Mvmt II. Affannoso (With Anxiety)

"YAAARRRGGGHHH!!!" The man swung down with the hoe.

Ranka dodged it. The hoe dug itself into the ground. She tried to get past him and run into the orchard, but he managed to pull the hoe out and swung sideways. She backed off and had no choice but to run up the stairs. Desperately, she looked around for a possible escape route but did not notice any.

The man followed her up. He sneered at her menacingly. "I've got you now..."

She trembled at his approach. He lifted the hoe to strike. Although it was a futile effort, her arms attempted to block the attack.

But the attack did not come.

"You not hurt Ranka," said Ai who stood behind the man with her right hand on the shaft of the hoe.

The man turned and tried to pull the hoe away from Ai, but the Vajra held it fast. Ranka took the opportunity to run behind Ai.

"Leggo, bitch!" yelled the man and he punched Ai in the face.

Ai recoiled with the punch but did not let go of the hoe. "You enemy. In name of justice, I punish you." She pointed her left index finger at him. "Shiny finger!"

The Vajra's eyes glowed purple and a bright yellow beam erupted from the tip of her fingertip. The beam punched a hole about the size of a grape in the man's right chest. Blood spurted out and rained down, tainting the grass red. His hand slipped off the hoe and he crumpled to the ground.

A trail of dust formed between the trees in the orchard. In a blur of motion, Brera ran past them and placed himself between them and the man.

"You ok, Ranka?" asked Brera with no hint of fatigue in his voice. Below the stairs, the cloud of dust that resulted from his bionic sprint began to settle.

"Y-yes..." replied Ranka in a quivering voice. Then she fainted. Ai caught her as she slumped down.

"Ai-chan, can you watch her until help comes?"

"Ok."

Brera checked the man. He was still alive, but bleeding profusely. He called the police and explained the situation. Then he called the director to send help for Ranka.


When Ranka woke, Nanase, Brera and Ai were sitting around her bed. She sat up.

"Are you alright?"

"Ranka ok?"

"How do you feel?"

She was bewildered by their concern. "I... I'm fine... why are you all here?"

"Don't you remember?" said Brera. "An escaped convict attacked you."

For a few moments, Ranka just sat in silence. Then her eyes grew wide and her hand leapt to her mouth. "Ah! I remember now!" The scene replayed in her memory like a bad horror movie. "Is the man ok?"

Brera was surprised at her question. How could she show concern over someone who tried to hurt her? But this was Ranka. His sister was not the type who would wish harm on others. "Yeah, the paramedics patched him up. The police searched the mansion grounds and caught another one a couple of miles away," he replied.

"Thank space..." Then she turned to Ai. "Ai, thanks for saving me, but don't shoot humans like that!"

"What did she do?" asked Brera.

Ranka explained what happened when Ai stopped the man. To her surprise, her brother scolded her.

"You've been relying on the TV too much! You're her guardian! You should be teaching her about what's good and bad about human culture. Instead, she's been getting strange ideas from TV shows."

"Sorry, onii-chan..."

He turned to Ai. "Ai-chan, don't copy Damgun or Cute Soldier Lune anymore, ok?"

Ai looked confused, but agreed. "Ok."

"We saved you some dinner," Nanase lifted the silver cover off the tray on the desk. "You must be hungry."

Ranka glanced at the clock. 8:12 PM. Now that Nanase mentioned it, she was. "Thanks for watching out for me."

"No problem. Anyway, Robin said that she could come over to do homework after you eat dinner. So give her a call when you're done."

"I will. Thanks again." With that, Ranka went to the desk to eat. While she ate, she remembered the note. "Nana-chan, weren't you supposed to meet me at the overlook?"

"No. What gave you that idea?"

"Someone handed me a note in composition."

"Where's the note?"

Ranka got the note and gave it to Nanase.

"I didn't write this," concluded Nanase. "Also, I went to the dining hall right after class."

Brera came over and took the note. His pupils dilated and refocused as they analyzed the surface of the paper. "Can I borrow this? I'd like to send it to the lab and have them run some tests on it. Maybe I can figure out who wrote it."

"Sure," replied Ranka. Then her forehead creased in confusion. "But why would anyone impersonate Nanase?"

"Someone who knows that the man was there and wanted to get you into trouble," concluded Brera. "And then there was the broken shoe and the ripped dress."

"What broken shoe and dress?" asked Nanase.

Ranka told her what happened in acting class. Nanase's usual gentle face melted into anger.

"I betcha Miranda's behind it! Nobody at Mihoshi will mess with you."

Brera smirked. With a little 'encouragement', the Ranka Fan Club intercepted all the stalking and bullying directed towards Ranka. They had done an excellent job so far. He put the note in his pocket. Then he searched his memory and archived the images of Miranda and Sharin. He would check their background later. One way or another, he would find out who wrote the note.

"Ai-chan didn't fill her schedule, right? Can you ask the instructor if she could be with you during her free time? If she's watching, there's a lesser chance they'll try something," suggested the cyborg.

"Yes, but... I left those times open for her to study."

"She's been keeping up with drawing and painting so far," said Nanase. "I think your safety is more important. Right, Ai-chan?"

"I stay with Ranka," said Ai.

Their concern warmed her heart. "Thanks."

Before going to bed, Ranka did a few yoga exercises to calm her mind before seeing Sheryl. She did not want her to worry. When she was ready, she put a smile on her face and reached out in the link. Sheryl's smiling face appeared and put her at ease. Their hug lasted longer than usual and the Fairy's kiss melted her insides like wax on a lit candle.

"How's your shoulder?" asked Ranka.

"Getting better. But I'm not the one who's really hurt. The vice-captain has an injured ankle. Even with this, I can walk and run, so I won't slow the team down. But it looks like her ankle is more injured than she thought, so the captain slowed our pace."

"Do I know her?"

Sheryl shook her head. "I don't think so." Then her eyes lit up with an idea. "Let me try this..."

An image of a tall red-haired meltran with a braided ponytail formed before them. She had pale gray eyes and a generous chest typical of a meltran her age. Ranka felt very inadequate in seeing her.

"This is Tadyana Agreu. She's a third-year and the vice-captain of my squad."

One by one, Sheryl introduced each member of the squad. Ranka looked at their faces. The meltrandi and the captain looked very menacing.

"Are they nice to you?" asked Ranka with concern. To her relief, Sheryl nodded.

"They're nice enough." Sheryl turned to the images. "Hmmm... Oh, I see..." With a wave of her hand, she adjusted their somber faces so that they were all smiling. "Better?"

Ranka giggled. Her teammates did not look menacing anymore. "Yes."

The Fairy walked to each one as she described them. "The captain's a really fair person. Kanagi is shy but sweet. Tadyana... well..." Tadyana's braided ponytail disappeared from the nape of her neck and reappeared on both sides of her red head like horns. The Cinderella laughed at the sight.

"She's been bitchy since I started Mihoshi, but she's bitchy towards Eriko too. She's got a mouth on her, but she doesn't hit me or anything. Aris is ok. I don't know her that well yet. And you know what?" The cadet grinned as if she discovered something.

Ranka leaned forward in curiosity. "What?"

"I think Tadyana and Aris are an item."

Her hand leapt to her mouth and she stared at the images of Tadyana and Aris. Her impression of them changed. "Really?"

Her Fairy nodded. "They're always hiking together. And Aris fed her a berry once with her fingers. Then there was a time when..."

Ranka was glad to hear about another lesbian couple in school. She listened to the gossip and enjoyed this relaxing moment with Sheryl. They chatted for a while until their tired bodies prodded them to sleep. With a good night kiss, Ranka entered the realm of dreams. Once again, she sat in front of a mirror...


It was hard to miss the teams of police scouring the mansion grounds, so the news spread like wildfire overnight. When they arrived in the dining room for breakfast, everyone asked questions about what happened. Brera fielded their questions by saying that he fought the man and excluded Ai's role in the entire affair.

Given the various interruptions, they finished breakfast as quickly as possible and headed for their respective classes. Still, questions kept coming throughout the day.

Ai was permitted to stay in the dance and composition class as an observer. The tactic seemed to work and nothing unusual happened.

That evening, Ranka and Robin worked on their homework on variations on a theme. The assignment was to compose a short variation based on Bach or Paganini.

"Variations are pretty popular," explained Robin. "Take Pachelbel's Canon in D. There are so many songs that use its base melody or variations of it." She looked at Ranka directly. "As another example, you sang two variations of the same song."

It took several seconds for Ranka to understand what she meant. "Oh! You mean 'Aimo, aimo'!"

"Yes. Personally, I liked the movie version better. The arrangement was more symphonic and..." She closed her eyes. "The notes were warm and gentle, like a hug..." Then she blushed and cleared her throat. "The rock version wasn't bad either. The fast and energetic beat of the instrumentals spurred you into action and the background harmony meshed well. It was a direct opposite of the movie version. Why did you recall the single? It seemed pretty popular."

Ranka gripped her pen as she explained her reason and her pain. "I... I just couldn't stand it... That song was used to kill Vajra. The idea of me singing it like that... It's a love song! I don't want anyone to listen to it!"

"I see..." said Robin softly in understanding. "A song for love shouldn't be used for war. I'm sorry I brought it up. I thought it would make it easier to talk about variations with an example that you know. Let's just analyze Pachelbel's Canon instead."

"It's ok." However, her thoughts were still on Robin's description about the movie version. Sheryl did that arrangement specifically for her to sing.

"For me to sing..." thought Ranka. In a sense, Sheryl was the composer. She thought about the lyrics that the Galaxy Fairy added.

The great, great affection that sleeps in my chest, [1]
It is slowly waking up from the warmth of your hand.

aimo aimo neder rushe
Long ago, everyone in the world was one.
Come on and step into this warm universe.

Ranka only remembered that 'Aimo, aimo' was a love song at the end of the battle. From the movie lyrics, it seemed that Sheryl was able to figure out that it was a love song. In class, the instructor often told them to analyze what the composer wanted to convey.

"Frontier to Ranka... Frontier to Ranka..." Robin waved a hand in front of her.

"Oh... sorry... I was still thinking about 'Aimo'."

"I should be the one apologizing for bringing it up. It didn't know that it would upset you."

Verdant locks swung from side to side as she shook her head. "Don't be. In fact, I'd like to talk about it more. There are actually three variations of the song."

Robin's eyebrows rose. "Three?"

"Yes. Ai-chan?"

Ai rose from the floor where she was drawing. "Want me?"

"Ai-chan, can you sing 'Aimo, aimo'?"

"Ok." Ai sang it like the mother queen did.

Aimo aimo [2]
Ne-deru ru-she

Noina miria
Enderu purodea
Fotomi

Kreto verabra duzhka
Ventraba duzhka

Ru-rei rureia
Sepereru tu hivari noina dano
Ru-rei rureia
Heperu mori juzhtu raankazha linaa

Aimo aimo
Ne-deru ru-she
Noina miria
Enderu purodea
Fotomi
Moye verabra duzhka
Venutraba duzhka

"Any instrumentals?" asked Robin.

Ranka shook her head. "None. It's just a capella."

"I see. The tempo is slower. The measures for 'We are in a warm ocean.', 'The dancing larks in the sky are waves.' and 'You are a young and gentle child.' have different lyrics. The last chorus is missing. Is this the original?" asked Robin.

"Yes," replied Ranka. "Thanks for the help, Ai-chan."

"Ok." Ai returned to her drawing.

"Anyway, I'd like to talk about the variations between the original and the movie version." Ranka felt that if she and Robin talked about it, she might get more insight into what Sheryl was thinking when she composed the additional measures.

"Alright then..." Robin searched for the movie version and displayed it on her digipad. "Sheryl Nome wrote this? Not bad..." Then she played the music on the digipad's speakers.

When it finished, the contralto put down the digipad and leaned her forehead on her palm. It was a habit that indicated that she was thinking deeply. "It's quite a variation alright. She put her own spin on the instrumentals. It blended together well, her music and your vocals." She looked at Ranka directly. "What do you think?"

"Why are you asking me?" asked Ranka apprehensively, scared that Robin suspected their relationship.

Robin gestured towards the poster on the wall. "You seem to be a big fan of hers. You'd know her more than I do. Besides, the original's lyrics are in some language I don't know. Does she know what it says?"

"No," replied Ranka. Through research, her mother understood enough Vajra to translate some of the lyrics in the song. She did not dare ask Ai because she did not want to explain why Ai could understand. Alarm filled her heart with the possibility that Robin might ask Ai. She immediately opened her mind and told her charge to deny that she understood the lyrics. Her premonition was rewarded when Robin did ask.

"What about Ai?"

Ai looked up and shook her head. Then she returned to drawing.

The contralto sighed. "Since the lyrics don't give any clue that it's a love song, I can only assume that she thought it was, or, someone told her that it was. Did the director tell her that?"

"No, I don't think so. The director just said that he wanted my song in the movie and she used it as a theme."

"I see... So the question is, whom did she write it for? No, that's not the right question. It's obvious that she wrote it for you to sing. What I meant is, who is her intended recipient?"

Now it was Ranka's turn to think. "Was it for Mao?" she thought. Then her hand covered her mouth. What if the words were meant for her?

"Why that sneaky little..." thought Ranka. Then her eyes widened when she realized another possibility. What if Sheryl did not know it was a love song? What if she decided to use it to convey her own message? "She was trying to tell me back then... Ah! Why was I so dense!?"

"Looks like you got an idea," said Robin who noticed a change in her facial expression.

Ranka could not possibly let her know what she really thought. Frantically, she tried to make up an answer. "Well... I was playing Mao... so she probably wrote it from Mao's perspective. Maybe... it was Mao's way of singing her love to Shin."

"Hmmm... good point. Now let's look at the composition itself." Robin's stylus danced over her digipad. "Here's the main thematic melody. The strings come in later, so the singer is sort of given a solo. The listener is drawn towards your voice. When the strings join in, notice how the notes form harmonic progressions with your vocals.

Although tried her best to listen, Ranka was still reveling in her discovery. "She wrote it for me," thought the quarter-meltran as she stared at Sheryl's lyrics. "Not for Mao. For me..."

The great, great affection that sleeps in my chest,
It is slowly waking up from the warmth of your hand.

"Even back then... you had feelings for me... When did it start, I wonder?" she mused.

Come on and step into this warm universe.

Undoubtedly, that stanza was an invitation. "I thought that you wanted me to step into the world of show business... to fulfill my dreams and be a star. But now, I realize what you really wanted. You wanted to share your world with me."

Despite her distraction, Robin patiently explained the structure of the composition. Ranka was grateful for her diligence.

"This measure with the birds and maracas separates the main theme and the secondary. But it also gives a feeling that nature is involved," explained Robin. "The secondary theme is just a variation of the main motif."

They discussed the finer details. After that, Ranka felt more confident in tackling the homework. "Thank you. I think I understand now. I'll do a Bach variation. What about you?"

"Paganini. I can stay until 11 tonight if you want me to look over it."

Ranka grinned widely. "Thanks! Please do!"

After Robin left, she asked Ai about the song.

"Sister-mother teach Ranshe song. Ranshe taught sister-mother about humans. Then sister-mother teach egg-sister. Then egg-sister come and teach Ranka and Sheryl.

Her hand flew to her mouth as she remembered lying on her mother's lap while she sang it. "So that's how Mom knew..." Still, parts of Ai's explanation confused her. When she mentioned the word 'sister', Ranka knew that she was talking about another queen. All Vajra queens other than the great mother queen were called sisters.

"The egg-sister... that's the queen that came here, right?"

"Yes."

"Why is she called egg-sister?"

"Sister-mother and egg-sister hatch from same egg."

"I see... twins... And why is she called sister-mother?"

"Sister-mother laid my egg."

"Oh. That makes sense. Have I met your mother before?"

"Yes. Ranka found sister-mother. Sister-mother bring Ranka home."

The green-haired girl paled. "It can't be... your mother is the queen from Galia IV?"

Ai replied sadly, "Yes."

Her heart ached at the memory. "I'm so sorry, Ai-chan! I tried to stop Alto!"

"Is ok. So Ranka not sad."

Ranka felt relieved to hear those words. "Ai-chan, if the queen was on Galia IV, how'd you get to Frontier?"

"Many eggs steal from sister-mother. I hatch on Frontier. Then helpers find Frontier. Sister-mother send fighters to get eggs."

It was probably Grace who stole the eggs and caused the Vajra to attack Frontier. It also explained the groups of stage 2 Vajra that suddenly appeared during her first concert. "Say, Ai-chan, why didn't the queen teach you how to speak like us?"

"Egg-sister want you teach me. Learn like human."

Red-orange eyes filled with concern. "Am I teaching you enough, Ai-chan?"

"Yes." The Vajra hugged her. "Ranka the best. Take good care of me when little."

The quarter-meltran hugged her charge in return.

-----

Later on, Ranka was so pleased with her discovery that she tackled the Galaxy Fairy in the link. Sheryl fell backwards onto the soft grass of the meadow. Then Ranka trapped her face between her hands and kissed her playfully.

"You seem happy..." said Sheryl as she ruffled her hair. Her voice and demeanor seemed tired but there was an upbeat note in her tone.

"I figured it out... what you did in 'Aimo, aimo'," declared Ranka proudly.

The Galaxy Fairy chuckled. "Just now?"

The quarter-meltran pouted. "But you made it so difficult! Sneaking it into the song like that!"

"Well... I wasn't sure about your feelings," said Sheryl. "I hoped that you'd realize it back then. But since you didn't, I was content to have it there for anyone who watched the movie. They'll hear it." She leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "My song for you." Then she nibbled lightly on her earlobe, causing Ranka to shiver at the sensation of those warm lips. "Still, I'm happy that you finally figured it out."

"Ah.... ahh!" moaned Ranka as her beloved showered her with affection. Despite her obvious fatigue, Sheryl was in a good mood. When the Galaxy Fairy finally stopped, Ranka asked, "Did something good happen?"

A dazzling smile bloomed on her face and she held up her fingers in victory. "We passed!"

Her eyes went round. "You finished the survival test already?"

"Yes!" Sheryl told her that a giant plant attacked them and that they managed to ride it across the heavily forested terrain. "We had a bit of trouble with some catbats, but we made it safe and sound," concluded the cadet proudly.

Ranka hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy for you!" When she drew back, her eyes glinted with mischief. "This calls for a celebration." She captured the Fairy's lips.

She willed Sheryl's clothes to disappear and pressed that lithe body against hers. A contented sigh escaped from her lips as skin caressed skin. Her Fairy's skin was so smooth and warm. Hands wandered over that curvaceous frame, feeling and stroking sensitive spots. Meanwhile, an impatient tongue slipped from its berth and sought its mate across ruddy lips.

Her hand crept to her beloved's chest. With nimble fingers, she touched her. Sheryl moaned into her mouth and arched against her. Encouraged by her reaction, Ranka's lips journeyed down her throat, past her collarbone and arrived at its destination. With the tip of her tongue, she licked. The Galaxy Fairy's whimpers filled her ears with joy and fanned the growing desire between her thighs. She opened her mouth and sucked.

Sheryl threw her head back and slender fingers pressed against the back of Ranka's head. "Aaaah... haaah... aaahhh!!!"

However, in less than a minute, the Galaxy Fairy's hands pushed the super-dimensional Cinderella away unexpectedly. Her pale blue eyes filled with sadness. "I'm sorry, Ranka... I don't think I can handle it. You see... I'm sleeping in this cramped room in a trailer with the squad. I've already woken up Aris."

"Oh..." Verdant locks drooped down with disappointment.

Sheryl interlaced fingers with her and kissed her deeply. "I really appreciate it. I feel much better already." She kissed her forehead. "You need to sleep too, right? You have class tomorrow."

Ranka sighed. She still did not want to let her go. "Can we just hold each other until we fall asleep?"

The Fairy's eyes lit up. "Sure! I can handle that!"

Ranka snuggled into her comforting embrace. "Say, Sheryl..."

"Hmm?"

"When did you start to have feelings for me?"

A slow warmth spread across the Galaxy Fairy's skin. She cleared her throat. "The day we met."

Ranka looked up in surprise. "Really? That soon?"

Sheryl nodded. "As you ran by, I heard you sing. I just had to stop you. And when you sang Diamond Crevasse, I felt that I couldn't pretend anymore. You made me want to sing with you."

The Cinderella gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as she remembered that moment. Her eyes brimmed with tears. "I felt so happy for that little private concert."

With those shiny tears glistening on her eyelashes and the cute expression on her face, the Galaxy Fairy hesitated before brushing away those tears with her fingertips. Then she kissed her forehead. "You little crybaby..." she whispered.

"It's your fault... I can't help it when you make me so happy." She laid her head on Sheryl's chest. "I think I love you more now."

"You mean you actually loved me less?" said Sheryl with an exaggerated melodramatic tone in her voice.

"Silly..." Ranka kissed her on the nose playfully. "It's just that... after discovering this part of you, I feel that I understand you more. And I love you more for it."

Overwhelmed with emotion, Sheryl's cheeks flushed and her eyes misted with tears that she blinked back. Leaning forward, she kissed her Cinderella. "I love you..." she whispered onto her lips.

The sight of her Fairy's reaction filled Ranka's heart with joy. She returned her kiss passionately. A few moments later, Sheryl's arms tighten around her. After several fiery kisses, her Fairy broke it off once more.

"If this keeps up... we're never going to get any sleep..." Then Sheryl captured Ranka's lips for another kiss.

"Just a few more..." begged Ranka. After those kisses, she settled into Sheryl's embrace once more. Together, they floated in the link in each other's arms until their minds wandered off into dreams.

-----

That Friday, everyone showcased his or her efforts. The hallways were filled with drawings, paintings and photos. Hidden speakers played student compositions in the hallways as well. Monitors in the dining hall looped through the short films. During breakfast, Nanase pointed out her piece, entitled Bees with Honey. It was done in 3D animation. Ranka laughed as a poor confused bee tried to dodge past many obstacles in order to bring honey to its mate. With its orange-brown fuzz and brown eyes, the bee reminded her of panicking Luca.

During the break between the classes, Nanase showed Ranka and Brera her work and Ai's. Most of Ai's subjects were very simple such as a fruit on a table or a wild flower in tall grass. Her more complex pieces featured two landscapes. The first was a desert with red sand. The second had two suns and large crystalline rock formations.

Ranka did not remember seeing a desert with red sand on the planet and their solar system only had one sun. "Ai-chan, where's this?"

"Home of sister with red rocks," replied Ai.

She opened the link to her charge. "Ai-chan, don't tell anyone about your sisters. Have you told anyone already?"

"Say to teacher."

Alarm filled her heart. "What did she say?"

"Teacher say, nice place."

"Did she say anything else?"

"No."

The quarter-meltran sighed with relief. The teacher probably thought that Ai referred to some other human colonized planet. She pointed to the other picture. "Does another sister live here too?"

"Yes. Sister with hot suns."

Ranka stared at the crystal formations. Something about them seemed familiar. The arrangement and the cracks did not seem natural.

"Oh dear..." exclaimed Nanase when she glanced at her watch. "Break's almost over. Anyway, see you in the auditorium!"

"Bye!" waved Ranka as Nanase hurried off to class. Then she and Ai hurried off to dance class. Once there, she practiced with her class for their performance.

-----

The afternoon and evening after dinner were reserved for performances. After lunch, everyone gathered in the auditorium. Groups or individuals were allowed five to ten minutes each. Ranka's dance class performance was well received. When Chloe bowed, the audience cheered and clapped more. Ranka joined in as well. Chloe deserved it.

Her acting class did a short scene from Hamlet. The audience response was not as good compared to the dance class. Needless to say, Brera was literally, very robotic. The singing class drew a respectable response.

Brera's drum group did very well, but his rock band was average. Despite that, Ranka was fascinated with his efforts to play the harmonica and guitar at the same time.

In order to wait for the availability of musicians, the conducting class was last. One by one, each student conducted a short piece with a full orchestra. Ranka had never seen Robin conduct, so when the contralto approached the podium, she leaned forward in anticipation.

Robin opened the score and lifted the baton as if she was about to start. The orchestra waited for her signal. The baton moved down. Then Robin clamped a hand to her mouth and ran off the stage. An instructor shook his head and called for the next student.

Meanwhile, Ranka was already making her way to the back of the stage. When she got to the hallway, she did not see Robin. As she wondered where the contralto could have gone, she remembered how she clamped her hand to her mouth. On a hunch, Ranka went to the nearest ladies room.

To her surprise, she found Chloe with Robin. The dancer stroked the contralto's back as she heaved dinner into the sink. Ranka walked over.

"Is she alright?"

Chloe glanced at her briefly. "She'll be fine in a moment."

Then Ranka remembered what Ozma told her about vomiting. "I'll be right back." She hurried to the water cooler in the auditorium and filled two cups with water. She brought it to the ladies room.

When Robin was done, Chloe guided her to a nearby bench. Ranka offered a cup which the contralto took with shaking hands.

Robin gulped it down and let out a rueful laugh. "Messed up, didn't I?"

"There's still time. If you go right now..." said Ranka but Robin waved it off.

"I... I can't... not after that..."

Chloe put a hand on Robin's shoulder. "It's alright. Don't worry, Ranka. I'll stay with her. Please go back and watch."

Ranka shook her head. "I can't, not when one of my friends is in trouble."

Robin stared at her for a few moments. Then a shy but grateful smile formed on her face. "Thanks..."

After the final performance, Ranka got Robin's score from the podium. Then the three of them went to Robin's room which she shared with three other students, two of which were from FAAP.

"Oh, look... Ms. Stage fright is back," said an FAAP student.

Then Ranka came into view.

"Eeeeee! It's Ranka Lee!"

"I love your music! May I have your autograph?"

Elmo had drilled her on how to handle requests in public to prevent her from getting mobbed. "I'm sorry, but my company only allows me to sign autographs during official events," said Ranka in an apologetic tone. The two students were obviously disappointed. Meanwhile, Robin sat on her bed with the score in her lap. Chloe stood in the hallway. Ranka planned to just walk Robin to her room and wish her good night. On a whim, she decided on something else.

She walked over to Robin and put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. There'll be a next time. As long as you work hard, you'll get another chance. If you don't have plans during this weekend, I'll be happy to practice with you."

"You will? But... I need an orchestra... and after what happened, who'll want to play for me?"

"I'll ask my friends. We'll get some people together."

Robin clenched her hands around her baton. "I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. That's what friends are for. Anyway, get some rest and I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, Ranka left the room and walked down the hall with Chloe. When they reached the stairs, Chloe spoke.

"You didn't have to do that. They might bully her more," said Chloe.

Alarm rose in her heart. "They would?"

Then Chloe shook her head. "What am I saying? I should think positive! I should hope that they don't." She sighed. "Robin's not the type to fight back and her low self-esteem doesn't help either."

"Yeah, I know the feeling..."

"But still, I'm happy that you offered to help her. Can I help too?"

"Sure! Do you have friends that play?"

Chloe nodded. "I have several. I'll ask them as soon as possible."

"Thanks. I think Robin's got talent."

"I think so too... I just wish she'd grow a spine."

Ranka was shocked at her words and stopped walking. Chloe turned to her.

"It's true, don't you think so?" She sighed again and wrung her fingers. "She's been that way since middle school. The teachers have talked to her so many times, but this is the first time anyone's offered to help her. I just hope that we can make a difference."

When Ranka realized that Chloe did not say it out of spite, she agreed, "Yeah, me too." She began walking again and Chloe fell in step with her. "Oh yeah, you did great, by the way. My friends liked your dancing."

"Thank you," said Chloe graciously. They walked up the stairs and stopped in front of a room. "Here's my room. Thank you for being there, Ranka. Good night."

"Good night."

Ranka went back to her room to relax. At the table, Ai and Nanase were sketching a bowl of fruit. After reading her email, she took a shower. By the time she was done, Nanase had left. She curled up in bed with a book. She was planning to talk to Sheryl around 11 PM, but Sheryl beat her to it.

"Sheryl!" She hugged her Galaxy Fairy gently. "How's your shoulder?"

"The x-ray showed no fractures, thank god. There's some minor tissue damage though. I'm wearing a shoulder brace and sling to prevent it from moving too much."

"That's good! Here's a little trick to make it heal faster." Ranka kissed Sheryl's shoulder and then captured her lips. Perhaps, they could continue where they left off yesterday. As she ravished her with affection, she wondered if it was possible to visit her.

"Are they still testing you tomorrow?" Then she gasped as supple lips tickled the crook of her neck.

"No... the tests... start on Monday."

"Then... what are you... doing tomorrow?"

"I don't know... it's our free time."

"You have free time...?" Ranka's heart raced at the thought of seeing her.

"Can I see you tonight?"

"Can I see you tonight?"

They laughed at their thoughts. When they calmed down, they made arrangements to meet at the carrier. Ranka packed up the extra linen in the closet and her pillow.

"Breed now?" asked Ai.

She blushed. "Well... I'm not sure... but we want to see each other."

"I visit Hope. Is ok?"

"Sure!"

Ranka summoned a Vajra to the back of the mansion and mounted it. She arrived at the carrier and waited. About thirty minutes later, she began pacing impatiently. Finally, Sheryl contacted her through the link. Disappointment flooded her heart when she explained her absence.

"I'm sorry... they caught me."

Ranka tried her best not to sound too sad. When the link fell silent, she just stood still for several seconds. Then with her welled up frustration, she kicked the bag of linen and watched it sail across the crater floor.

"Why are pilots so hard to date?!"

-----

Next morning, they gathered in a music salon named 'Enchanted Inspiration'. Brera convinced five members of the Ranka Fan club to help and Chloe invited three of her friends. With Brera on percussion, and Ranka on the piano, they had ten people.

After introductions, Brera searched through the music database and selected a piece suitable for the instruments available. He uploaded it into each person's digipad.

Robin conducted stiffly at first, but by mid-afternoon, she became more relaxed and her instructions were less hesitant. Ranka smiled at her progress and hoped that Robin would become more comfortable speaking to a group.

During dinner time, Miranda, Sharin and another FAAP student walked by their table. Miranda carried a bouquet of flowers while Sharin carried several boxes of chocolates and sweets. Every other day, their boyfriends visited them and gave them gifts. The FAAP duo never failed to walk into the dining room with the tokens of affection.

"If it were me, I'd stay away," said Miranda casually.

"Me too! I don't want losers to rub off on me," added Sharin.

Upon hearing their talk, Robin's shoulders slumped down. She began to stand up. "I'm sorry... I've been imposing..."

Nanase interrupted her and pulled her down. "Sit girl. You haven't finished your dinner."

"Don't let it get to you," said Ranka.

Robin's eyes misted over and she uttered her gratitude with a choking voice. "Thanks..."

Just after 9 PM, Ranka decided to practice since piano workshop would start next week. She and Ai went to the music salon where a baby grand piano was available. From the salon's window, she could see the building where the female students stayed. In one room, a myriad of lights flashed. Someone probably brought a disco ball and was having a party.

While she practiced, Ai did some sketches. It was almost 11 PM when she decided to finish. From the window, the number of lighted rooms was much less. The room with the party was still active. Ranka pitied the students who were wasting their opportunities at camp. She gathered her music and opened the salon door. As soon as she stepped on the marble floor of the hallway, her foot slipped.

"Ah!"

Desperately, her right hand gripped the door handle while her left tried to stop her fall. Behind her, Ai yelled.

"Ranka!"

The door swung with her momentum and she landed on Ai.

"Owww..." Ranka did not want to hurt Ai, so she put her hand on the ground for leverage. When she touched the floor, it felt greasy. She lifted her hand and smelled it: olive oil. Cautiously, she found a spot on the floor that was not slippery and eased herself off Ai. Then she helped Ai stand.

"Are you ok, Ai-chan?"

"I ok. Ranka ok?"

"Yes, thanks to you." Ranka looked at the slippery area. Olive oil was spilled around the door within a two-foot radius. She tore off a page from her notebook and wrote a big sign: Watch out, slippery. Then she left the sign on the floor. The janitors had left for the day, so she would let them know in the morning.

They went back to their room. From there, Ranka called her brother. Brera came over and she told him what happened. Anger formed on his usually stoic face.

"I'll get to the bottom of this! I've sent the note to the lab. I'll let you know what they find out. In the meantime, keep Ai with you."

"Yes, onii-chan."

He put a hand on her shoulder and spoke in a reassuring voice. "Don't worry. We'll catch them. So get some sleep, all right? Don't give them the satisfaction of knowing that it's affecting you."

He had a point. She nodded in agreement. "I will. Good night, onii-chan."

Brera kissed his sister on her forehead. "Goodnight, Ranka." Then he left.

Ranka got ready for bed. She did some yoga meditation before contacting Sheryl. With the best smile on her face, she was determined to look cheerful for her Galaxy Fairy.

-----

Their small group of players practiced with Robin in the morning. Later that afternoon, Luca visited.

"This isn't much, but I hope you like it," said a blushing Luca as he offered Nanase a huge bouquet of flowers. In comparison, it dwarfed Miranda's and Sharin's bouquets.

"Oh! You shouldn't have!" said Nanase as she happily accepted it. She inhaled deeply. "Wow! These are really fresh!"

"Thanks! I grew them myself in my greenhouse! I had so many, so I asked Filippo cut you some before they wilted!"

At his words, Ranka slapped her palm against her forehead lightly. Luca should not have said the last sentence to give the impression that he grew the flowers specifically for Nanase.

The mood was ruined, but Nanase took it in stride. "Luca dear, sometimes it's ok not to say too much."

After the flowers were deposited in a large pail, Nanase proudly showed her pieces to Luca.

"Nanase, after camp is over, what are they going to do with your pieces?" asked Luca.

Nanase shrugged. "Give it back to us, I guess."

"Are you planning to do anything with them?"

"Not really. I'll just put them in the closet." Then she pointed to a painted landscape. "Well... maybe not this one. This one came out pretty good."

Luca rubbed the back of his head, ruffling his curls. "Umm... is it okay... if I borrow the ones you don't like?"

Nanase stared at him in surprise. "You want them?"

The perpetual blush on Luca's cheeks increased even more. He looked shyly at her and pressed his index fingers together. "I'd like to hang them in my room... if you don't mind..."

Nanase hugged him happily. "Of course! Which ones do you want? You can even have that one!"

After they finished looking at the student artwork, they explored the mansion grounds together. When they got to the overlook, Ranka excused herself and dragged her brother along to give Nanase and Luca some private time.

As they viewed the cityscape from the overlook, Nanase hooked arms with Luca. She wanted to lean her head against his shoulder, but sadly, Luca was still too short for a decent lean. She would have to wait.

They pointed at various places and tried to identify them. While they were looking, Luca's watch beeped. He pressed it off.

"It's getting late, so I better get going."

"So soon?" said Nanase, feeling disappointed. "If you stay a little longer, you could see the sunset."

"I have to return to the base. I'm working with my team to get ready for the flight instruction tomorrow." He looked around. "Are they coming back?"

Nanase understood what he meant and blushed. "No."

Luca glanced at her shyly and forced the words out of his mouth. "M--may I... k--k--kiss you...?"

Instead of answering, Nanase took off her glasses, leaned down slightly and closed her eyes.

Luca's blush spread across his cheeks. He gulped nervously and licked his lips. He leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on those waiting lips. When he drew back, his spine drew ramrod straight. "I'll call you later! Bye!" He turned and ran down the steps.

Nanase opened her eyes and waved. "Bye!"

Luca turned to wave. At that moment, the wind blew through the orchard. Nanase's hair flowed up along with loose petals from nearby flowers. The scene of her outlined against the city landscape and the light orange sky etched into his mind. As he ran, his steps faltered and he stopped in the middle of the orchard. The feeling that he was missing something special filled his heart.

"I guess... you don't know what you have until you lose it..." whispered Luca.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and called his butler to tell him to wait a bit longer and to tell his vice-captain to take over training. Then he ran back to watch the sunset with his lovely girlfriend.

-----

Later that evening, Sheryl spoke to her again about another rendezvous. Excitedly, Ranka prepared the bag of linen and flew over to the carrier. She waited patiently. To her dismay, Sheryl was caught again.

Crestfallen, she returned to the mansion. When she arrived in her room, Ai walked up to her with a makeshift bouquet of wild blossoms.

"Ranka like flowers?"

Ranka accepted it. "Is this for me?"

Ai nodded. "Nice flowers. No sad anymore."

The quarter-meltran smiled at her concern. Ai could probably sense her emotions through the link. "I'm not sad. See?"

Ai hugged her. "Ranka happy now?"

Ranka returned the hug. She could not fool Ai. "I'm a bit happier now. Thanks for the flowers."

They put the flowers in an empty vase. As she lay in bed, she could not help but think about all the strange incidents that happened so far. Who was doing it? Why were they doing it?

Her eyes stared at the flowers in the vase. At least, Luca came to visit Nanase. Jealousy rose in heart as she remembered the size of Nanase's bouquet. She realized that she was not being fair to Sheryl, but she wished that her Fairy could visit her. Was it too much to see her in person? Envy and longing filled her heart. Silently, she let her tears fall.

She cried for several minutes and then uttered her name as if it was a wish. "Sheryl..."

Suddenly, she entered link space. She turned to Ai. "Huh? What's wrong, Ai-chan... Sheryl?!" She covered her mouth in surprise.

Sheryl hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

"D-don't cry... Or else... I'll cry too."

Her Galaxy Fairy apologized once more. Ranka tried to reassure her that it was not her fault. "It's just me... I get depressed easily."

"Then let it out. Hit me... scream at me... do anything but hold it in!"

Sheryl was having her own problems. Ranka did not want her to worry. "I can't do that to you. Don't worry about me. I'll deal with it on my own. Besides, just having you here now made me feel better. So get some rest. You're the one in the pilot's course."

Ranka clung to her beloved and drew strength from her presence. Eyes drooping, she drifted off to sleep.

-----

Ranka hurried to piano class which replaced scripting for the rest of the week. When she entered the music room, she was surprised to see Megan there instead of Mr. Kazhik. As she scanned for a seat, Robin waved from the second row. She joined her friend and pretended not to see Sharin who sat on the fourth row.

"Hello, everyone!" greeted Megan. "Some of you are wondering why I'm here. Mr. Kazhik caught the flu and won't be able to teach. Mr. Roverock asked me to teach in his place. Although some of you know me already, please bear with the introductions so that we can get to know each other."

Megan started with herself and asked each student to introduce his or her self. Then she began the piano exercises.

Ranka was about to leave at the end of class when Megan asked her to stay. Megan talked to her about her technique, complimenting and criticizing various aspects. When everyone else had left the room, her teacher changed the subject.

"You seem to be getting along with Robin."

"Yes, we've been doing homework together."

Relief shone on Megan's face. "Then that makes it easier. I want to ask you a favor. Please, help her overcome her weakness. She's very talented. It would be a waste if she couldn't express herself."

"But why me?"

"I talked to your music teacher at St. Maria's. She said that you used to be so nervous about singing in public. I was hoping that you could teach her how to overcome it."

Ranka fidgeted anxiously. "I'm really flattered but... I... I don't know how I did it myself."

"Please. Help her. I wouldn't ask this if I thought she had nothing to learn from you."

"But... I'm just a student."

"She's just a student too. And yet, she's willing to share her passion for music. Mr. Adean tells me that your composition skills have improved a lot in a week."

An embarrassed blush spread across Ranka's cheeks. She felt ashamed at her own fear of not fulfilling Megan's expectations. Her hand clenched with renewed determination. "Alright. I'll do my best."

"Thank you," said Megan as she nodded her head slightly.

The rest of the day passed routinely. After dinner, she and Robin went to the music salon to practice piano. Ranka told Robin about Megan's feedback.

"It seems that my left hand is a little too slow sometimes. She also mentioned that I need to read ahead faster if the tempo increases."

Robin sat down on the bench and leafed through her sheet music. "That just comes with practice. How about we try the pieces we did in class?"

"Ok."

They had practiced about thirty minutes when the door opened to admit Brera. He had his guitar with him.

"Hi Ranka. I was hoping you'd be here. After you're done, do you have a bit of time to help me practice? I need more practice in harmonizing in a group."

"Oh... I already promised Robin that I'd accompany her for her violin sonata. Can you wait after we're done?"

"Sure. Call me when you're ready." Brera turned to leave.

Just then, an idea lit in Ranka's head. Maybe, she could hit two birds with one stone. "On second thought, how about we all play together after I finish this piece?"

"Hmmm... I'm ok with that," said Brera.

Robin shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

Ranka played through her piece and marked down the passages that she needed to practice.

"What are we going to play?" asked her brother.

"Something easy to start with... How about... Your Sound? Please don't get the idea that I'm trying to promote my own single. It's just that it's the first thing that came to mind that has our instruments," replied Ranka.

"That's fine. At least, all of us know the tune and we don't have to concentrate on sight-reading so much," said Robin.

While they prepared the digipads and sound system, Ranka opened the link to Ai. She gave her some instructions.

The sound system would provide the rhythm for the drums and the trumpet. Brera downloaded the piece into it and hooked up the interface jack to his cyborg controller so that he can adjust it while they played. Then he set the timer and quickly picked up his guitar.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

When the sound system played the first note of the trumpet, Brera strummed the first chord. For several measures, he played the opening. Then Ranka joined in with the melody on the piano. A few measures later, the soft harmony of the violin supported the piano. They had played about one-quarter of the piece when Robin spoke.

"Slow down, Brera. Tempo at 90. Ranka, listen to Brera."

Ranka swallowed nervously. The speed at which she could do successive eighth notes was not fast enough. Robin realized that she was lagging. The contralto went into conductor mode and wanted her to follow the new tempo that was set by Brera's pace. Since the pressure to keep up lessened, she carefully listened to her brother.

Soon, she fell in step with Robin and Brera and the melody and harmony began to blend together. The violin's long legatos combined with the piano and caressed her ears with a suite of soothing harmonics. The piano and guitar traded the melody back and forth. She almost did not want to give it up since she liked how it sounded from the baby grand piano. However, she wanted to hear Brera play, so she did her best to accompany him.

Unlike his robotic acting, his guitar playing was richer and more vibrant. He sounded so confident sometimes that Ranka thought that he was showing off. A quick glance revealed a rare smile on his face while he played the main melody. Ranka giggled a little. Maybe, he really was showing off.

Instead of finishing the piece as written, Robin asked them to repeat from a certain measure. Ranka did not mind. She was having so much fun. Her fingers tingled with excitement and were impatient to touch the keys.

The piece faded gradually from forte to pianissimo near the end, but when they played those measures, the notes remained vibrant and with a sense of reluctance, faded to silence.

For several moments, they remained still at their final position as if they wanted to hold onto the song for just a bit longer. At the same time, they glanced up at each other and smiled with satisfaction and pride. Just then, someone clapped.

One door to the music salon was open. Nanase stood near the door and was clapping with Ai. Beyond the door, a dozen students were clapping too. Immediately, Robin blushed scarlet.

"H-How long have all of you been here?"

"Me? Ai-chan and I have been standing here about half-way through the piece," replied Nanase. "The others stopped by when they heard you guys playing."

Sam Pheaze walked in and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "If you don't mind, I can play the drums for you."

Another male student offered, "I can play bass!"

One by one, each student asked to play a part. Instead of answering, Ranka turned to Robin.

"How many can you handle, Maestro?"

Robin blinked several times before she understood. She stared at the throng of eager musicians at the door and paled. Her voice caught in her throat.

Meanwhile, Brera was moving the music stands and the sound equipment. "If we arrange it like this, everyone can fit in the room."

For several moments, the contralto's lower lip quivered nervously. She glanced at Ranka. The quarter-meltran's eyes glinted with challenge.

Robin closed her eyes and swallowed. She turned to the students. "I-if you can find a space, please join us. I'll show the arrangement to each of you."

The green-haired girl smiled sweetly in approval. In the link, Ranka thanked Ai for her help. She watched as her classmates took their places. Tonight, they would make more wonderful music together.

It was almost 11 PM when their group finished the last piece. Everyone was in high spirits as they said their goodbyes.

Robin flopped down on a padded bench. Her voice filled with wonder. "That was awesome..."

Ranka smiled at her reaction. "Isn't it?"

"I've never played like that with anyone before!"

"Sometimes, you just need to have fun with the music. Just play it from your heart. Let it flow and be heard. And then, everyone can join in with the song."

The contralto lifted her hand to her chest. "To flow from your heart... I see... Music is meant to be shared, isn't it?"

"Yes... I believe so."

Robin laughed and rubbed her forehead. "I've been going about it all wrong!"

"About what?"

She clasped her hands over her lap. "Every time I saw the sheet music, it always felt like a test. I felt that I needed to get it right... to be perfect. Then my music will sound perfect. But today, I wasn't thinking of making it perfect. I was just thinking of being able to play with everyone." She looked up at Ranka. "It was the best music I've ever played so far."

Ranka patted her shoulder in agreement. "There'll be more."

A wide grin stretched over Robin's face. "I hope so. I'd like that." She stood up and stretched. "I'm so fired up that I could play all night!"

"And fall asleep during your own recital? I'd be so embarrassed to play for you!" teased Ranka.

"Spoil sport..." muttered Robin. Then she laughed and Ranka laughed with her.

-----

That evening, Ranka told Sheryl about Megan and Robin. At last, she had some good news to share. The Galaxy Fairy, on the other hand, had a really bad day.

"Ozma-nii is there?!" exclaimed Ranka.

"Yeah... he was really strict."

She eyed her suspiciously. "Is he bullying you?"

Sheryl waved her hands. "No... not at all... He yelled at everyone." Then she yawned. "Do you mind if we sleep soon? I'm really tired..."

Ranka patted her lap. "I'm at your service..."

A smile bloomed on Sheryl's face and she laid her head on Ranka's lap. Before Cinderella's song was done, the Fairy had drifted off to sleep.

-----

The next day, Brera told them about the lab results after dinner. "The lab found several fingerprints and some of the prints were clear enough to identify three people. The rest of the prints were too faint." He pointed to his digipad which showed a picture of the girl who was sometimes seen with Miranda and Sharin. "Here's the first. Alva Lone. FAAP second-year. Works as a teen model at Entertainment Universe. Has an older sister, Yu Lone."

"Yu Lone..." repeated Ranka. "She sounds familiar."

"It is. Yu was originally cast to play Mao."

Her heart skipped a beat. "Oh my god... She must think I stole her sister's part!"

Brera nodded. "We have a possible motive. But... she wasn't there when we came from the orchard."

"You think someone put her up to it?" suggested Nanase.

"Someone else knew that the man was near the overlook. Furthermore, the overlook is far from the mansion. There's a sign on the rail and it's not readable with normal vision. Even the lens in my cybernetic eye has to magnify thrice to see the letters clearly."

"What about the two other people?" asked Ranka.

"Luke Macmillan, Mihoshi second-year," replied Brera.

"He's the one that gave the note to me."

"The last is Ben Grant, Mihoshi second-year. He's in your Fan club. I talked to both of them. Luke seems clueless, so he's probably just a messenger. Ben got the note from a FAAP student."

"It came from FAAP! So what are we waiting for? Let's go get her!" said Nanase as she stood up.

Brera held up his hand. "We need proof. We have to catch them in the act. I've put them under surveillance."

"How'd you do that?" asked Nanase.

"With this." The cyborg unclasped a cylinder from his belt. Green lights flashed on its surface and with a whir of tiny gears, it transformed into a small beetle. "It's equipped with audio and video receptors. It collects data and transmits it to my memory banks. Furthermore, it can fly, so it can follow them around."

"Wow..." exclaimed Nanase in wonder. "You two are really are brother and sister."

"Of course, we are. Why did you even say that?"

"Because you two command bugs!" Both Brera and Ranka stared at her with narrowed eyes. "Sorry... that was a bad pun." Then her voice laced with concern. "Anyway... isn't tapping illegal?"

"If it's done in a private residence. I'll have it follow them in public places." He squeezed his sister's shoulder reassuringly. "This time, we'll get them."

-----

On Wednesday morning, Mr. Roverock and the FAAP director, Mrs. Flair, addressed everyone during breakfast. In his talk, Mr. Roverock mentioned the olive oil incident as well as other pranks that Ranka was not aware of. It seemed that other students were victims as well. Mr. Roverock ended by saying, "The owner has agreed to put surveillance cameras in public areas. If you're caught, I'll kick you out of camp and put you on probation. A reprimand will appear on your record."

The day progressed with no strange incidents. That evening, Brera expressed his irritation over the announcement.

"If he just held off by a day, maybe we could've caught them," grumbled Brera.

"It's ok, onii-chan. As long as it stops, then it's fine," said Ranka.

"What if... we make it easier for them?" said Nanase.

Brera's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

The artist's glasses glinted as she adjusted it slightly. "Let's give them an opportunity they can't ignore."

Ranka gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "A trap?"

An evil smile spread on her best friend's face. "How about if we..."

They listened to Nanase's plan. When she finished, Brera sat in silence for a few seconds before speaking.

"The probability of success is high. Pending Ranka's agreement, I'm in favor of executing it."

Ranka swallowed nervously. One word from her and Alva or whoever was behind it would be put on probation. She made her decision. "Let's go ahead... but only if we can confront her ourselves. There's no need to tell Mr. Roverock."

"What?" said Brera and Nanase at the same time.

"All I want is for her to stop and apologize. I'm sorry that her sister didn't get the role, but I believe that Yu Lone is a good actress. From what I've learned in acting class, an actor doesn't get an award because of the role. He gets the award because of his performance. Yu doesn't need to play Mao to shine. She can shine in whatever role she takes. I'm going to tell Alva that."

Nanase sighed. "I guess if it's alright with you, then we'll talk to her privately. However..." Nanase adjusted her glasses again, causing it to flash a glint. "We have to wait for a good time. After Mr. Roverock's speech, she's going to be cautious."

"Agreed," said Brera. "I'll keep her under surveillance for now. But we should be ready to spring the trap."

"Alright!" Nanase thrust her hand forward like players do before a game. "Let's do operation Ranka's Revenge!"

Ranka sighed and put her hand on top of Nanase's. "Why do you have to name it?"

Ai put her hand on top and Brera put his last. "How about Operation Payback?"

"That's still a name."

Despite her best efforts to dissuade them, Operation Extra Payback And Revenge became the code name. After they discussed the logistics of OEPAR, they did homework as usual. Later that night, Ranka made her customary visit to her Fairy.

"Megan said that I need to work on my fingering technique for some of the more complex pieces. It just feels so awkward sometimes."

"What did she say?"

Ranka wiggled her fingers in the air. "Well... I'm just having a hard time with upstroke and downstroke. You see, I try something like this and she says it sort of turns into something like this..."

"Here, let me help you..." Sheryl closed her eyes. The space in front of Ranka morphed into a keyboard.

"Oh!" exclaimed Ranka in surprise.

Sheryl floated behind her. Her arms ran parallel to the quarter-meltran's and her right hand positioned over middle C. Her warm cheek touched hers. "Watch carefully... upstroke... downstroke... upstroke... downstroke..."

For several minutes, Sheryl demonstrated various fingering techniques by overlapping her fingers with Ranka's. Through the link, Ranka could feel the tension of each finger as it pressed into a key. Just like the time when she shared the memories of the meadow with Sheryl, the Galaxy Fairy shared memories of learning piano with her. Soon, she had a much better understanding of the body and arm positions for particular techniques.

"Looks like you're getting the idea," said Sheryl proudly.

"Really? Thanks!"

"Wanna play something together?"

Verdant locks bounced up. "Sure! What should we play?"

"Do you remember Lion?"

"Yes!"

"I'll play the left hand part. You play the right hand part."

"Eh? But how will I know...?"

Sheryl winked. "Just think about the fingering technique and the notes that you need to play will be obvious. Let's start slow."

"Oh... I guess I'll give it a try."

The Galaxy Fairy placed her left hand on the keyboard. "Ready when you are."

Ranka drew a deep breath and played the first note, A. At the same time, Sheryl played the A minor chord. It was awkward at first since her left hand was restless. After about ten measures, Ranka clenched her hand to prevent it from distracting her. Note by note, she was beginning to get the hang of it.

"Let's go a little faster now," coaxed Sheryl.

Ranka increased the tempo. She still managed to hit the notes. When they were about five measures from the Coda, Sheryl spoke.

"One measure from the Coda, let's switch. 3... 2... 1..."

Their hands crossed over the keyboard. On cue, Ranka played the F minor chord while Sheryl followed up with the melody after a rest. From the corner of her eye, she saw Sheryl wink at her.

"Nice..." praised Sheryl.

Her heart glowed with joy at the Galaxy Fairy's compliment. When they were done, Ranka exclaimed, "That was great! One more time!"

Sheryl laughed at her enthusiasm. Her left hand assumed its original position. "After you..."

Green locks bounced up with excitement and she played the A key once more. They played a few other pieces together before Sheryl yawned visibly.

"I'm sorry... looks like this is my limit."

The yawn was infectious. Ranka clasped her hand to her mouth. "Me too..." She snuggled against her. "Can I hold you?"

Her Galaxy Fairy kissed her gently. "All night long..."

------

On Thursday afternoon, they found Miranda, Sharin and Alva near the flower maze.

"Alva Lone and Sharin McIntosh, may we talk to you privately?" asked Brera.

"What's this about?" asked Miranda.

"It doesn't involve you," replied the cyborg. "We only have business with them."

"We? All four of you and just the two of them? That seems rather unfair. I'm staying."

Brera looked at Ranka who shrugged. She was not sure if Miranda was preparing to defend them or was just acting contrary to what Brera wanted. In either case, it did not matter. "I don't care what you do. It's up to Alva and Sharin to decide whether they want you here."

"What do you want with us?" asked Sharin as if she were addressing obnoxious fans.

Nanase lifted a small paper bag and pulled out a bottle of Meltene ProZ. "This. My boyfriend's butler bought Ranka and me more shampoo because we were running out. He brought it over to me when I was taking pictures at the orchard."

Alva stared at the bag and said nothing.

"You wanted to talk about shampoo? Sorry, but I don't have time for nonsense." Sharin turned to leave.

Brera stood in front of her. "Please stay."

"What in space... get out of my way!"

No matter what she did, Brera moved so quickly to block her way, thus becoming like an impenetrable wall. Meanwhile, Nanase continued.

"I got a call from my boyfriend and put the bag with my notebook near the gardener's shed. Unfortunately, I forgot about it until after drawing class. I returned to the orchard and checked the bottles. Someone put weed killer in Ranka's shampoo, but not mine."

"So what does that have to do with me?" asked Alva crossly.

"You're in my class, so you were in the orchard too," said Nanase. "My name is on my notebook, so you knew that it was my stuff. But there are two bottles. Meltene ProZ is specially formulated for meltran hair. It wasn't hard to guess which bottle was for me and which was for Ranka."

"Other people were there too! Big deal! Even if you check the bottle for finger prints, you won't find mine!" said Alva hotly.

"You're right. We won't." Brera showed his digipad. It was a video feed from one of his beetles. "You put gloves on before pouring it in."

Miranda turned to Alva. "You disgust me. I always thought there was something wrong with you."

Alva's face distorted with rage and humiliation. She fumed at Ranka. "It's not fair! Why did it have to be you! Mao was my sister's!"

Nanase's voice rose like a sales girl who saved the best feature for last. "But that's not all! Here's the video before Alva did it! See? She's calling someone on her phone. Based on her position, Alva is facing the mansion. She's looking up. Now let's see it again with audio."

The digipad speaker crackled to life. "Hi Sharin. It's me. Nanase left a bag by the shed. It has Ranka's shampoo in it." Alva paused. "Ok, I'll wait."

Brera explained, "Sharin asked her to wait. Since we were told that the surveillance cameras were only in the mansion, nobody would know if anything happened in the orchard. The videos of the mansion are available upon request, so I asked for the ones that monitored the areas facing the orchard."

Without warning, Sharin slammed into Brera. However, the cyborg stood his ground. The idol bounced off him instead. Meanwhile, Nanase played another video. It showed Sharin standing by a second floor balcony door and looking through a pair of opera glasses.

Nanase continued, "Sharin wanted to check if there was anyone near Alva in the orchard. So she asked Alva to wait before she spiked Ranka's shampoo."

"Miranda told me to do it!" Sharin pointed an accusing finger at the actress.

"What?! Are you out of your mind?!" yelled Miranda.

"You're always saying, 'We should do something about her.' and 'We have to show that we're the ones with the real talent'!"

"Don't you dare twist my words, you back-stabbing bitch! I'd never stoop to something like this! I'm Miss Macross! I can't let her rank higher than me on the charts! One day, I'm going to beat her off the charts! It's your perverted mind that made nonsense about my pure goals!"

"But... if we didn't do anything... she'd-"

Miranda's eyes narrowed and she cut her off. "You don't think I can do it."

Sharin opened her mouth but no words came out. She pressed her lips together and stared at the ground.

Without a word, Miranda turned and stalked away. When she was out of sight, Alva burst into tears.

For several seconds, nobody moved. Nobody spoke. Then Sharin lurched to stand with her shoulders slumped in defeat.

"So you know. Are you going to turn us in?"

Ranka delivered her ultimatum. "Only if you don't stop. If you play a prank on me or someone else, then the videos will be sent to Mrs. Flair."

Then she turned to Alva and told the crying girl what she thought of Yu Lone. She ended by saying, "She's recovered already, didn't she? I heard she got cast in a lead role."

Even through her sniffles, Alva's voice hinted of pride. "Yes, she did."

"I wish her luck. Good night."

Without a second glance, they left Alva and Sharin behind.

-----

The next day, Ranka did not see Sharin in any of the classes that she shared with her. After lunch, Brera gathered them together in Ranka's room.

"Sharin's been booted," declared her brother.

Ranka's eyes went wide. "What? You didn't send the videos, right, onii-chan?"

"I didn't send any. She was charged as an accomplice to your attempted assault. The police took her into custody this morning."

The green-haired girl covered her face with her hands. Those usually bouncy locks hung limply by her cheeks. "I didn't want this."

Brera hugged his gentle sister. "I know."

"Who could've told them?" wondered Nanase.

"She was also charged with petty larceny," said the cyborg.

The artist's eyes went round. "Don't tell me... Miranda sold her out..."

Brera spoke somberly. "That would be the logical explanation. She knew Sharin had the opera glasses and that the balcony overlooks the orchard. Even if the police can't connect Sharin to the assault, the larceny will stay on her record since they found the glasses in her bag."

Ranka remembered Miranda's cold eyes that afternoon. She shivered slightly and rested her head on her brother's chest. At least, she was surrounded by people whom she could trust. There was a snake among them and she hoped that the rest of boot camp would proceed more peacefully.

After Nanase left, her brother said, "Ranka, there's something that I'd like to show you after dinner."

"What is it?"

It seemed that his eyes looked at her sadly. "I'll tell you later. Can you keep that time open for me?"

Seeing her brother like that made Ranka feel uneasy. She ignored those feelings. "Sure. Just let me know."

Quietly, they walked to their respective classes. As they did so, Ranka wondered what her brother would show her.


Continued in Mvmt III. Erschütterung (A Violent Shaking)


Author's note: For the musicians out there, the sheet music for Lion is on my webpage.