Author's note: This chapter is a flashback.
Chapter 14: Dirty Dealings
Suzumi Tamao stood in the damp basement of the relatively new Astrea Hill café. Momomi had asked if they could meet there. Reluctantly, Tamao had agreed. Momomi slid an old wooden chair across the floor and sat down in it backwards, straddling the seat. "I need your assistance in a very important matter," she began.
As Tamao and Momomi hardly had anything to do with each other, Tamao was confused as to why Momomi would be asking her for anything.
"I don't understand," Tamao replied.
Momomi sighed irritably. "Fine. Since you aren't so bright, let me just spell it out for you."
Taking offense, Tamao looked at her sullenly but continued to listen.
"Aoi Nagisa left you at the altar. My guess is you're probably still pretty butthurt about that, am I right? Well, how would you like to teach Shizuma a lesson and get Nagisa back for yourself, at the same time?"
Tamao looked away. At first she hesitated. "Wh—What do you mean? I'd never hurt Nagisa."
"Of course you wouldn't. But let me explain something," Momomi went on. She pulled down her own sock and revealed a nasty cut on her leg.
"See this? One night I was arguing with Kaname, so I went for a walk in the woods. I slid, and scraped my leg here. It was just a minor scrape. But then, I met a stranger in the woods. Continuing to walk, I heard a strange music. Out of the shadows came a creature, seemingly human, who was playing an organ grinder on only one wheel. As the creature approached me, I realized it was wearing a white Noh mask. Suddenly, it dropped the organ grinder. The music stopped. Before I could react, the stranger grabbed me and wrapped their hand around the scrape on my leg. The cut turned black. A hot jolt of pain seared through me, and in the same instant I felt myself becoming energized."
Tamao's eyes widened and she was now scared to be in the same room as Momomi. If the story were fake, it was creepy and insane that Momomi would make it up. On the other hand, if it were true, it was horrific to know that such a person was lurking on the grounds of Astrea Hill. Tamao's mind wandered to the stairway leading back to the café, and she thought of escaping.
Suddenly, Momomi slammed her fan down on the table in front of her. "Listen carefully! After my encounter with this creature I stole a product from my father's Pharmaceutical company that is being assembled to fight infections. I swallowed it to see if it would treat the infection. Instead, the infection on my leg worsened, as you see it now. As for me, I became stronger. I had gained a spiritual energy and the ability to steal the memories of others. Tamao, I can rid Nagisa of her memories of Shizuma and make her yours again."
Tamao was stunned by everything she had heard and was pretty rattled. The story sent chills up her spine, and she wasn't even the type of person to get scared like Nagisa did. However, in the back of her mind, she was considering that if the story were true, Momomi really could allow her to have Nagisa back once again. She, Suzumi Tamao, could save Nagisa. She could be the one to sweep her away. Was it not true that if Shizuma hadn't shown up at the last minute the day of the Etoile election, Nagisa would have been hers forever?
Tamao looked at Momomi. "If what you say is true, if you're able to do this, what's in it for you?"
Momomi laughed. "Maybe you're not such a stupid Miator girl after all." She held up her fan in front of her face. "My goal is to get Shizuma to write a $100,000 check as a grant to Spica. It's pretty simple. I threaten to tell the whole school about Aoi Nagisa's family reputation. I tell Shizuma that the only way to stop me is to write the check."
"But you could get Shizuma to write the check without altering Nagisa's memory," Tamao replied.
"What fun is that?" Momomi chided. "Of course, I can alter Shizuma's memories too, so she will never be able to remember what she saw in Nagisa. For all of this, I do want you to invest a small sum yourself, and there is an additional stipulation: you and Nagisa vow to never run for Etoile."
Tears welled up in Tamao's eyes. She was feeling saddened by the fact she was even discussing this scenario with Momomi. Had it really come to this? But having to see Nagisa and Shizuma together, especially after Shizuma had tossed Nagisa aside so many times, was almost unbearable. Tamao knew that only she could really love Nagisa. After all, had it not been fate that when Nagisa transferred to Miator she became Tamao's first and only roommate? Wasn't this a sign that they—not she and Shizuma—were meant to be a couple and go down in Miator history?
"I don't know what you want from me," Tamao finally said, "But I will do whatever you ask, if you help me get Nagisa back."
Momomi grinned and her face darkened. She pulled a playing card from the folds of her fan, and laid it on the table in front of Tamao. "Queen…of…hearts."