weakly, "It does."
Reni forced a smile and nodded, "I'm Reni Milchstrasse. It's very nice to meet you. However, I need to get going. Iris is expecting me at a tea party."
The younger girl bowed to the others and strode off. Tanya randomly locked herself around Maria again, "So, you are an actress! Just like when you were the Captain of the feared Half Ruble!"
"The wha – oh, you actually remember that?" Maria chuckled and shook her head, starting off down the hallway towards the cafeteria.
"I remember everything except for things I need to know for life. Like geometry and metaphors."
"You don't exactly need geometry for life," Maria retorted, arching a brow.
"Yo, sister!" Kanna Kirishima nearly ran into the two coming from the kitchen, and slung an arm around Maria's shoulders at random. "Who's the squirt?"
Maria nearly tripped into Kanna, but regained her footing, and gestured to Tanichka. "This is Tanichka Petrova, or Tanya. She is a friend of mine from Russia."
"Well, hello there! I'm Kanna Kirishma," the tan woman said, smiling and offering a large hand for a shake. Tanya smiled and shook her hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Miss Kirishima."
"Kanna, please."
"Kanna."
Maria slithered out of Kanna's hug and stood back to look at her better, "Where are you off to?"
"Yoneda's office. I'm supposed to meet some martial arts guy. He's helpin' us out… or somethin'. Don't remember what Yoneda was talkin' about exactly, cause I was eatin' some really good rice when he told me. Kinda forgot to listen. Anyway… I'm already late. Catch ya later!"
"Alright, later," Maria lifted her hand in a wave, then looked down at Tanya. "Come on, I'll give you a tour of the theatre."
"Yo!" Kanna knocked and swung open the door of Yoneda's office, leaning dramatically in. She smiled brightly at the older man behind the desk, then moved to see the stranger in the chair.
"Kyoko, this is Kanna Kirishima."