A/N: First time writing for this this pair, let alone this fandom. So many ideas for these two yet such a hard time attempting to write them out.
Just a word before we get into it. The French translations were checked, double checked, and triple checked via the iTranslate app on my phone because my high school Spanish teacher always said Google Translate wasn't very accurate or reliable. Here's to hoping it's correct. If not, you'll get the idea I hope.
Oh and this fic is sort of based on Losing Control by RED, so you can either YouTube it or Google the lyrics if you wish. Some of the lyrics are referenced in here.
Edit: Forgot to mention that this isn't part of any of the timelines in the anime. This was just something fun for me to write. Just figured I'd clear that up before it causes some confusion. :)
- 54
Steam emanated from the shower room as Claudine, towel wrapped snugly around her form and a hand running through her still slightly damp blonde hair, made her way over to where a fresh change of clothes was waiting for her.
A night gown. She would be retiring to her room for the night after her shower, having put in her time for this evening's practice as well as the extra practice she held for herself after everyone else had long departed to go their own seperate ways.
By the time she had arrived back at the dorms, Nana had already finished preparing dinner. Claudine could smell the faint scent of something banana flavored as she walked through the doors and wasn't a bit surprised to find both Nana and Junna bent down in front of the open oven, the two girls chattering to each other about whether or not the batch of banana bread was done or not.
That was when Nana and Junna both caught a glimpse of the blonde who had stopped in her tracks in an attempt to see what they were cooking and called her over to taste the fruit of their labor, which they had finally deemed fully cooked. Claudine could only oblige happily.
A productive school day, a hard day's work at practice, a full stomach, a hot shower, and the final thing on the blonde's list was a comfortable sleep. There was nothing like the feeling of going to bed after a long day. Claudine had been looking forward to it after practice had ended, and she was so close to a comfortable slumber she could almost taste it.
Until a very familiar ringtone sounded off and interrupted the tranquil atmosphere, causing Claudine to cease in drying off her semi-damp body and snatch her phone from where her clothes had been laying on the shelf of one of the cubbies.
Claudine's senses immediately detected the sudden change in the atmosphere as she glanced at the screen of her phone. Despite her resolve and determination steeling themselves, she couldn't help but sigh. She really wanted to get her beauty sleep, but it looked like that was going to have to wait.
Tendou Maya really was just another thorn in her side at this point, but Claudine expected nothing less from the tall brunette. The competition for top star always seemed to come down between the two of them, and the outcome was always the same.
Maya would take her place at position zero as per usual. Nothing new.
The blonde sighed as she stood in the center of the elevator as it made its descent down into the lower levels of the academy. There she was thinking negatively again. High self-esteem had always been one of Claudine's strongest attributes, but this same old song and dance between her and Maya for the top spot was beginning to take its toll upon her mind.
Another sigh as she took a step back to lean against the back of the elevator. The stage had always been her calling ever since she was a child. Her stage presence alone was enough to convince even the harshest critics that she was born for it. Not so much blood, but the amount of sweat and tears she had put into it all had brought her to this prestigious academy, and she would do everything in her power to show that she was put on this earth to entertain audiences of every kind.
But it seemed to appear that all of the hard work she had put into the stage wasn't enough. Tendou Maya just outshone her in everything she had set out to do.
At first, it had been fun to have a challenge. It gave Claudine another reason to hone her acting skills and perfect her stage presence so that one day, she could overthrow the great Tendou Maya and take over position zero.
But as time went on, everything she had ever done for the stage had appeared to be fruitless. No matter how many corrections she had made to her repertoire for the revue battles or the amount of time she spent practicing after the scheduled practice had already been over, Tendou Maya still managed to upstage her.
The tall brunette was, indeed, a commendable performer. Everything she did was flawless in every since of the word. Tendou Maya made no mistakes.
But Claudine was getting tired. So tired to the point that both her body and mind was beginning to grow weary when it came to the thoughts of the stage or performing in general.
And she didn't want to admit that to anyone. Not Futaba and certainly not Maya. Hell, she didn't even want to admit it to herself.
Claudine rubbed her forehead in exasperation. Negative thoughts again. She couldn't allow them to distract her from the battle that would soon be at hand. It was all or nothing at this point. No turning back now.
That made the the blonde grin. Her turning back from a challenge? As if.
Soon, the elevator doors slid open and Claudine stepped out, leaving those negative thoughts behind her inside the elevator itself and busying her rampant mind with the adrenaline rush that hadn't quite burned out just yet.
"Head of the 99th class, Tendou Maya! Once again, I shall prove that my radiance shines the brightest of all!"
"Second seat of the 99th class, Saijo Claudine! I will bring forth all of my might in order to obscure this victory!"
Up in the nosebleed section of the auditorium, the giraffe spoke the numbered day of the audition. "Revue of Control. Begin!"
Sparks flew as the two weapons collided. Once again, it seemed the two would be giving their all like they always did. Maya brought her A game to the table like she alwas did and Claudine was more than prepared to match it with an A game of her own.
Or so she thought.
As Maya's rapier attempted to slash at Claudine's legs in order to knock her off her feet, the blonde jumped just in time to avoid it and once she landed firmly on her feet to block another slash from the rapier, the negative thoughts began to creep up.
Claudine's eyes widened as she let out a slight gasp. No! Not now!
Maya noticed her opponent's sudden change in demeanor and opened her mouth slightly in shock. Something's wrong.
Another block of Maya's rapier and Claudine found herself dodging another multitude of slashes and jabs, the towering brunette not being the only enemy against Claudine in this revue.
Claudine sensed another change in the atmosphere, and it was a very foreboding one. And seeing the way that Maya just kept coming for her and not letting up, she knew immediately that she was the only one that felt this drastic change.
Maya grunted at Claudine's abnormal show of defense tactics. She's not fighting back!
Come on, Claudine! This isn't you! Keep it together! The brunette wanted to scream.
The blonde's mind was screaming at her that this battle was all or nothing, and in a way, it was. If she was to lose against Tendou Maya for the umpteenth time, what would the point of her staying at this prestigious academy any longer? Building herself up for the position of top star just to watch it all fall down and crash like glass. Every. Single. Time.
It was at this point that Claudine let out a blood curdling scream. "Get out of my head!"
Maya dodged a dangerous jab from Claudine's longsword and more sparks flew after another collision between the two weapons. The normal ratio of Claudine's offense and defense was way off, and Maya noticed. There was way more defense, and the little offense tactics Claudine did display were far more dangerous than the usual ones.
And it was at that point in time that Tendou Maya discovered that she wasn't the enemy Claudine was trying to fight.
Maya wanted to scream words of encouragement at the blonde to not listen to whatever was in her head and focus on her instead, but she knew the her well. Claudine would power through whatever this was. She had enough tact and power to keep up with the top star herself, after all.
Still, the brunette couldn't help but keep her guard up just in case something terrible did happen.
Claudine backed away from the slashes, jabs, and stabs of Maya and her trusty rapier in order to take a breather in an attempt to calm her raging mind, but the taller female kept coming at her. It was no surprise that Tendou Maya didn't back down. She couldn't afford to lest she give Claudine's longsword a chance to penetrate the string holding the golden button to her cape.
In a million years, Claudine never thought she'd end up back here yet again. And again. And again. Always coming in second. She thought she was the best, but she wasn't, and it appeared she never would be able to overcome the challenges she faced. Not just Tendou Maya and position zero, but everything else that would come her way.
She would try again and fail, her mind screamed, selling her lies like a sheep in disguise and digging up everything she had tried and tried to bury underground in her subconscious.
Both weapons collided again and they held them there, trying to overpower the other. Well, more like Maya trying to overpower Claudine and Claudine trying to prevent that from happening.
It was then that Maya found her voice. "Fight it, ma Claudine! Fight it with everything you have inside you!"
And it wasn't the physical fight Maya was trying to convey, but the mental one between Claudine and her own mind.
"I-," Claudine gulped, trying to fight the tears that were welling up in her eyes. "I can't! I-I'm losing control!"
Maya grunted as Claudine was able to overpower her and push her back, but then something peculiar and unsettling had happened.
The blonde's battle stance dissolved and her guard was let down. Almost like chains had appeared and strapped themselves to her wrist, preventing her from resuming the defense from earlier and giving easy access to the button pinned to the fabric on her shoulder.
Claudine grunted and whined, trying everything in her power to release herself from the invisible binding, but it proved to be futile.
As always, her mind told her. Nothing left to save, so let it go.
"Ma Maya!" Claudine cried out in plea. "Make it stop! Please, make it stop!"
With tears in the corner of her own eyes, Maya gritted her teeth. The long yet thin blade of the rapier rose in the air and slashed, severing the thread holding the pin to Claudine's cape and sealing the blonde's fate in the process.
And as the cape fluttered to the ground, the invisible chains binding Claudine disappeared as quickly as they had came, the blonde falling to her knees and then catching herself with her hands, head bent over in shame and shoulders tremoring from the sob her body released.
Maya acted quickly, neither bothering to announce she had captured position zero once again nor bothering to sheath her rapier, throwing it to the side as it landed on the stage with a clatter. Half on her knees and half on her stomach, she positioned herself to console the tremoring blonde.
The giraffe sounded off once again, announcing the audition for the day had commenced.
"The human mind is so powerful that it can hinder one's ability to perform for the masses. Powerful enough to shackle the anxious and overthinking where they stand if the wrong seeds are planted inside it. I understand."
Maya paid no heed to the nonsense the giraffe was spouting. Her attention was focused solely on the blonde in her arms and the blonde in her arms alone. When another tremor of sobs racked Claudine's body, Maya's own body shook with it. The tears that had appeared in the corner of the brunette's lavender eyes had long fallen. Never had she seen Claudine so vulnerable, divided, alone, and afraid.
So broken.
It shattered Maya's heart right down to the very core. Atria and ventricles both.
"Je perds tout, ma Maya! Je perds tout! Accroche-toi à moi! S'll te plaît, ne lâche pas!" Claudine cried out in her native tongue, gripping onto the sleeves of Maya's uniform as if it were a lifeline.
Maya shushed her. "Je t'ai maintenant. C'est pas grave. Je te promets que tout va bien."
The way the brunette understood and was speaking softly back to her in her own language was soothing to the blonde, whose tremoring sobs had died down into small sniffles.
After a brief moment, Maya returned to her own native tongue. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Claudine raised her head up to make eye contact with the top star at that statement. And even as Maya caught a glimpse of the irritated redness of the blonde's eyes as a result of her tears,which served to tear her heart apart even further, the brunette kept a stoic yet determined front.
The French native also caught a glimpse of the tear stains down her counter part's face but made no effort to even comment on them. Instead, she sighed.
"How can I explain something to someone else when I haven't even the slightest understanding myself?"
That made Maya's mouth shape into a firm line. Not out of emotion, but out of firm understanding. She reached forward to wipe away the remaining tears on Claudine's cheeks before a smile broke out onto her own face.
"I meant what I said previously when I told you you looked cute when you cried," Maya's smile turned into a bittersweet grin. "But right now, knowing that you feel the way you do at this very moment, it breaks my heart."
Claudine gasped softly. Her mind had long since quieted after she had lost the final revue and even now as Maya was speaking to her. But that's how it always was when it came to the vexing human-being known as Tendou Maya. All of her qualities were, indeed, perfect. Much like how Claudine felt whenever she was alone in the towering brunette's presence.
Perfect.
Claudine placed a soft hand upon the wrist of the hand Maya was using to wipe away her tears, signaling she was ready to stand up. The other girl obliged with a nod of her head and helped the blonde to her feet via pulling her up with her hand.
Maya watched as Claudine sniffled once more and wiped at her eyes before speaking.
"My mind didn't always bother me this much," She crossed her arms and seemed to stare off into the distance. "Even as a child whether it be on the stage, in commercials, or behind the scenes. The pressure wasn't as suffocating as it was back then, but now since my arrival at this academy, not being able to capture the spot as top star, now the pressure just becomes too much."
Maya nodded softly. "I agree. When you're a child, your mind isn't as rampant and as critical because there is so much your little mind has yet to find out. You don't have much to criticize yourself about because you can't fully understand that maybe what you're doing at the time is your calling. As we grow older, we learn what our calling is and we work hard to perfect ourselves for that calling. The critics come and then they go, but there's one critic that stays with us as we go on, and it's right here."
Maya's pointer finger made contact with Claudine's temple.
"Sometimes the mind is our own harshest critic of all."
Claudine's red irises met the burning passion of Maya's own lavender ones, and it immediately clicked. She was beating herself up over nothing.
"However," The taller female continued. "It is of our own accord as to whether or not we choose to pay attention to it. I can understand finding a mistake and correcting it, but not to the extent of overexerting yourself because of it. We're human. It's in our nature to make mistakes. And sometimes, the thoughts of giving up come up every once in a while, but that's when you take a break from your mind and remind yourself how far you have come. Now, ask yourself this, ma Claudine, if you were to give up on your calling and leave Seisho Academy and go back home to France, would you regret it?"
Claudine looked to the side, pursing her lips in thought.
Of course she would regret it. She had put her all into perfecting herself for the stage. If she were to back out right now and go back home, her efforts would prove to be wasted, and Claudine was not one for wasting her life away regretting a haste decision.
It didn't matter if she came second every chance she got right now. She was accepted into this academy for the sole reason of perfecting her skills even further so that she would succeed on the stage further on down in her career. She just needed to remind herself that every now and then.
But as Claudine gazed at the passion still burning in those lavender eyes across from her, she couldn't imagine leaving the academy for another reason.
At this thought, she chuckled and grabbed both of Maya's hands with her own. "Very much so. I would be away from you."
Contrary to the slightly arrogant smirk that was almost always present on her facial features, the smirk Tendou Maya had on her face right now had a loving quality to it.
Yes, Claudine would regret leaving the academy out of fear of her work being all for naught, but also out of fear that she would never get to see the great Tendou Maya again. Yes, it was tiring coming in second almost every time, but that just meant Claudine had to put in more time and effort into her practice and routine. It was just something she would have to remind herself once she felt her mind creeping up again.
And as Claudine continued to gaze at the other girl just a few inches away from her, she was reminded of her passion and love for the stage. A passion and love that also matched that of Maya's own for the stage.
A passion and love for the lovely top star that gazed down at her lovingly.
"There isn't another human being on earth that can match my radiance like you can, Saijo Claudine. If you were to leave and never return, a part of my radiance would go with you. So I implore you. Please stay."
Claudine's hands moved from Maya's own to cradle her face delicately.
"It would be considered a travesty if I were to take away Tendou Maya's radiance with a cowardly act instead of an honest one. I will overthrow you one day, so you better be prepared for that day. Ma Maya."
Maya's face seemed to inch closer. "It shall be one for the ages. I will be more than prepared for that day when it arrives, and I expect you to do the same. Ma Claudine."
"Mechante va." Claudine whispered breathily before meeting Maya's lips with her own, wrapping her arms around the taller girl's neck as arms snaked their way around her waist.
A/N: Je perds tout, ma Maya! Je perds tout! Accroche-toi à moi! S'll te plaît, ne lâche pas! - I'm losing everything, my Maya! I'm losing everything! Hold onto me! Don't let me go/fall! (Forgot which word. Sorry. It's been a long night/morning.)
Je t'ai maintenant. C'est pas grave. Je te promets que tout va bien. - I have you now. It's okay. Everything is going to be okay.
All of Claudine's and Maya's other French snippets are pretty much self-explanatory.
I hope you all enjoyed it! I'm glad I could finally contribute something to this fandom and this pairing both!
Holler at me on Tumblr or Twitter or we can shoot the shit or something. TheNumber54 for both handles.
Love y'all! Until next time!
- 54