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Disclaimer: Sakurako Kimino, the creator of Strawberry Panic and Media Factory, the company that sponsors its anime, own all copyrighted material this fanfiction may include such as characters, events, et cetera.
The rest of it is mine... ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHHA! *thunder crackles in the background* ... So no stealing! =p Well, unless you ask me nicely. ^.^;;;
Author's Note: The ending dialogue from the previous chapter was a bit on the creepy side, now that I think about it. xD I hadn't intended for it to be. It was mainly to show that Asuka's scheme has affected Eiko. With Asuka seeking to lure Yaya to her, Tsubomi would have been the perfect person to bring her back. However, with Eiko, Tsubomi herself is being drawn away.
Speaking of members of the Saintly Choir, there was a song in the previous chapter. Yaya sang it to Hikari since they were the only two in attendance after Asuka was done with the choir. x) The song is an actual religious hymn in Japan, as opposed to the one used in the anime. It sounded nice and it sort of fits the story. I thought it would be better to have a new song rather than have the choir only capable of a single hymn. xD It would be odd, wouldn't it? After all, even in the anime they had that second song I also had Yaya sing in the last chapter, which was the one she sang after Amane and Kaname's tennis match.
In any event, this chapter will show the straying paths for those two. Just how far do you suppose they might get?
~Strawberry Panic: The Second Year~
"Not long now." Asuka thinks to herself as her eyes follow the various uniforms moving about outside.
She is leaning against the entrance of the Strawberry Dorms, her long bundles of turquoise hair swaying in the chill autumn air. There is a slight commotion inside and she lifts her shoulder from the door, allowing it to shut as she turns to make her way back to her room.
Breadcrumbs
"It is the most important thing in the whole of Astraea, Eiko-chan. When the current Etoile graduates, a new pair will take their place. We hold an election to decide who they will be. Last year, when the former Etoile, Hanazono Shizuma-sama, was about to graduate, both Spica and Miator nominated representatives to take her place."
"That is how Tsubomi-senpai's friends became Etoile?" Eiko repeats to herself, grasping tightly to the various sheets of music in her hand, "That is how Tsubomi-senpai is going to become Etoile, too."
The next days demonstrate a great change in the first year, which is not unnoticed. "Eiko-chan is so focused lately."
"It is wholly due to Tsubomi-senpai's mentoring." She replies to the older girl.
Choir practice has gone on as it normally did, but Eiko has begun spending every waking moment with her song sheets. There is a growing rumour that the girl's developed an obsession with it. She has also altered her diet with any available foods that have beneficial effects on the larynx and started performing more strenuous exercises to strengthen her lung function. If that isn't enough, the girl's also been pushing for the other members of the choir to do the same, which hasn't exactly met with the most appreciative of responses.
"Is it all really due to my mentoring?" Tsubomi asks, hoping to make her kouhai realise the apparent breakdown she's suffering.
"Oh yes, I am trying my very best to follow everything you'd told me, senpai." Eiko replies, "For the sake of St. Spica."
It is then that Tsubomi remembers how she'd been during the previous year, the many lectures she'd given to the other choir members. Though she was never quite as direct about it as her kouhai is being now, they'd used the same adjectives to describe her in the past.
"Our honour as her students is at stake." She mumbles the remainder of the words Eiko started and comes to understand how similar they are.
However, as similar as they are about the choir, Tsubomi mostly focused on two members in particular whereas Eiko is engaging the whole lot. It is quite commendable in Tsubomi's eyes, especially now that she can admit to her ulterior motives. Of course, to the impartial viewer, Eiko is actually only focusing on the one herself. Her method is helping her draw closer to her senpai as each time she practices she ends up finding new questions, which she then turns to Tsubomi for the answers. Those sessions then allow Tsubomi to do more of the lecturing that she subconsciously adores and subsequently lengthens the already copious amounts of time the two spend together and that then has led to the acknowledgement of others who proceed to spread their rumours.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Spica's now lively walls, the tricksters are nearly constantly at play. Asuka's plot has worked towards uncanny results. Her bistre-haired target has been all but separated from her friends, regressing further and further inward. Oddly, she does demonstrate personal growth in doing so as, despite how she feels, she hasn't missed a single session of choir practice nor have those feelings manifested to a point that her friends might be made aware of them. It is ironic as such personal growth is the reason she has been so successfully isolated from them by Asuka. In the past, her melancholy would have produced enough of a decline in motivation that it would be rather easy to spot for any of them. She'd nearly quit the choir twice over Hikari. Now, as she finds herself in that familiar place once more, there's hardly any resistance as Tsubomi is pulled away from her. In place of it, Yaya has replaced those lost moments with periods of pranking with Asuka.
Periods like right at that very moment, "What is wrong with you?!"
"Better?" Asuka shouts, having difficulty breathing as she runs due to the amount of laughter simultaneously escaping from her lips.
"Much, but you still got caught so I'm going to have to dock you a few points." Yaya replies, dashing away with the girl as they escape her latest victim.
"Ooh, fine then." Asuka groans, "What does that make the current totals?"
"You don't want to know."
"Is that because you forgot to count?"
"You've learned well, my young apprentice."
The time spent with the mischievous first year is a reminder to Yaya of who she is inside, her true self before ideas of love drew her away from it. In Asuka, Yaya sees her former self and how carefree that lifestyle was. It has been so long since she felt that part of herself. Too long. Ever since her second year on Astraea Hill it seems her life has been dictated by a fruitless search for love. The life she knew before that evapourated with the lot of her efforts to woo Hikari and nothing came of it. Well, apart from the depressing abyss she'd thrust herself into. She had been the zeal among her friends in the past, concocting mad schemes to liven the day to day. She had been the reason for everyone's joy and play, that very quality affording her the lofty fame Spica's students still gave her. They still see that Yaya, even after it long since faded from her heart. Perhaps, through Asuka, she can reclaim it.
"…and then splat!" Asuka muses, "What do you think?"
Yaya is taken from her thoughts and returns to the moment. She has much to consider, but she can save it for later. There is still a while before curfew and conspiring with her new kouhai is the most productive thing she can think to be doing.
"A bit more refinement, I think." She replies to the apprentice prankster, "Perhaps, we need to start thinking on a larger scale."
"I do like taking things to the next level." Asuka says, peeking at her senpai from the corner of her orchid eyes.
"This is troublesome, isn't it?" Momomi asks Kaname.
"Yes, it does seem so, doesn't it?"
The two of them have been spying on behalf of their third member, having seen the new development in her ongoing mission. For most of the year, they'd actually been keeping updated on her progress, but beyond the usual drama that seemed to thrive within Yaya's life, nothing really stood out to hinder Makoto. This present situation is different. There are more players actively affecting the flow of events than previously believed.
"We should let her know. It is important to see all the pieces on the board in order to make the best move." Momomi suggests.
"Yes, it is." Kaname acknowledges, but adds, "However, do we actually see the complete board and every piece upon it?"
"What?" Makoto asks the two.
Despite her words, Kaname decided to tell Makoto. The two had followed Yaya and Asuka for a while longer before going off to seek her, finding her with seemingly yet another piece on the board.
"It's true, Makoto-chan." Momomi says, "We believe that the first year, Fushimi Asuka, is also vying for Yaya's affection. They've been spending quite a lot time together as of late."
"I do wonder if this has any impact on what Makoto has worked out." Kaname adds, grinning as she awaits the girl's response.
Makoto huffs, "All goes accordingly."
"Oh?"
"Well, if that's the case, sorry to have been a bother." Momomi replies, taking the President by the arm to lead her out, "We'll be leaving the two of you to your… whatever it is you're doing."
The silver-maned fifth year maintains her poise as they depart, but as soon as the door has shut, she grunts and turns to slam both hands on her desk, "Inconceivable! Why now?"
"The clouds drift endlessly. Who can predict where they might go next?" Kagome mumbles to herself.
"Fushimi Asuka… Just what could you be after her for?" Makoto continues on, having ignored her companion's words until, "What was that about clouds?"
"The clouds are coming together." Asuka mumbles to herself as she stares up at them, "Winter will be here soon."
"What about it?" Yaya asks, sitting nearby with her arms crossed over her knees.
"The Etoile-sen."
"Tsubomi-senpai, was that right?" Eiko asks, scrutinising the last stanza she's sung.
"Yes, Eiko-chan, that was perfectly performed. I can tell you've put in a great deal of effort."
"Oh, you can be assured of that, senpai. I am a student of Spica, after all."
Tsubomi is quite impressed with the girl and has to admit she's been even more diligent than she'd been when she was in her first year. What's more, Tsubomi's finally been presented with someone who appreciates her instruction. It is a welcome difference from what she'd been used to, having all her brilliant suggestions tossed aside and made fun of for… caring too much about her friends.
"Tsubomi-senpai, about your friends who became the Etoile…"
"What about it?" Yaya repeats.
Asuka takes a few steps away, silently counting them as she does so. Her strategy has succeeded and with quicker results than she'd anticipated, but the next phase is where it becomes less certain. To start with, she needs to gather specific intelligence, the method of which might just tip her hand. Even so, what is a reward without the risks involved in attaining it?
"There's a stir in our ranks as your underclassmen. They say you'd be an excellent candidate."
"So would several others."
"I'm only interested in the best."
Yaya is taken aback by the first year's forwardness. The Etoile-sen? That event is something that's felt venomous to Yaya ever since last year. It had been the thing that stole from her her light after she'd spent two years trying to seize it. She gave up on her already, but that didn't mean the scars had faded away. However, just as Asuka has noticed, there are those in Spica who believe her to be fit for the competition herself. How droll. What are they all thinking? What sort of qualities did she possess that would even make sense for her to try for such a role? Apart from that, exactly who would be her partner?
"Shu kara atae rareta kimi ni, kirisuto no ai de motto tsukae. Watashi mo kono yo ni tsukae you." A dainty voice sings in the distance.
"That's…" Yaya mutters, taking her amber eyes to the source of the commotion, "Her. Them. It's them again."
Asuka takes note of the girl's behaviour. Though she has to admit it stung at her heart that Yaya paused when she pressed her about the Etoile-sen, it was something she was expecting. She tracks Yaya's line of sight to find Eiko with Tsubomi below them, walking beside the lake. The girl's mind is still lingering on those figments of her past. It is important data; it means Asuka still has further to go.
"Isolate and Encroach." She reminds herself.
"Yes, we'll be performing during the event." Tsubomi replies, "Is that all you wanted to know?"
Eiko pauses for a moment before answering, "Yes."
"Alright. Then, we should practice that second verse again. You were a bit shakey on a few notes."
"Understood!" She immediately exclaims, going into a round of breathing exercises.
"Shu kara atae rareta kimi ni, kirisuto no ai de motto tsukae. Watashi mo kono yo ni tsukae you."
"That was better."
However, there is an incompleteness about it. Even as she tries her best, Tsubomi's mind knows there is better than she can ever be. It's a terrible thought that keeps weaving itself into the contentment Tsubomi feels when she is with Eiko. Just as she's come to notice how similar the kouhai is to her due to how often she was around as of late, Tsubomi has come to recognise that a piece is missing from their relationship. She can't be sure of what it is, but its presence is unmistakable.
"I won't stop, not until it's perfect."
Tsubomi has to admire that quality. No, if there actually is something, Tsubomi may just want to ignore it. What did she actually know, after all? Though, she'd seen what real love was – that day when the former Etoile burst through the auditorium and declared it for Nagisa – she doesn't know anything about it first hand. She can't even be sure this is a relevant case. She is only in her second year; it might as well be inexperience that has brought on such doubt. And apart from that…
Shu kara atae rareta kimi ni
Kirisuto no ai de motto tsukae
Watashi mo kono yo ni tsukae you
Kimi wa aisareru tame
Soshite sono ai tsutaeru tame
Shu kara erabarete kono yo ni uerareta
Mou hitotsu no mi o nozomare
She has what she's wanted in a kouhai, someone who respects and cherishes her guidance. What more could she ask for?
"Check." Momomi declares, placing down her bishop.
"The pawns have moved awkwardly, wouldn't you say?" Kaname monotonously blurts, leaning her head on her arm as she moves to block Momomi's check.
Flicking back her braid of auburn hair, Momomi replies, "Life wouldn't be interesting if everything went smoothly and every plan was cut and dry. Check."
"Too true." Kaname agrees, breaking free from it again, "But I do worry the bishops and knights may stir in fright and lose their ground."
"Do you really think this is going to work?" Chihaya asks.
Her friends have gathered together, the lot of them witnessing Noriko with Shizuka, dressed in competition gis. A bead of sweat slides down Noriko's face, her eyes fixated on the black belt around her opponent's waist. Much as she is known for her archery prowess, Noriko had dabbled in judo in the past. She went far in competition in her earlier years at Miator, but she could never focus enough to win, which eventually led to her leaving the sport. As Shizuka knows nothing about archery, she has arranged a few training sessions of judo to catch Noriko back up, which are to serve another purpose.
"Is it me or is Shizuka-oneechan causing enough nerves for Noriko by herself?" Remon asks from the ground where she lies on her stomach next to Kizuna.
"It's alright. Shizuka's got the red sash on and it's a tutorial. Noriko-chan should be safe." Chikaru responds, patting Chihaya's shoulder in reassurance.
"I wonder what it is they're talking about over there. There doesn't seem to be a lot of flipping and throwing going on." Nagisa says, peeking out at the two from over Tamao's shoulder.
"What do you think they're talking about over there?" Noriko asks her sparring partner.
"Ignore it." Shizuka instructs her, "You should give the whole of your thought to the match."
"Yes, I know. It's just…" Noriko mutters, looking over at her friends.
Peeved at how unfocused she's being, Shizuka moves in, grabbing her gi by the collar and tripping both her legs to send her crashing to the ground, "Okuri-ashi-barai!"
Each of the onlookers lets out a stunned gasp and winces for Noriko, whose wind has been properly knocked out of her. Noriko herself grunts a demand for explanation when she's realised what's happened only to be told of the consequences for being distracted. Her opponent helps her back to her feet, but this time she's much more wary of the girl. Coincidentally, this makes her put in the whole of her thought that she was told to do.
"What exactly are we doing this for anyway?" She asks once she's got her bearing.
"Well, there's a spoken reason and there's an implied reason. Which would you prefer?"
"Well the spoken one is easy. There's a competition coming up. I stopped practicing judo some time ago, but Tamao-chan insisted I participate in this one. It was a real bother." Noriko retells, this also helping her become aware of the implied reason Shizuka spoke of, "Ah, so the point was so we could meet then, but why?"
Shizuka smiles, "Might it have something to do with why you stopped?"
"Stopped? Hm, why I stopped practicing?" She ponders, thinking back, "I couldn't keep my head in it. I tended to end up just like before, when you knocked me down."
"In other words, you couldn't concentrate; is that right?" Shizuka notes, getting a nod, "And why couldn't you concentrate? Or should I just say, why weren't you concentrating before?"
"I was…"
"Looking at them, I think."
"They're hard to ignore."
"Which is what happens to you in matches. You stop looking at what your opponent is doing and instead focus on what the crowd is doing, which, if I'm not mistaken, would be to watch you, isn't that right?"
"I don't like it when people are watching me."
"You don't seem to have an issue of it when you're with your bow." Shizuka points out.
"That's because there's a target and I need to concentrate on it or I'll miss."
Shizuka lunges for her again, this time taking hold of one of the girl's arms and throwing it over her shoulder. Using her hips, she leverages Noriko and rolls her over her shoulder.
"Seoi-nage!" She names the technique used, one of the most popular moves in judo.
However, given its popularity, even the beginners know of the preferred counter move, which Noriko instinctively starts, rolling back to her feet in front of Shizuka and taking her into a sort of hug, shooting her right leg forward and between her opponent's. Pushing with the momentum Shizuka'd provided her from the attempted hip throw, Noriko draws her into the side sacrifice move, "Yoko guruma!"
For a second, a brief moment in the round, Noriko is wholly given to the match. However, at the very last crucial point of her roll, her mind wanders to the crowd. Her grip loosens just enough and Shizuka catches it, countering the counter with an ouchi-gari. Before Noriko knows what's happened, she finds herself in a compromised position underneath Shizuka.
She holds Noriko's arms pinned, finally imparting the lesson at hand, "In competition, there are only the competitors. Everything else is background noise. You have your objective. That is all you can allow yourself."
Helping her up, Noriko then asks, "I've heard that Shizuka-senpai doesn't enter competitions. Is it because she doesn't like crowds anymore than I do?"
"I'm not a fan of audiences, no, but I have other reasons for not competing."
"And this one?"
"You worry too much." Momomi tells Kaname, "I'm sure the pieces will fall in place soon enough."
As she says this, Kaname sees her opportunity and places her knight, "Checkmate."
"See?" She adds.
"The worry is still there, though."
"Of course it is. It shows how much you care." Momomi suggests, "You want them all to win in the end."
"I suppose I do."
The others have gathered closer to the two sparring partners still on the ground. As Noriko shifts her gaze to them, she can see the horrified looks in Nagisa, Tamao, and Chihaya's faces, having seen the brutality of the moves executed. Remon and Kizuna are further away and not looking. Suffice it to say, it is all a bit embarrassing for the girl, especially seeing as how her opponent was still over her, pinning her to the ground.
"If you're willing to face your fear of them, I should like to see it first hand." Shizuka answers, releasing her at last.
As Noriko sits up with a blush, Chikaru conceals a calculating grin. Yes, there was both a spoken and implied reason for having Shizuka help Noriko with her dilemma, but it is also a perk to see her Shizuka in action. With everything that the girl's been involving herself in this year, perhaps she'll get to see much more.
Yaya finds she's not alone in her room for once. It was becoming quite common lately, what with all the activities the Etoile were expected to have a hand in. Hikari had hardly spent any time in their room, setting aside this space specifically to see her roommate and catch up. Of course, Yaya knows full well that that is an excuse. The blonde has no talent for lies and the purity within her pale green eyes reveals everything about her, a quality Yaya has always found endearing. What they show her this time is that Hikari is worried about her roommate, most likely due to her new company. However, in spite of knowing this of her roommate, there's not much Yaya can do about it. The nuances of being with Asuka are rather confusing and even Yaya doesn't know what to make of it.
"We have fun, though, don't we?" She thinks to herself, staring out her window again, sitting in that all too familiar position at her sill, "It's better than what I've been doing anyway. I should welcome her, right?"
Author's Note: Hurray for action! I should say, while judo counters do exist, a chain counter is fairly rare and would require precise timing. Thankfully, Shizuka does have excellent reflexes and Noriko was distracted.
Of course, the more important parts of this chapter are the Asuka and Eiko parts. Each of the two has her own way of attracting their intended. However, both Yaya and Tsubomi have their doubts. Will that help lead them back together? Additionally, I did mention that Momomi is playing a role, too, but she'll be much more subtle. A bit of that is seen in this chapter with her chess game with Kaname. Not much of her plan, though, but I still wanted to point that out. ^_^ On to the next chapter!
次回予告
Yaya: At last, a challenge.
Asuka: What will we do about her?
Yaya: Why my dear Asuka, what else?
Misato: Nagisa-sama, are you alright?
Nagisa: Why do the scarey things always have to find me?
Next time on Strawberry Panic, Thickening Fog!
Kagome: Do you think it will be alright, Percival?
この番組はメディアファクトリーとご覧のスポンサーの提供でお送りいしました!
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