Chapter 10. Yume's challenge

Tsubasa had imagined that the building reserved especially for the persons playing main roles in a show would be different from what she saw in the first day, for they were in the middle of practising for something new now, but she would have never imagined such a view. She wasn't surprised by the dimension of the room as she was by what she saw inside. Trapezes. All over them were lots of trapezes.

"Mia, they should be able to take Rosetta and the others' place in the show." Kalos said as he approached an orange-haired woman.

She was dressed in molded, orange skirt that came just above her knee and an elegant yet comfortable blouse. She was wearing a pair of glasses which were taken off as she looked at the three newbies.

"Jhonnes Edward, Tsubasa Oswald and.. Naegino Yume." The woman said with a serious face. "Are you serious about this?" She asked Kalos.

He nodded and turned around, crawling his hands in his pockets. "I leave everything in your care."

The woman sighed. "There he goes again. Oh, forgive me, I forgot to present myself." She said with a smile. She was surrounded by a warm aura which made Tsubasa easily feel at ease. "My name is Mia Guillem. I am in charge of the script of every show as well as many other things." She shook everyone's hands. "I should begin by telling you all how the script is written, every scene and so on. Does any of you know what the story is about?"

Nobody answered. May used to tell Tsubasa and her sister a lot of stories when they were small, Tsubasa has always loved stories. Though, she has never heard this one so she was eager to listen.

Mia giggled. "You don't have to be so tense, we'll work together a lot from now on." She coughed. "Ok. The Phantom of the Opera is a love story. Christine Daaé is a beautiful and talented singer and actress playing at a famous opera in France. However, the opera is haunted by a so-called phantom that scares everyone and makes them book him a seat at every show. When Christine arrives at the opera, she starts talking with the phantom but she would never see him. The phantom falls in love with her. It was then that Raoul, a Conte, appears. He is Christine's childhood friend for whom she has feelings. He also falls in love with her and wants to protect her from the so-called phantom. He finds that the phantom is actually a man named Erik who led a miserable life in circuses and has a deformed face. One night during a show, Erik kidnapps Christine and hides with her under the opera. Raoul come just in time to save her and she declares his love for him. Erik is heart-brokenand leaves Christine to go, for he truly loves her. Months later they find that Erik died, probably because of the pain."

Just as Tsubasa was about to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye, she heard the boy next to her sniff. The three girls looked in his direction and saw him crying like a girl.

"Edward, you should be a man." Mia said.

"But this was so sad!" He protested.

Tsubasa and Mia started laughing, but Yume didn't even smile.

"Ok, let's continue. Let me show you how the show will look like." The older woman continued.

They were all sitting on a mattress as she drew the newbies different maneuvers and explained coregraphies. What made Tsubasa worry was that the main role was a trapeze one, did Yume know how to use a trapeze?

"Now for your roles." Mia continued. "Yume, I suppose you already know you will play the main role." She said with a somehow worried face. "I will not lie to you." Her face suddenly became serious. "It will not be easy. Not many get the chance you're given, so even though you feel like breaking down, remember that you can do it. That's the reason you're here, right?" Yume nodded, confidence building inside her. Mia smiled. "After all, I know who I'm talking to. You're a Naegino, you can do anything."

Tsubasa smiled too but she didn't observe Yume's confidence slowly fading.

"You two." Mia said turning towards Tsubasa and Edward. "Your roles aren't long, but very significant so take them seriously and work hard." Both nodded at the same time. "That's what I like to see." Mia said. "Ok, you two will have the ending number. It's something I came up with to put some attention on the happy ending, though some may consider it tragic." She said eyeing Edward. "You two will basically do a waltz on ice." Tsubasa was somehow relieved to hear her part was on ice. She has never touched a trapeze before, she wasn't confident she could do it now. "Anna will teach you the coregraphy and be your trainer. I will train Yume."

Tsubasa and Edward nodded. "Anna is still not here," Mia said as she looked at her watch. "You can wait here until she comes."

"Okay." Tsubasa replied.

"Yume, let's start."

Tsubasa was eager to see how Yume's training will be like. She sat on the mattress and watched as Mia took off her skirt and blouse and revealed a red training costume. The two girls then climbed on a high platform. Mia was holding a trapeze, a green safety net ready to catch anyone who would fall. The two women were at least seven meters above the ground.

"Did you use a trapeze before?" Mia asked Yume.

The brown-haired girl nodded. Tsubasa could clearly hear them due to the echo. Mia handed Yume the trapeze.

"Show me what you have." She provoked the younger girl.

Yume stepped forward and caught the trapeze. She looked down for a moment and then made a few steps back to get a good speed.

Tsubasa watched as the girl balanced with the trapeze, then suddenly let go and spun in the air three and half times—it was a triple axel. Just as Tsubasa thought she would fall, another trapeze from the other side came and she caught it.

Yume stopped on the opposite platform and looked at Mia, waiting for the next move. She was breathing hard.

"That's all?" Mia asked.

It wasn't until Anna came next to Tsubasa and Edward that the black-haired girl noticed her. She has been to captivated.

"Hey, ready for a training session?" She asked cheerfully.

"You think you'll pull off this role with that?" Mia suddenly yelled, scaring Tsubasa. It was like it was another person.

Anna was scared too. "There she goes again, her other personality." She said.

"What does that mean?" Tsubasa asked without taking her eyes off Naegino Yume.

"That's how Mia becomes every time a show is preparing. At first she scared everyone, but if you look beneath the high tone and scary face, you'll get some good advice from her. And she has big expectations from that girl, so do I. She is Sora's sister, after all."

It was then that Tsubasa understood how hard it might be for Naegino Yume. Always having the pressure of one's success on your shoulders. She only understood it because she was the same, being the daughter of two of Kaleido Stage's stars and.. Former sister of one of the greatest ice-skaters in Japan.

Tsubasa averted her eyes from Yume only for a few seconds, but when she looked back at her she was already balancing again. She balanced three times now to get a better speed. She jumped again but not like last time. She hugged her toes, arching her back as she turned into a perfect ball. She barely caught the other trapeze with her leg, hanging upside down as she waited for Mia's reaction. It will definitely be a positive one, that was an amazing jump.

"So that's all you can." Mia stated with a cold tone.

"No—" Yume tried to protest as she was hanging in the hair, her hand on the trapeze.

"Watch." The orange-haired woman said as she took off her glasses.

She made a few steps back, walking barefeet on the platform. Just as she was about to make another step and fall from the platform, she arched her body and ran forward with an incredible speed. Mia made the last step on the platform and then jumped. There were at least three meters between her and the next trapeze, which was the one Yume was hanging by. There was no way she would be able to catch it with a normal, straight jump. But Mia knew this and she didn't do such a thing. She jumped as high as she could and spun as she hugged her knees, making herself small and light. Tsubasa watched as the woman straightened herself about to catch the trapeze, but she didn't. Her hand missed the trapeze by inches and she was about to fall, Yume could only stare surprised, but the woman quickly turned upside down and put her leg on the trapeze, her feet barely avoiding Yume's face.

She didn't stop. She put her hands in a X and balanced herself and Yume. She then managed to get a good speed and in a split of a second turned upside down, sitting straight and tall on the trapeze.

It was not until Anna arrived on the other platform that Tsubasa observed she moved from her side. The purple-haired woman was holding onto a trapeze, weird one. It had a strange, triangular shape.

"Mia, catch!" She yelled.

Both Yume and Mia turned around to see the triangular trapeze approaching them. It was then, as Mia prepared to jump again, that Yume let go of the trapeze first and reached out to the other trapeze.

'Her movement changed.' Tsubasa thought as she watched the brown-haired girl gracefully catch the triangle trapeze.

She couldn't possible imagine what would happen next. She watched amazed as the girl started spinning with the trapeze with an incredible speed. She was balancing to gain speed and spin for who-knows-what. As Yume reached the other side, she suddenly let go of the trapeze.

'She'll fall!' Tsubasa thought, but she couldn't move.

The way Yume's body spun in all directions may sound chaotic, but in reality, it was only marvelous. She was going higher and higher in the air until she stopped for a moment in the air and posed in a graceful way. That was the most beautiful thing Tsubasa has ever seen, she could almost equal her sister when she was skating. Almost.

"The Golden Pheonix.." Edward whispered.

Yume then started falling. She was reaching out to the trapeze Mia was standing on, but she didn't catch it. Tsubasa watched as she fell on the safety net.

Tsubasa couldn't move. She couldn't say anything either.

Mia looked down at Yume. Even from that distance, Tsubasa could see a satisfied smile appear on the woman's face.

"That's what I was expecting from you, Naegino Yume." The woman said.

It was seconds later as Tsubasa was still watching Yume get down from the safety net that Anna approached them.

"Let's go to our business now." She told the two newbies.

Tsubasa nodded and got up as well as Edward. As Tsubasa was still peeking behind her, she didn't see there was one more person in the room until she passed by him. She recognised the black-haired man, he has been in the jury at the auditions but she couldn't remember his was sitting by the door, looking most probably at Yume, his arms crossed in front of his chest. Just as she raised her eyes to look at him, he looked at her for a second. His icy-blue eyes startled her. He was looking at her in a way no stranger would.

She decided to drop the idea, it may have been her imagination.

XXX

Alexei stepped in the training building as soon as he realized there was someone. He knew about Rosetta Passel's accident and he knew that she was unable to perform for the upcoming show. He thought that they would change the show, for it hasn't been announced to the public yet.

When he entered and saw Mia Guillem on the trapeze and another girl on the platform, he got interested. The girl on the platform wasn't any girl, he recognised her immediately—Naegino Yume. She was the best newcomer and the sister of the most famous star Kaleido Stage has ever had—Naegino Sora, now known as Sora Robbins.

He watched as the girl caught the trapeze and he immediately realized what she wanted to attempt, Layla Hamilton's Golden Pheonix. A maneuver that remained in Kaleido Stage's history. Many people attempted this maneuver before, he lost count since he came here and they all uttery failed. He knew she would do just the same.

He was surprised to watch her gracefully jumping and spinning her body higher and higher. She actually did it, almost as good at Layla Hamilton.

It was not until he averted his eyes for a moment from the girl that he observed there were other two persons in the room. One of them was Tsubasa Oswald.

For some reason, her presence made him uncomfortable. She looked so much like her sister that it bothered him to no end. He couldn't stand being in the same room as her. Just as he was about to move and leave, she did. She turned around and approached the door but she didn't see him until she passed by him, exiting the door. Their eyes met for a second. This feature was something she didn't share with her sister. She had those blue, curious eyes while her sister's were a warm and endless silver. It was like a knife stabbed his heart as she looked at him. It was as if Mirai was looking at him, but with different eyes.

If he wouldn't have heard the sound of someone falling on the safety net, he would have probably go after that girl.

He turned his head to see Naegino Yume lying in the safety net. He approached the platform as the girl moved to get out of the safety net and climb on the platform too. He was faster than her. Mia Guillem was on the other platform.

He quickly caught the triangle-shaped trapeze and spun just like Naegino Yume did, but faster. In the middle of balancing he turned upside down. He then jumped up in the air so high that he touched the ceiling with his legs. He pushed himself down as he spun again. He then perfectly caught the other trapeze, standing upside down.

"If you can do the same, I'll be your partner for the show." He told Naegino Yume.

Of course she wouldn't be able to do it. The maneuver needed a lot of strength and well-build legs, something a woman couldn't have in less than five years of training.

Alexei figured that Kalos probably made her play the main role for the next show in Rosetta Passel's place. She was just a newcomer, there was no place for her on the stage yet. He wanted to prove her that.

"Alexei, it's impossible for her to—" Mia begun, but Naegino Yume interrupted her.

"I understand." She said with confidence.

She climbed on the platform and caught the triangle-shaped trapeze. She spun just like before, slower than Alexei. She wanted to turn upside down just like him, but she didn't have enough time and barely caught the trapeze with a leg. She then spun but he had already realized she didn't have enough speed and she won't reach the ceiling.

But she did something that surprised him. She didn't spun like him, crawling in a ball, but in a chaotic way. He recognised the maneuver—May Wong's Demon Spiral.

When she started falling and she realized she didn't reach the ceiling, she stopped her movement, falling like a leaf. Just as she passed by him he caught her arm.

She was looking at him out of breath, with a surprised look on her face. He looked at her too. The reason he caught her was because he saw something in her. He wanted that something.

"Mia, rewrite the script. I'll play Erik's role."

XXX

Tsubasa arrived in the training building especially made for ice-skaters. There was one big ice-skating rink, almost as big as the one in the circus. There were few seats on the other side of the room and benches on the sides.

Anna approached the two handing them two pairs of white and black skates.

"Put these on." She told them. "I'll show you the coregraphy. I'm not very good when it comes to ice-skating, but you'll have to bear with me until Kalos hires a good coach."

It was then that an idea popped in Tsubasa's mind, but she decided to keep it for later.

"Ok, let's get on the ice." Anna continued.

They all did as told as Anna walked towards the other side of the rink. She did something and a music started.

"This will be the soundtrack for your part." She told them.

Tsubasa liked it, it was slow and romantic.

"Ok, let's start the training."