Disclaimer: as usual

I must admit it took me shorter than what I expected to finish this first two-digit numbered chapter, thanks to my thesis (which seems so daunting I don't even want to start doing it again XD). We'll view events from Sumire's, Kanna's, and a general point of view this time. The story still revolves around the recruitment of new junior Noreen Russell and the plan to reproduce Ai Yueni with rookies Ella Beltz and Mifuyuko Asakawa as stars. I found it hard not to write Kanna out of character in the second part, it was so hard to keep her in character while writing about such a serious situation .'. Hopefully she doesn't go to much out of character there.

Special thanks to James Birdsong and Yumi Michiyo for their reviews, and thanks to all of you who faithfully read this story. I'll keep practising and revising so I could deliver you a good story you can enjoy.

Enjoy!

OC guide:

TeiGeki Junior Team:

- Natsue Oogami (Sakura and Oogami's daughter)

- Aki Kayama (Kayama and Kaede's daughter)

- Chiharu Tachibana (Maria's daughter, unspecified father)

- Mifuyuko Asakawa (daughter of Hanagumi's private Doctor, who was adopted by the Hanagumi after her mother and aunt was killed by evil forces)

- Ella Beltz (French cafe singer spotted by Oogami, Maria, and Sakura while they were in Paris)

- Noreen Russel (rich girl recruited from London; has similarities with Sumire)

- two more girls, and one male captain to join later

More about them and their relationships with the Hanagumi/others in the wordpress blog listed on my author's profile.

Oh, and as what I've always said, no Mary Sue-s and self-insertions :).

Dawn of Seasons

Chapter 10: New Problem and Solution for the Previous

Daitekoku Gekijou

"...everyone, this is Noreen, our newest junior. Noreen, these are the rest of the Hanagumi – Iris, Leni, Orihime, Kouran, Kanna, and Sumire."

The girl nodded, looking uninspired. If there was something Sumire instantly caught about this British girl, it was that she was somewhat cocky and cheeky. Sumire could easily picture the dark-blonde challenging the Hanagumi and also the other juniors. Her head suddenly aches; surely one more Ella or one more Mifuyuko would be far easier to handle than this girl.

"Noreen Russell, on your service Ma'ams," the girl said in perfect English. Sumire noticed that the teenager's voice was a bit strange – like a broken soprano.

"Everyone here will be your teacher, Noreen," the Commander told the girl. "They'll teach you how to sing, dance, act, and fight. Leni and Iris are your direct supervisors – these two will look after you and your comrades."

Noreen nodded again, forcing a polite smile on her face this time. Sumire felt like slapping the girl already. The attitude was almost unbearable.

"I hope I'll be an alright student for all of you," the teenager said in a really casual manner. "I'll try my best, though I can see that some of you do really mind having me here. It's in your expressions, Ma'ams."

To say that the remark was surprising was such an understatement. It was very rude and shocking.

"Umm, I don't know who you're talking about, Noreen," Iris quickly said, trying to save the situation. "But we've been having a rather hard day with the other girls today. Perhaps you've been mistaking our weariness as disapprovals."

"She's right," the Commander added, patting the teenager's shoulder. "A major production is coming up, and we're whipping two of your comrades into shape for it. Perhaps we should be calling it a night. We'll take you to your bedroom."

"It's so nice of the two of you to smooth things out for your friends," the rude teenager responded, folding her arms on her chest. "But the eyes never lie. There are two particular Ma'ams who seem to dislike me here. Oh, well, you can't be instantly likeable to everyone, can you?"

Sumire clenched her jaw, trying her best to restrain her boiling outrage. Noreen Russell should thank Mifuyuko for this; Sumire would have definitely had her go on the rude British girl had she not been drained by Mifuyuko's training ordeal.

"Your room is on the third floor," Maria finally said, breaking the awkward silence. "We've arranged your belongings to be sent there. Iris, would you walk our new recruit up to her room?"

Iris nodded, playing along with the eldest Hanagumi sister's scenario. She quickly led the unbearable new girl out of the kitchen, closing the door as they exited. The Commander and the seven Hanagumi sisters looked at each other in complete silence, unmoving until the sounds of Iris and Noreen's footsteps disappeared into the quiet night.

"That girl will be a trouble," Orihime then complained, placing her tired head on the table. "She seems ready to go against us."

"She might not get along well with the others as well," Kouran added, smiling sheepishly. "Natsue and Aki's reactions to her will be really interesting. Let's hope this is just a cultural issue, and that she's not really difficult."

"It was all intentional," Leni plainly said, shifting a bit. "I have an impression that she was staging all those up to aggravate us. She could just be an attention seeker."

"Leni could be right," Sakura agreed, dropping down to one of the empty chairs. "She was a rich, lonely orphan – apparently her father didn't care about her too when he was alive."

"I did notice that Sumire and Kanna seemed really unhappy upon seeing her, though," Maria remarked, leaning against the wall. "While she's not exactly likeable, I think it's important that we maintain neutrality when dealing with her – give her a chance."

"I don't like her," Sumire curtly blurted out. She stood up and leaned over the table, looking around at the Commander and her sisters. "A girl who has no respect towards her elders will never be anything. She might think she's really good, but she's actually nothing."

"She grew up unloved, Sumire," Maria said. Turning to the eldest Hanagumi sister, Sumire met the Vice Commander's cool, piercing glare. "We might not be able to put all the blame on her for hating older people and authorities."

"I second that," the Commander added, shifting closer to Sakura and circling his arms around his wife's neck. "Her mother's complete absence and her father's ignorance might have corroded her soul. We are her guardians now, and I feel that we have this responsibility of healing her soul and change her into a better woman."

The sound of a chair scratching the floor distracted Sumire. Turning to the source, she saw Kanna standing up, grabbing her coat which was previously draped over the back of her chair.

"Alright, if you believe so," the tall redhead said, smirking and closing her eyes. "I still think that recruiting Noreen Russell is such a great mistake, but, what is my opinion compared to that of the High Commando themselves?"

The uncharacteristic, cynical question was such a blow for Sumire. For a moment, she could just look disbelievingly at her assistant and confidante, who was now putting on her coat casually as if nothing had happened. Kanna was in a really good term with the Commander, Maria, and Sakura – she was in fact closer to Maria and Sakura than to Sumire when they were younger. Something had clearly happened behind Sumire's back.

"Kanna, that was -"

"Stop it, Maria, for I'm leaving now," Kanna harshly cut Maria's disapproving exclamation, turning around and walking towards the kitchen door. "Come on, Sumire, it's getting late and I have a feeling that both our boys are running around wild at home now."

Grabbing her own coat, Sumire threw a last glance at the Commander and the other five Hanagumi women. Their all-but-confused faces kept replaying in her mind as she rushed out and followed Kanna to their car.

She was so asking Kanna about what had on earth happened when they got home tonight.

Kanzaki/Kirishima Residence, Tokyo

Kanna wasn't at all surprised when Sumire had another mental blackout when they got home that night. It had been a tiring day after all, and the directress had just seen the damned girl – whom she instantly disliked. The martial artist was grateful for their boys. Taka and Ryuhou readily consoled Sumire, reassuring her that everything was alright and she would always have them even though her baby girl was 'gone'. Kanna's blood boiled again as she thought about how all these fiasco had affected the boys; the High Commando should have seen how they had relegated the children into babysitting their mother and aunt. How could the three put the city and the country above their own sister and nephews? Oh, well, they already went Yoneda and sacrificed their own children for the mission, so Kanna should have known not to hope anything from them.

Now, at about two hours past midnight, she was at the lounge, sitting as still as a log not to wake Ryuhou up. The boy had fallen asleep on her shoulder, exhausted and scared for his mother. Taka was sitting quietly on the floor under Kanna and Ryuhou's legs, looking contemplatively on the intricate motif of the carpet. Kanna reached out an arm to ruffle her son's unruly red hair. The gesture caused Taka to look up and attempt a half-hearted grin to cheer his mother up. Kanna's heart swelled with pride. She must admit, with great embarrassment, that she had ever considered getting rid of her unwanted baby boy when she found out about his existence, nearly eighteen years ago. Glad that she changed her mind later, for now she knew she wouldn't trade Taka for anything in the world.

"I'm sorry to have made you babysit Sumire," the dark-skinned woman whispered, looking alternately between her nephew and son. "She's not so easy to babysit, though I think she's much easier when she's having an attack."

Taka's grin got wider. He plopped up onto the empty space on the couch next to Kanna, sandwiching his mother between himself and his sleeping cousin.

"That wasn't a difficult job, actually," he whispered back proudly. "We just have to assure that we're not going anywhere – it did calm her down. Poor Sumire-obasama, she was first betrayed by her jerk of a husband, and then her daughter was dead. Ka-chan, do you have any idea what my little female cousin should look like, had she been alive?"

Honestly, Kanna had little idea about that. The girl was just hours old when she disappeared from the hospital – they didn't even knew the exact colour of her hair and eyes.

"Perhaps she would look like her father," the Okinawan randomly said, the recent memories of Noreen Russell's Sumire-ish face playing in her head. "One Sumire is already too much for the world to handle, should there really be another cactus woman?"

Taka laughed heartily – then stifled it when he realised that his cousin and best mate Ryuhou was sleeping.

"Ah, yes," he suddenly said, as if hit by an inspiration. "Sakura-obasama called when you were upstairs with Sumire-obasama, she asked whether the two of you had made it safely home. She sounded really relieved when I confirmed that. Have you been missing or what?"

"Nope," Kanna answered, throwing her head back and looking at the ceiling. "I left the theatre somewhat angry earlier, perhaps your uncle and aunts were afraid that I'd crash the car."

"Wow, I don't know those new girls are that bad," Taka commented, clearly assuming that it was Ella or Mifuyuko who made Kanna angry. "They seem quiet and well-behaved, almost boring to me."

"This is not about Ella and Mifuyuko," replied Kanna without thinking much. "There's this new girl they're having now, and I was having a disagreement with your uncle and two eldest aunts about her."

"Really? What is she like?" Taka asked excitedly.

Sometimes, Kanna wished that she could just exert better control over what she said.

"Rude and annoying," she shortly answered, after a bit of frantic thinking. "Sumire disliked her from the start, and I don't like her either, after she says outrageous things just within minutes after meeting us."

"Sounds like someone interesting," Taka muttered, looking interestedly at Kanna. "I assume you and Sumire-obasama would really mind Ryuhou and I meeting this new girl, but we're so going to Daitekoku Gekijou tomorrow."

"Do it as you like," Kanna bluntly said, closing her eyes. As much as she hated the idea, she knew that forbidding Taka and Ryuhou from doing something they wanted to was as efficient as encouraging them to do it. "I won't even say anything if you say you want to marry her – just take her as far from the theatre as possible after you do so. I really want her removed from the troupe, for our wellbeing. She's a total danger for Sumire's mental health."

Daitekoku Gekijou, Tokyo

"A rewrite?" Orihime asked her eldest sister, confused.

"Yes, Orihime," Maria answered. "Sakura and I have discussed this, and after seeing Ella and Mifuyuko's performance during the last three rehearsals, we decided that we should alter the Ai Yueni story."

"How do you want it to be?" Sumire asked, her voice raised in annoyance. "I don't want to direct something utterly ridiculous or impossible, or a play no one will want to watch."

"We – Maria, Leni, Iris, and I – are working on the new script at the moment, but we already outlined the big picture," Sakura answered, pulling out a paper inserted into the old scriptbook she was holding. "Basically, we will reverse the situation. This Ai Yueni will be a love story between a high-class girl and a revolution fighter. That would suit Mifuyuko and Ella better. We – all the eight of us – will help the girls by being on stage as much as possible. There will be some adult roles to play, including Mifuyuko's aristocrat parents and Ella's poor caregivers. We're also thinking of new French names for the characters – Andre and Clementine just don't cut it."

The four Hanagumi ladies who weren't involved in the rewriting, including Kanna who was still slightly mad at Maria and Sakura, quickly gathered around the table upon which Sakura put the paper. They nodded and mmph-ed as they skimmed the proposed ideas, approving those points.

"This will be brilliant!" Kouran exclaimed excitedly as she finished reading. "Tokyo will fall in love quickly and easily with this new story – and also Ella and Mifuyuko!"

To be continued...

'Till I write again!