Camera Flash

As hard as you try, no, I will never be knocked down-Turning Tables by Adele

"The script" A deep voice requested impolite but smoothly from the back of Allen's seat in the first row, just behind the jury's table.

Allen turned around to frown at the tan-skinned man that only smiled smugly at him with his hand extended. The bangs of his hair framed perfectly his terrible yellow eyes, which flickered between Allen's scowl and the couple on the stage.

Tyki Mikk smirked while evaluating the performance of the students. Truthfully, the first pair had been the best, at least in his opinion. It was not just that he got a perfectly good sight of Keira Onozawa's attributes –which weren't really spectacular,- neither the fact that Lavi Bookman performed with her, but, he had to admit, the girl was fairly good. He could perfectly feel her glee and tenderness at loving and being loved back from the last row of the modest theatre. Her reactions were natural and effortless.

Anyway, the reason he had come to Black Order, as he told Kanda Yuu, was to fetch the script to start writing the stupid theme song of the movie, not to watch chicks acting. He had received the request some days ago and, after deliberating if it was worth his attention or not, he finally called to accept the job. They told him, afterwards, where he could pick up the script.

It had been a great surprise to find the girl he gave a ride to right there in the school, participating to act in a movie for which he was going to write the theme song. And also, perhaps fate or coincidence, he found Kanda Yuu. Again.

His smirk evilly widened upon the remembrance of the Japanese's infuriated expression at seeing him. That man was surely resentful, yet, his resentment flattered Tyki in some sick way. That only meant Kanda wasn't still over the past happenings.

Allen bent on himself and searched for the group of seamed copies that was kept under the table. He grabbed it and handed the script reluctantly to Tyki's waiting palm.

"Thank you" the Portuguese said in clean English. Allen nodded absentmindedly, focusing again on Hiragizawa and Fye's team.

"You don't need to give me the cold shoulder, Walker" Tyki cooed "I haven't done any harm to you"

"I don't trust you, Mikk. They might have declared you innocent but…"

"Can you say otherwise? Do you have proofs?" The Portuguese questioned rhetorically. "Did you ever see me working with them?"

Allen twisted his mouth. No, he surely didn't have other proofs but the obvious: Tyki's affiliation to the Noah Family, a renowned drug dealers and Mafia branch group. Besides, there was Cross's distrustfulness towards the family. Perhaps Allen's mentor was an alcoholic womanizer professional photographer with the same amount of common sense of a peanut, still, he had been wise enough to keep a clear antagonism against the Noahs. And if Cross said it was bad, regarding his questionable notions of good and bad, then it meant it was REALLY bad.

"That's what I thought" Mikk stated "Just an advice, Walker: Stop taking others' opinions for granted and make judgments of your own. I'll call you when I complete the song. Sayonara" with a bow, Mikk strayed out of the theatre. His curiosity about the identity of the winner vanished at watching the first performance: the victory was clearly in Onozawa's hands.


Keira tried to read the first pages of the script they gave her, but the wind kept on messing the delicate sheets of paper, making it impossible for the girl to finish one single line.

"I can tell you the story" Lavi proposed, chuckling at the fruitless intents of his passenger. With one hand on the steering wheel, he extended his free arm to close the script emphatically.

"This is an original story, I doubt you know anything about…"

"Geek in the Pink. Principal characters: Nicholas Meyer, Kentaro Hasimoto and Nakuru Dazai. Setting: High School. Plot: Kentaro Hasimoto likes Nakuru Dazai, Nakuru Dazai turns him down. Eventually, the one who falls in love with Kentaro Hasimoto is Nicholas Meyer, Nakuru Dazai's boyfriend. And that, basically, is what the story is about. Wanna know the exact development of happenings?" Lavi boasted with his typical, never-fading smile. His eye flickered between the road and the gawk of the girl, who looked at him stunned.

"Well, I heard something like that from Komui but…how do you know it?" her eyes suddenly narrowed with suspicion. The different pieces slowly connected inside her mind, yet, she made no effort to take a conclusion of it. She wanted to hear it from Lavi's mouth before saying anything stupid that would probably be a misunderstanding.

Lavi parked his Ferrari next to a sidewalk and jumped out of the vehicle. He tossed the keys of the car to a man wearing a suit and a cap, who bowed politely in his direction. The American smiled and walked to Keira's side to open the door.

"Nicholas Meyer" Lavi finally responded, taking Keira's hand chivalrously to help her out of the Ferrari. "A pleasure, Mss. Dazai" he winked –blinked…whatever-

She froze in place. Yes, her speculations weren't that far from reality, even though she believed them to be completely illogical. "What? Seriously?" just to make sure, she asked again.

Lavi nodded. "I was supposed to tell you nothing until the list of actors was completed." He excused sheepishly. "Now, would you mind if we talk about this inside?" with a movement of his head, he pointed to the entrance of the restaurant in front of which he had parked.

So embedded in her own thoughts, Keira hadn't realized up to that moment that they were standing in the entrance of an elegant, Italian restaurant. The way to the entrance was decorated with an elegant red carpet, Hollywood-style, while some lights dimly illuminated the profile of two men waiting at each side of the principal, glass doors.

Keira turned around to look for the red Ferrari, but everything she saw were the cars coming and going in the wide street.

At her side, she heard Lavi heartily laughing. He bent his left arm across his chest. "Come, let's celebrate your not-so-surprising victory, Nakuru" said he.

"Ugh, it sounds really bad when you say it like that" she grunted, completely oblivious of the way Lavi waited for her to hook her arm with his. "I thought we were going to the wet market"

"After winning a role in a movie? No way, today we are celebrating!" he elbowed Keira slightly in the arm for her to get his message, but the girl just blinked, baffled.

"But this looks really expensive! How do you think I'll be able to afford something like this?" she responded after a pair of seconds in flabbergasted silence. It has been a while since she stepped inside an elegant place. In fact, she couldn't recall any moment where she had eaten in a place like this. Nobody ever bothered in taking her to five stars restaurants neither to spend so much money nor to celebrate her birthday. Getting this attention from someone she had just met a pair of weeks ago was…unsettling.

She couldn't accept it.

"It wouldn't be very chivalrous of me to let you pay the bill, would it?" Lavi asked cryptically "C'mon, stop complaining" dropping his arm, he grabbed one of her slim wrists and started pulling the thin girl to the 'Italian Corner'.

He bowed politely to the two guards in the door and, ignoring Keira's complains, he dragged her into the restaurant.

The interior was warm and delicate. Decorated at the pure Italian style- with circular tables covered with squared red-and-white cloths; golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling at regular distances and some DaVinci and Michelangelo paintings surrounding the local- Keira felt the few money she had raised evaporating to the sky.

Lavi said something to a waitress standing in the entrance while Keira looked leisurely around. It was until she felt the contemptuous look the waitress darted to her that she returned to reality. The woman dressed in an impeccable black suit averted her eyes from Keira, as if considering the girl unworth more of her attention. Afterwards, she guided Lavi with extreme gentleness and his companion to a private compartment of the restaurant.

The room was small and its furniture consisted only of a table for two decorated with a candle in a bottle and the same tablecloth she had seen outside. The walls were covered with a red tapestry and illuminated by four lamps standing in the four corners.

After leaving the customers a pair of menus together with a bottle of red wine, the waitress bowed in Lavi's direction and walked out the room.

Keira grimaced when the woman left. Perhaps it was better when she didn't enter fancy restaurants.

"Alright, let's see what we've got here" Lavi tuned. He reclined in the wooden chair, scanning the list of dishes with his only eye.

Keira did the same, taking care of not paying a lot of attention to the numbers on the right side of the menu. The prices were extravagant, bordering on ridiculousness.

"Let's have the lasagna for two" Lavi proposed. Keira nodded obediently, pretending that her eyes never landed upon the price of the lasagna. It'd be better if they shared it, she thought.

"And...spaghetti? What do you say?" the American looked beyond his menu to the dumbfounded expression of his companion.

Keira gulped "Salad? It is healthier" said she.

"And cheaper, too." Lavi rolled his eye knowingly "C'mon, I can always sell the Ferrari to pay the bill" he mocked.

Keira looked at him like if he had said the biggest blasphemy in the world.

Lavi giggled "It was a joke"

"Considering the prices of this damn place, I wouldn't doubt the truthfulness of that statement." Keira flinched, annoyed. "Couldn't we just go to the wet market and ask the special dish of the day?"

"You are really thick skinned, right?" the American shook his head. A nostalgic glint crossed his eyes for a moment but he responded cheerfully, his voice evidently contrasting with his eye-expression "Once a year doesn't hurt anyone. Is not as if I didn't have the money to afford this kind of places"

In that moment, the arrogant waitress entered the private room to take their orders. Lavi enumerated the dishes they accorded to have, together with a glass of mineral water and another of lemonade. The woman took the menus away; her eyes fixated on Lavi the whole time as if Keira didn't exist, and then left the room.

"Yet…it is too much" Keira replied shyly when the woman disappeared. Conscious of her defeat, she intertwined her fingers on top of the table.

"Ow, but you deserve this! You really need guts to stand in a stage half-naked and perform sublimely one of the most sacred pieces of the film industry!"

Keira twisted her mouth. Automatically, she readjusted the blazer Lavi had lent her to cover the exposure of her body, insulting mentally Aiko and her machinations.

Her mouth hissed the last line of her thoughts. "Stupid bitch"

"Wow, are you really that mad with me?" Lavi surprised.

Keira blinked, slowly realizing that she had thought aloud. She shook her head, smirking at the startled expression of the American.

"No, no" she explained "Well, just a bit. Anyway, I was thinking about…'the incident'" she looked down at her torso emphatically.

Choosing her words cautiously so the curses and swears wouldn't come out so bluntly, Keira narrated the happenings that lead to the uncomfortable outfit –or lack of it- she appeared in onto the stage.

Lavi listened to her without interrupting. At times he had to make an effort to not laugh at the ingenuity of Keira during her different endeavors of getting out the janitor's room. It would have been awful to laugh at what, apparently, outraged the girl so badly. Her eyebrows furrowed dramatically over her eyes, outstanding their Japanese form that wasn't that noticeable normally.

"Well, be glad that, at the end, it turned out to be the same" Lavi commented when she finished her story "You won"

Keira rolled her eyes "You sound as if you always knew the result. How can I be sure that you didn't bribe the jury?"

"I always made my bets on you. You were –are- the best" the American winked enthusiastically and gave Keira a thumbs-up. (A/N: For having one eye, Lavi really likes to wink, hmm…) "You know English and you are identical to Nakuru Dazai so…the numbers were on your side" he said more logically.

"Identical? I don't know if I shall take that as an offence. She is a cheerleader" Keira teased. The waitress entered that moment to leave the drinks and some starters.

"Cheerleaders are gorgeous. At least in America" Lavi defended.

"And superficial bitches, too. But, well…" she thought for a moment, her mind suddenly recalling the face of certain actor "I know someone who also acts as if he had a cactus stuck up his ass. And he isn't a cheerleader" she spat out.

"That's a huge amount of resentment. Poor Kanda, his heart would surely break if he heard those harsh words of yours" Lavi expressed, dramatically placing one of his hands on his forehead.

"How did you know it was him?" Keira questioned, surprised.

"It is plainly obvious. The way you treat each other during the Drama class and the fact that every conversation you start, besides that it is forced, ends up in an argument" The American explained, reclining back in his chair. Keira waited until the pair of waiters that entered to leave their food went to respond to Lavi.

"He isn't the nicest person in the world" she grimaced.

"He just doesn't know how to treat a person, that's all. In the bottom, I know he can't be a dick at all" Lavi contested wisely. He cut out a piece of the lasagna and placed it onto his plate, then, with a large fork, he helped himself with the spaghetti.

Keira imitated him after a hasty Itadakimasu and asked "Why do you defend him? He is a dick, inside and outside"

"I don't know a lot about his life" Lavi declared, growing awkwardly serious "But I've heard he was abandoned by his parents when he was a kid, so don't be surprised if he doesn't know anything else but rudeness at the moment of dealing with human beings"

Keira stared at her hands, thoughtful. Well, she remembered Kanda mentioning something about it in the classroom…and then being all bitchy as always. Keira never paid real attention to that intelligence, but, thinking in retrospective, it was kind of logic that he acted cold all the time. She wondered if his fans knew that sad story of his. Maybe that was the reason why they stood his roughness, because they knew that those layers of aggressiveness were the product of the lack of love.

Anyway, that was no reason for someone to treat everybody around like shit. There were like a hundred thousand orphans around the world who certainly weren't jerky all the time.

"Well, I didn't know that, but that's not an excuse for his behavior. He is old enough to know social manners" Keira sentenced. She dug her teeth in the soft lasagna's cheese, savoring the unknown flavors in it. It tasted like heaven.

"A pine can grow meters and meters up, but it won't give pears even if you ask for them" Lavi reflected. Seriously, this air he gave off while talking like that, even with the smile adorning his features, made Keira half uneasy, half amused.

"C'mon, Yuu-pon isn't that bad. You'll soon realize it during the shooting." The American added cheerfully.

"Nothing can be worse than having him in both, the school and the shooting" Keira buffed.

"Woah, really?" Lavi gawked, nearly dropping his fork on the plate "Then your luck may be really bad. Or really good"

"What do you mean?" Keira questioned, spitting bits of lasagna unintentionally while talking.

"Well," Lavi scratched the back of his head "how can I say this? Hmm… Have you ever wondered who is going to play Kentaro Hasimoto?"

One. Two. Three seconds of silence it took for Keira to get the message.

"No. Fucking. Way" she pronounced each syllable separated, curling exaggeratedly her lips to pronounce correctly the words in English.


She hung around with him. She performed with him. She kissed him in front of a dozen of eyes. She liked him. What the fuck did Lavi Bookman have that he didn't? Seriously, he was Kanda Yuu, the most beautiful man in Asia, for not saying in Earth.

What did he obtain after weeks of coexistence with the stupid girl? What did he get after helping her whereas he wanted to or not? Rivalry, nothing else. And what did the American rabbit get in just a few days? Complete access to her mouth. The girl was surely head over heels for the American idiot. It wasn't as if he had done all those favors to her seeking for the girl's approbation –hell, of course not- but, since the beginning, he couldn't understand what was wrong with her. From the start of his career till the moment he met her, he had never found girl capable to see him without drooling.

He clicked his tongue. He was putting too much attention on that. Clearly, that insignificant, petty girl didn't deserve so much neurons work. Would it really make a difference if she liked him? The answer was pretty obvious: not. He would still be as aware of his existence as he was of the presence of mites in the air.

He zapped in the tv in search of something decent to watch. Like every single fucking day, the different channels were filled with bullshit he didn't care about. He wondered why he bought a television. He finally stopped in the CNN channel, the only place where at least intelligent things were said.

That night's bulletin was about important enterprise's owners and businessmen of Japan. They were talking in that moment about some foreigner who had founded an insurance company in the north part of the island.

It mentioned that, throughout the last couple of years, he was threatened with diverse types of sues due to presumable frauds, frauds that were never proved to be truth.

"He is said to be terribly smart or terribly unfortunate," the hostess of the program said while a couple of photographs passed behind her back "being accused half a dozen times and being declared innocent all of them. However, the mysticism that surrounded Leverrier Malcolm's aloof, solitary personality, which inspired distrustfulness in the past, vanished with his recent marriage to a local widow"

Kanda almost spit the tea he was sipping when the photograph of a wedding appeared in the screen.

The brunette man, who he supposed was Teverrier, was standing beside a woman in her early forties. He was wearing a classic, westerner pitch-black suit, which conceded him, together with the severe expression, an imposing air. At his side, the petite woman he had married smiled sheepishly to the camera, apparently unsure of herself. Her black hair was fixed in a bun at the back of her head, and her left hand rested on the shoulder of the person who elicited the surprised reaction of Kanda.

Keira Onozawa scowled to the camera from beside and in front her mother –Kanda assumed it was her mother-. She was wearing a long, purple dress and an undone bun. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest as a clear physical expression of disgust.

"The widow of deceased Onozawa Yukito, Onozawa Hikari and their daughter, Onozawa Keira, are part now of the Leverrier's family and, consequently, heiresses of the large fortune Leverrier-san has made" the hostess related, appearing again in the screen "The most benefited of this marriage is, obviously, Onozawa Keira, who had shifted from the frugal education of public schools to the quality of Black Order High School, where she is being prepared to become the owner of one of the most promising companies of the new century. The fortune of this family rises from five -"

Kanda barely heard the rest of the bulletin, which talked about annual incomes and numbers he didn't give a shit about. What kept on hopping around his head was the sudden discovery that Keira wasn't the miserable girl she made herself be, wearing always those dirty sneakers and old-fashioned clothes.

Kanda crossed his legs thoughtfully. He thought of the way Keira seemed to be all obsessive about dialing her mother every morning, and the different contemptuous ways she talked about her stepfather. Hitler, or something like that she nicknamed him.

Albeit being the heiress of a large company, she didn't seem very happy about the happenings of her life. What could have happened that made her so unhappy although being in a privileged position?

And why the fuck was he even thinking about her? Whichever her problems were, it had nothing to do with him. He should focus in more important matters like learning his dialogs for the movie.

He turned off the television and took the script from the coffee table of the living room. The page where he had stopped reading was marked with a dry lotus flower which he carefully put aside to continue his lecture.

(Kentaro Hasimoto leans against the wall of the dark room, hyperventilating)

Nakuru Dazai: Come on, dear (Whispers into his ear as she unbuttons his shirt)

The moment his eyes landed upon the name of Nakuru Dazai, just an image popped out in his mind. The scene Lavi and she performed, Titanic fucking romantic shit, haunted his line of thoughts like some condemned soul.

Was it him, or Keira Onozawa was in every damned place now? All of a sudden, that insignificant girl started infecting everything around him: the screen of his television, the classroom, the Drama Club and, now, his own work. Everywhere he turned around to see, there she was.

It was tiring and irritating. His liver wasn't having a nice time, and surely will suffer a lot in the future dealing with that…burden.

He slammed the script close.

Life was fucking screwed.


"I told you specifically to stop that nonsensical girl" The deep voice hissed from the other side of the line.

"The plan didn't work out as I planned" Link excused himself expressionlessly "There were…interferences" he grimaced with chagrin, upset with himself.

Leverrier huffed. "I don't care if Obama himself went to help that stupid brat, your orders were simple!" He yelled into the receiver.

"We can still stop her from signing the contract" Link tried to reason.

"No, it is too late for that. She'll be suspicious" The businessman reflected, lowering the tone of his voice to a thoughtful volume. There was a long silence until Leverrier talked again. "We'll have to do things faster than planned"

Howard Link frowned, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken "Do you mean you plan-?"

"Yes" Leverrier interrupted, already knowing what Link wanted to say "It has to be done before the movie is launched"

Link looked out the window of his rented apartment. The roofs of the other buildings that surrounded his flat were visible from his position, and, farther away, the lights of the tall skyscrapers shone like living stars in the distance.

"Is it really that bad if she takes part in it? The movie will be launched before we cover the time span we schemed" Link said.

"Are you stupid, Link?" Leverrier scolded "If she turns out into a public figure, fervent investigations will be carried out, and we certainly don't want that. These are your orders, Howard Link:" He lowered his voice cryptically "You have five months to get rid of her. No more" with that said, Leverrier hung up the phone, leaving a lonely Link staring at Tokyo's night sky, his brain already working with the new information.


Keira slumped onto her chair. The dry sound of her schoolbag falling echoed in the empty room.

For the second time in her life, she had arrived early to school. No, this time it wasn't to win a stupid place –she'd already given up-, it was because she couldn't sleep at all during the night.

Through the open zipper of her schoolbag, the awful script leaned out the border of the bag.

Romance. Ugh. She wasn't the one to perform exactly cheesy, lovey-dovey scenes, still, the few make out sessions she had to act were dreadful enough to leave her awake all night.

Make out sessions with Lavi. Make out sessions with Kanda. Seriously, in what the hell was that British brat thinking?

Performing the part of a bigheaded, whimsical, spoiled bitch was not a big deal. Performing the role of a whore was still somehow bearable. But kiss, make out with Kanda and Lavi both in the same movie was obnoxious.

She banged her head against the table once and left it there. Her eyes shut close automatically, yearning for the rest they didn't have. The awful discovery fluttered around her mind the whole night, just after she finished reading Geek in the Pink.

Keira considered the idea of withdrawing. Basically, of that her whole deliberation consisted throughout her insomnia. However, even when retrieving would mean releasing herself from those embarrassing scenes, it still felt shameful. Keira was not the type that ran like a coward whenever problems showed up. She always preferred facing them with her head held high. Yet, that determination didn't mean that things were easier.

Retrieving couldn't be that bad this time, huh? Perhaps Maia could do it better than her. She had more experience, after all. In fact, Keira felt too novice to act in a movie. Well, she was too new in that, and it still felt, even when Lavi assured her he didn't bribe the judges, that everything was previously arranged in her favor.

Seriously, she doubted she had enough talent to be in the big screen. Besides, Kaede and Maia desired much more than her to take part in this movie. Would it be that bad to move aside and let their dreams come true?

She heard the door opening and closing, followed by a set of steps which approximated to her side. She didn't have to lift her head to guess who the newcomer was. There was only one person who arrived ridiculously early to school.

After reading what they had to do, Keira felt unable to look straight at his face ever again without blushing.

Kanda huffed beside her. Keira pretended that he didn't exist and continued mourning in the darkness of her closed eyes.

He started tapping on top of the wood of his table, while the hush of paper being regularly turned perturbed the silence around. In other conditions, Keira would have straightened up and ordered him to shut the fuck up and let her sleep, even when the sound wasn't that bothersome.

After various minutes of silence, in which Keira drifted away and came back in an intermittent sleep, the rest of 3-A population started arriving to the classroom. The loud voices speaking finally killed Keira's intentions of resting her head, and she decided that it was time to reincorporate herself to the world.

Keira discovered Maia standing at her side. The girl seemed to have been just about to move her friend, her left hand raised to touch her shoulder.

Keira felt uncomfortable. She was conscious of how much Maia rehearsed to be selected in the casting, and being beaten by a newbie must have been hard to assimilate. However, contrary to all the reactions Keira thought she may had had, Maia smiled warmly at her.

"Good morning, sleepy" the girl saluted.

"Hey" Keira's greet distorted with the huge yawn she made.

"Didn't sleep well?" Maia raised a questioning eyebrow. She was giving her back to Kanda, but at times Keira noticed the girl's eyes flickering over her shoulder.

Keira sighed. "Didn't sleep at all" she let her head fall onto the surface of the table emphatically, still facing her friend.

"Nervous? Because of the movie? Today you will sign contract, won't you?" Maia asked enthusiastically. Keira looked at her with amusement, not truly waiting that reaction from the person she felt she stole the greatest opportunity of her life.

Perhaps Maia was a better person than Keira thought. With a wry smile, the sleepy girl responded "Yes, but…I don't know, Hiragizawa, it's too much pressure. I don't feel up to it" Keira confessed in a whisper.

"Oh don't be ridiculous! Your performance was brilliant. You must have some natural talent for this, use it!" Maia cheerfully encouraged her, her eyes glinting with excitement.

"Is just that I…I have just read the script, and I'm not quite sure if I want to take part in it anymore" Keira vaguely explained. She really didn't want to give details about what she was supposed to do, in part because it was better to dig a hole and die than to make it public and in part because she was supposed to say nothing about the entire project.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad. Allen Walker is an internationally renowned scriptwriter. Whatever he writes, it is a complete success worldwide" the other girl said expertly.

Keira wanted to laugh. Yes, certainly the plot was pretty good. It catered for youngsters, but the psychological drama could entertain even an adult. While reading it, she even felt a wave of emotions flowing in her insides as the happenings developed. Just saying that Keira finished the complete script in four hours was enough to measure the quality of it.

But it was different reading from doing.

"Yes, but…" in that moment, their conversation was interrupted by the approximation of the most hateful trio around, Aiko Nishimoto leading it with her arrogance shinning all around.

Keira immediately straightened to deeply scowl in the heiress's direction. Anyway, what emanated from the blonde girl's eyes wasn't the usual antagonism. Instead, some kind of internal rage combined with interest flowed across her face.

"Onozawa Keira" Aiko pronounced each word like chewing it "I…" she looked behind her shoulder to her loyal companions. One of them, getting the message, stepped forward, waving her dyed-brown hair.

"We didn't know you were Leverrier-sama's heiress. We should apologize for our previous behavior" the girl unsurely bowed and returned to her place before the queen pushed her away.

Keira's scowl turned even darker. Leverrier's heiress? Where the hell did they get that information? Besides, she was not his heiress, it was more like…his puppet.

"I don't know what the hell you are talking about, but you are clearly confused" Keira murmured annoyingly.

"We are not. I saw you yesterday in CNN" Aiko argued. "Even though you seem to be much of a loser, we, as businesswomen, cannot allow rivalry establish between important companies"

Keira huffed "Bullshit" she spat out. "You locked me in the janitor's room. Do you really think I can forget that?"

Aiko frowned and looked around, uncomfortable with the attention they were grabbing "We gotta be diplomatic now"

"Diplomatic my ass. Just go back to the hairstyle saloon. I won't lose my time with you" Keira declared icily. She turned around to face Maia again, who was helplessly drooling at the sight of Kanda. In silence, she thanked the heavens her friend hadn't being paying attention.

"You don't know what you are doing, Onozawa" Aiko threatened.

"You didn't know what you were doing either, did you?" the other vaguely responded, absentminded.

Aiko lowered her head so Keira could be the only one hearing her "Following orders" she said.

Keira turned around to see her. She narrowed her eyes, suspicious "From who?"

"I cannot tell you, but it wasn't my idea. Even though you are in the movie, I am still the most amazing girl in this place, right, Kanda-sama?" Aiko turned around to purr to Kanda, who merely ignored her, finding the courtyard more interesting than the blonde girl.

Keira ignored her, the gears of her mind already moving at high speed. The teacher entered in that moment and everyone moved to their seats, leaving her alone to rummage on what she had just said.

Probably Aiko was lying just to excuse herself, but it was probable that the statement was true. After all, Leverrier didn't want her in the movie, and with his bitch Link wandering around, he could get enough influences to complicate Keira's actions.

She grimaced. Was Leverrier adamant enough to get as far as using a student against her?

Whichever the truth was, her brain couldn't process any more information. It set into hibernation mode without any warn, and Keira just looked to the front like a zombie, ignorant of Kanda's continues gazes towards her.

The rest of the day went on smoothly, for not saying numbly. The last two classes of the day were only faint soliloquies repeating at the back of Keira's head. Half of those hours she had drifted away in an uncomfortable sleep interspersed with periods of half-awareness.

Not even the expectative of the drama class with the cheerful presence of Lavi motivated her enough to pay attention to her surroundings. All she wanted was to get home and sleep, yet, another couple of hours in the theatre waited ahead.

And the sign of the contracts. Ugh. By that moment, the end of the school day, in the sporadic flashes of consciousness she had had throughout the classes, she made one decision: if Leverrier wanted so badly to avoid her participation in the movie, then there was only one thing she could do.

She grinned at realizing that, for once, she had the total control of the situation. There was nothing no one could do now to stop her.

Nothing Leverrier could do.

Like a zombie, she strolled to the theatre after the bell rang.

Halfway of her objective, her way was hindered by someone. She tried to dodge him, but whoever he was, he stepped again in front of her figure, blocking the way. With a grunt, the girl lifted her eyes, angry with whoever was trying to be funny.

Her anger grew when she saw who it was.

"Get the hell out, Link, there's no janitor room in which you can lock me now" she snapped aggressively.

The Geography teacher pursed his lips, bewildered but knowingly "So you know it"

"It was plainly obvious" Keira rolled her eyes. Okay, maybe not exactly obvious, but she wanted to boast a bit to inspire intimidation. "Move or I'll start screaming"

"I won't stop you, Onozawa, just listen to me once" Link requested.

"What if I don't want to?"

"Just once" Howard insisted. Keira didn't verbally accepted, but she stood there scowling, which Link took as a 'go ahead'. He started talking slowly. "We won't try to stop you, neither Leverrier-sama nor me" he assured. Keira raised her eyebrows skeptically "But, for your own sake, don't act in it"

"What do you know about my own sake, huh?" Keira replied arrogantly. "After locking me inside a 3x3 meters room, I doubt you know anything about well-being"

"I am being serious, Onozawa-san" Link frowned.

"Me too. Now, with your permission, I have a contract to sign" and, with that, the girl walked past the teacher and into the theatre, where she knew Allen and Reever were already waiting for her with a bunch of papers and a pen.

Link observed her straying and shook his head with resignation. The girl certainly didn't know what was looming over her.


The racket disoriented Keira for a moment. She covered her ears automatically, closing her eyes in reflex.

Between the different noises that filled the theatre, the word "CONGRATULATIONS" yelled at unison was the only familiar sound Keira recognized from the scandal.

She opened one eye at the same moment somebody surrounded warmly her shoulders.

The theatre didn't look as always. There was a table on the stage with a circular, white cake on top. Around it, the Drama crew, Reever and Allen were grinning at her enthusiastically, clapping as Lavi guided her across the theatre and onto the platform.

"What's this?" she blinked, disconcerted.

"It was Lavi's idea" Allen answered amiably, smiling warmly at her like he had known Keira for a while.

"Really?" she turned her head to face the American actor, who beamed back to her.

Without a previous warning, he embraced her from behind, stretching the girl between his arms. "Congratulations" he cooed in her ear.

Color started crawling to Keira's face. "BOOKMAN!" she jolted, but the actor didn't release her. She could hear Maia and Kaede giggling from behind the table.

"What?" Lavi innocently asked. The redheaded rubbed his cheek against hers like a cat, pretending that he didn't hear any of the girl's complaints neither felt the warm of her face.

"Let me go!" Keira ordered.

"Noooop~"

She looked frantically around, begging for help, but everything she received back were grins and winks, which only arose more embarrassment in her.

Her eyes landed then onto the only person who wasn't smiling. Kanda was leaning against a farther wall, the one which separated the backstage from the stage. He glared at them with senseless resentment.

Just because he wasn't making her feel more embarrassed, Keira let her eyes rest on his figure. Their pupils crossed for a pair of seconds, and the intensity of his look sent shivers down Keira's spine. It was full of…pure hatred. Why? Why did he hate her so much?

He averted his gaze from her and walked away, right into the obscurity of the backstage.

"We need her alive, Bookman-san" Reever summoned "She has to sign" he placed then his fingertips onto the table, just on top of a pair of printed papers which he slid in Keira's direction.

Lavi finally let her go, and Keira rushed to the contract before the actor tried another funny thing. She took a pen from the table and, reading hastily the terms written in the contract, signed before she could regret it.

Everybody clapped after she left the pen aside, the work done. With a smile of satisfaction, she dodged effectively one of Lavi's hugs.

Looking out for an excuse to get absent for a while from the American's arms and the other's grins, she gazed one moment at the cake and said: "I think I saw a knife in one of the boxes backstage. Be right back" With that, she hastily disappeared in the same direction Kanda had gone.

It was really dark despite the fact that the lights of the stage were on. Keira stumbled with a pair of objects she didn't recognize before a big shadow moved ahead.

Even though she knew it probably was Kanda, the motion frightened her. Warily, she taunted into a bunch of boxes of props for something that she could use as a knife to cut out the cake.

Suddenly, somebody seized her forearms and straightened her. She drowned a shriek, her mouth completely dry.

"So you can kiss the goddamned rabbit and no me?" a husky voice complained. Keira instantly recognized it.

"What the fuck do you want?" she whispered harshly, albeit scared.

There was no answer. Instead, something pressed against her lips. With her open eyes, she saw Kanda's cobalt iris before they hid behind his eyelids.

She was frozen in place. The way his lips started moving against hers left her speechless and motionless. One of his hands grabbed her nape, pushing her closer in his direction, while his tongue started tasting the border of her lower lip.

This seemed to snap her senses back. She fruitlessly tried to push him away with her weak arms, however, that only helped to have him pressing her with more fervency. Making use of her last resort, and the wisest one, she placed one of her legs between his and kneed him on what she hoped was the crotch.

Instantly, Kanda bent on a half, growling, his hands travelling to the point between his pants.

"THAT WAS MY FIRST KISS, IDIOT!" was everything Keira could come up with. She noticed then the salty water that was running down her cheeks. All her girlie dreams, as fantastic as they were, about receiving her first kiss in a fairytale situation broke down like crystal.

Turning around, she ran away, falling down twice with a pair of boxes. The light of the stage received her tearful face, and she didn't bother to look to anyone around. She just reached out for the principal entrance and disappeared behind the double-doors.

"KEIRA!" Lavi called her, worried about the way she had suddenly left. He was about to run after her when someone stepped into the light of the stage.

All eyes fixated upon Kanda, who, slightly bent on his stomach, regardless the pain he was feeling, smirked smugly to the audience.

Of course, everybody had heard Keira's words being yelled, and that was why Lavi and the whole crew looked curiously at Kanda.

"What did you do, Yuu?" Lavi questioned the Japanese warily.

Kanda, for some reason, infinitely enjoyed Lavi's unbelievingly expression. Keira's scream still rang like music inside his ears. That was my first kiss, idiot!

So he won, as always. Of course, Kanda Yuu never loses.

"Haven't you heard, Bookman?" he sneered "Nice guys finish last"


A/N: Late night. Exam tomorrow.

Poll result of these last two weeks -I guess-: we have a tie! Let's see how this change throughout the story.

Poll results won't bias the development of happenings, it is just with recreation purposes :)

Well...not too much to say. I made a really great effort to publish this today, so...what about rewarding me with reviews? Or chocolate? Whichever is welcome