A/N: Please note the date stamps. A portion of this chapter happened 10 years before the current Voices storyline and the rest bounces around the past three days in story time. I'm increasingly lapping Echoes and have to pull some of that story in for things to make sense. Please also note my comment last chapter about Momomi.
Voices of the Present
Serpents in Eden
Spica at Nadir
Never ascribe to malice what can be adequately explained by human frailty or stupidity
-Hanlon's Razor
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold
-Kiyashiki Momomi
Friday, December 1, 2006 4pm
"Kiyashiki-san?" a fretful voice sounded from behind the seated girl.
Momomi lifted her head from the book she was reading. She was surrounded by books, it was a library after all and she had chosen one of the many isolated locations within the 'Secret Garden'. She smiled, not bothering to turn around to identify the girl addressing her. "Yes Satou-san."
There was a brief pause, no doubt as the girl absorbed how Momomi could possibly have known who she was, much less that it would be her coming seemingly at random.
"Uh, my father gave something to me this morning as I left for school. He said I should give it to you as soon as possible, but in someplace discreet." The girl paused uncomfortably. "Um, I thought this would work." The voice sounded uncertain…and terribly nervous.
"This is perfectly fine, Satou-san. I've been expecting you here, after all. Did your father say anything else?" Momomi wanted to make sure the bases were covered before she responded further, despite the isolation of the current location of the two girls.
"Um, just that I wasn't to tell anyone else about this. Ever. No matter what happens. That we'd lose everything if I told."
Perfect. Momomi turned around to look at the lithe, blonde child. She was just a second year, a Spican like herself. Innocent, unlike her father. Momomi almost felt bad involving her. Almost. If she follows her father's instructions, she'll be fine. I'm a kind mistress.
"Your father is a smart man, Akane-san," Momomi said, actually meaning her reassuring words insofar as book smarts. Wisdom on the other hand… "A very smart man. You'll do well to listen to what he has to tell you. Who knows, one day you may follow in his footsteps and cure some horrible disease for all time. In the meantime, the package please?"
The girl fished out a largish manila envelope from her book bag and handed it to Momomi. Momomi hefted the weight of it, felt the object inside. Feels about right. On the other hand, I'm not stupid, dear professor. I'm the one who allows you your resentment after all. Let's see if I've been too permissive.
Momomi reached out to hand the package back to the girl. "Akane-san, please open it for me."
"Um, Father told me specifically not to open it before I handed it to you."
Did he now? Just because you're paranoid…
"And you did hand it to me," Momomi reasoned for the girl. "I've handed it back and I'm telling you specifically to open it. Now, please."
The girl looked conflicted, but under Momomi's smiling yet withering amber gaze she went with the authority before her rather than the suddenly insignificant one back home. She opened the envelope and pulled out a metal box. Looking at Momomi again who nodded, she opened the box to find a sealed vial of milky fluid packed tightly in tissue. Akane picked it up and looked at it.
"Do you know what that is, Akane-san?"
Despite her rocky history with the man, Akane truly was interested in following in her father's footsteps. Her father was a microbiologist, one of the best in Japan. She didn't know everything he did, but she knew some of it wasn't public knowledge. When certain colleagues came over, Akane occasionally overheard references to North Korea as she would walk past father's study. "It's a bacteria culture."
"Very good. Very smart girl." Momomi rose and carefully relieved the girl of the precious fluid. "Now you know why you can't say a word of this to anyone. Do you know what would happen if word of this got out? Happen to your father for removing this from the lab? Happen to you for being the knowing courier?"
The girl's eyes got wide. Knowing courier. She now knew the cargo, knew it to be illicit, and yet she was going to stay silent. Had to stay silent now, for her own sake as well as her family's.
"I can see you're clever too. Smart, dependable, and clever. If you stay out of trouble, you may even cure cancer. As a Spican leader, nothing would make me more proud someday than to see one of our honorable alumna achieve such a thing. I certainly hope you don't ever do anything foolish to imperil that. You can see now that it's best that you never disappoint me, ne Akane-chan?"
Momomi smiled as she looked intently into the girl's eyes as she said this, tasting her nervousness turn to fear…directly feeding it only subtly, gently, given the circumstances were doing most of the work for her; watching the lithe blonde's already shaky foundations crumble as the previously safe and secure world she had been living in seemed to disappear forever. Momomi had never before allowed herself this pleasure here at Astraea Hill, not with her ability to see Hanazono's work suggesting such perception was likely reciprocal, and not with Minamoto and her freakish sense to always be there when a girl was distressed. Still, at the moment Momomi knew Minamoto was conveniently off campus with her childhood crush Tomori and Hanazono was distracted with her new puppy and about to graduate anyway, so she allowed herself to revel in the thrill of dominating another…stripping their soul bare before her eyes without ever touching them.
I've missed feeling like this.
After long moments of satisfaction, Momomi switched gears and moved in to build the girl up again into a useful tool going forward, not to mention to cover her tracks lest Minamoto or that equally vexing Miator teacher frustratingly close to Tamao were to take notice. Now to collar my new puppy.
"Don't worry, Akane," Momomi said, using the more intimate reference and never breaking her eye contact as she placed a comforting hand on the child's cheek and wiped away a tear. "As I said, you're a smart girl. I'll take good care of you." Momomi kissed the girl on the forehead and drew her in against her, replacing eye contact with physical touch as her cheek pressed against the girl's forehead and her hands gently caressed the girl's neck and lower back where her Spica jacket met her skirt, actively willing reassurance now rather than simply nurturing fear in the girl and feeling her grasp on like a drowning person to a floatation ring. "I'll keep you safe, kohai. As long as you're with me, everything will be fine."
This is the way it should be, Momomi mused as the girl comforted herself in Momomi's embrace. As she breathed in the scent of the blonde girl's bleached hair, Momomi imagined possessing like this another Spican blonde, a true blonde seemingly straight out of a Norse myth. Oh, mon President. Someday I will have you, and you will serve me for all time to make up for what you did to me.
Until then, she would enjoy the thrill of the chase…and of the girl before her who, like her foolish bastard of a father, was now well and truly hers.
***PGBR***
Saturday, Dec 2, 2006 late-night
"Where'd you go? I had hoped you might join me."
Kenjō Kaname watched as her night-shirt clad lover discreetly slipped into the room they usually shared, closing the door quickly behind her to protect Kaname's (purely theoretical) modesty. Kaname was currently naked, drying her short, dark hair with a towel after a long, hot shower meant to wash away the collected sweat after a day of activity, not the least of which included almost two sets of tennis with Shizuma and Tamao of Miator.
Momomi glided across the room and kissed her love…a peck rather than the deep frenching that was usually typical of the two of them. "You know you're still not getting off that easily, Kaname." She then held up her arm to display a bracelet. "I left this on the sink after we finished up preparing lunch for tomorrow. When I noticed it was gone while you were in the shower, I thought it best to go fetch it right away. You know how valuable it is."
"It was your grandmother's, right?"
"Yep," Momomi said as she went to place the precious circlet back in its proper hiding spot. "It has both sentimental value and is worth a quite a bit. Mother was never fond of me taking it to Spica, but I wanted it with me. It's hard to compete sometimes with some of the ridiculously rich girls around here. My family may have modest means nowadays, but I don't want to go around looking destitute in comparison to my peers." This last was said with a scowl, which Kaname could see in profile as the honey blonde stood back up from having been on the floor.
"Momomi, you wouldn't look destitute dressed in rags. You're the sexiest girl on campus."
Momomi turned and flashed a smile. "Awww, you're sweet. But I'm not forgiving you yet." She then walked back to stand before her still naked girlfriend, her face more wan and more determined. "You are the most handsome girl on campus, though, regardless of what you may think in your current deranged state." Momomi raised a hand up to Kaname's face and ran the backs of her fingers along the taller girl's check. "I want you back, Kaname."
Kaname looked down into Momomi's eyes, feeling the familiar tug at her heart when her lover wanted something, and as usual she kicked it to the back of her mind and gazed resolutely back. "I'm standing right here, Momomi. Despite how you may feel, you never lost me. You just need to get it through that thick head of yours."
Momomi smile became wistful as her fingers looped around Kaname's ear before dropping again to her side. "You're lying, either to yourself or me or both. With you, I can't tell anymore." She sighed, sadly. "And anyway, by back I mean I want YOU, not this heartsick and dithering excuse for the Kaname I love that's standing here." Momomi turned away and drifted toward the window. Looking out windows had become a new hobby of hers, it seemed. Ever since that night she had held vigil, watching Kaname spend the night on the Hall front steps, pining away for Amane.
I don't share that which I claim, whether it be my puppies or the one whom I love. My glorious prince, the only one I've ever known...except now perhaps my deliciously willful Tamao...who can stand resolute before me even were I to try training them. Who refuses to yield except of her own will and on her own terms.
"I will have back the woman I love," Momomi declared with quiet certainty at the outside world.
"You're planning something," Kaname observed as she considered the girl cutting a stunning profile before her window despite being clothed in her nightshirt. "Something big."
Momomi smiled into the window, not turning but feeling a very different thrill than she had the night before with Akane or today as she played in a far more subtle manner with Shizuma and Tamao and all those associated with them. So, she is paying attention. Perhaps we're not as far gone as I feared. "And why would you say that, Kaname-kun?"
Momomi heard the telltale sounds of Kaname laying back on her bed. Knowing her love to still be naked, Momomi could imagine the suggestive pose the girl was taking at the moment. Still, Momomi maintained her gaze fixed firmly out the window.
"You're sexier when you scheme, my honeybee. The more invested you are, the sexier…and I'll note also the hornier…you become. I've never known anyone else like it, and it's alluring. Despite your resentment of my feelings for Amane-kun, I know she could never satisfy me like you can when you know what you want and won't let anything stand in your way."
"Sexier, you say?" Momomi turned now to behold the prone Kaname, whom as expected was laying down on her bed, hands clasped behind her head, face and…other things…focused directly on Momomi. Momomi licked her lips as she slowly sauntered across the room. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to seduce me." Momomi did her best to present her most coy expression as she arrived to stand beside the bed she had until recently shared with Kaname…until that thrice damned tennis match and Kaname's completely unexpected confession. Since then, she'd actually made use of her own usually vacant dorm room. After the delicious events of the past two days, however, she was disinclined to sleep alone tonight. The tension within her had become unbearable and she knew only resolute and willful…and therefore gloriously unpredictable…Kaname could scratch her particular itch.
"Stay with me tonight, Momomi," Kaname commanded, and Momomi felt herself melt as she was drawn in by the only one ever to discover her own manner of strings.
I never could resist her when she knows what she wants and takes charge like this. I will give her the world if she'll but rise up and want it.
"As you wish, master," Momomi purred as she slipped into the game they had often played in the past. Ironic given Momomi's secret talents, but one they had both enjoyed thoroughly most of their time together. She felt Kaname tense for a moment, and then the old, unbridled passion poured out of her and Momomi yielded herself, body and soul, to the only woman she would ever truly love.
***PGBR***
Monday, Dec 4, 2006 Midnight
In a bed across the Astraea campus from Strawberry Hall, in a small western-style stone house a lonely redheaded figure twists increasingly fitfully in her sleep.
"No more death! I won't let anyone else die!" the young woman mumbles as the dream pulls her in…
***PGBR***
Early November, 1996 2:00am
(POV: Oosaki Keiko)
Screams.
It couldn't have been more than 15 minutes ago that the Presidents of Spica and Miator had hauled off the bleeding bodies, one conscious and one not, of the night sister, Sister Hamasaka, and of the Étoile Aînée, in the only all-weather prepared vehicle on campus. The students of the Miator wing had collected in the Miator student lounge and direction had previously been sent to the other wings for those schools to do the same. In the absence of adult supervision given the injury to Sister Hamasaka and the sudden torrential ice which had unexpectedly hit the campus that night, the person in nominal charge was the Miator-clad Étoile Cadette. The phones were out and just walking across the tree-lined campus paths to try and secure the Étoile greenhouse and check on the Sister's Residence had resulted in the injuries which had sent the two imposing school presidents for help both for the two injured they carried in the vehicle and for Strawberry Hall.
Despite all that, things had been starting to settle down a bit when a loud explosion had wracked the building and the lights went out. For the already strained nerves of the girls throughout the old place, it was just too much. Screams and cries were evident, both in the Miator contingent and also audible in the halls coming from Spica and Le Rim.
Young Miator first year Oosaki Keiko was doing her best to calm the most panicked, but in many cases her simple presence made the emotions even worse.
My reputation isn't exactly soothing, I suppose, the tiny redhead had to admit wryly to herself. Still, I have to try.
"Étoile-sama," brown-haired and nondescript Miatoran 4th year Uchida Hisoka said as she turned to the immobile Cadette. The girl before Hisoka was uninjured, at least during the current events. Unfortunately due to circumstances at her birth, she was only able to walk through the use of crutches and leg braces. Her mind was sharp and her wisdom legendary, but she was clearly overwhelmed under circumstances that required quick action to which she was unsuited and unaccustomed. That sort of thing was normally her athletic lover's department, a lover who was now out in the ice nursing a head injury. "We need to get everyone together" Hisoka implored the girl. "We're too stretched. We'd be fine here, but I'm less confident about Spica and Le Rim. We can't help them from here."
"I agree with Hisoka-chan," the famously alluring and flaming redhead Aoi Hiromi, Hisoka's roommate and frequent partner-in-crime despite the two being as different as any two human beings could seemingly be, concurred. "There's strength in numbers, even against the unknown."
Tall, blonde Nobutame Mayumi of Le Rim added her own opinion. "While I know Subaru-chan would do okay on her own leading Le Rim through all this, I'm pretty sure President Noda is by now panicking as bad as any other girl. It'll be easier to handle her if we have the Étoile to soothe her."
The Étoile Cadette looked thoughtful briefly, then nodded. "You're all right, of course. Where do we collect everyone? The dining hall?"
"That was my thought," Hisoka admitted. "It's big enough for everyone. It's deep within the building so it should stay warmer even without heat, especially if we collect everyone together there and keep the doors closed. There are candles. Other than the nurse's office, which isn't that far away, it has the most medical supplies if we need them. Also, food can be calming for people. Even without power we can likely scrape up something for the girls to munch on. Preparing it will give them something to do. There's space for other activities if our more creative girls can come up with things to do in the dark. Keeping preoccupied is the best thing to fight panic."
"Let's do it, then," The Étoile agreed. "Hisoka-chan, you make it happen. I can't keep up with everything, and it's going to take me a while just to get down the stairs and to the dining hall anyway. I'm just in the way."
"You are not in the way, Chie-chan!" Hisoka rebuked her beloved senpai affectionately. "Don't say that! We need you as the pillar of strength everyone can look to. Everyone is going to follow your example. Please be strong for all of us."
The girl looked dubious, but again nodded. She then started to get herself up to make the trek to the dining hall. Several girls, one carrying one of the few flashlights in the room, came to assist her.
She'll be okay, Hisoka decided before turning her attention to other pressing matters.
"Mayumi-chan." Hisoka next called out to the Le Rim representitive. "I want you to go to the Le Rim wing and get everyone there to the dining room. I don't care if you have to hit President Noda over the head and carry her, make it happen."
Mayumi nodded with a grin at the idea and started her way out of the lounge and by feel to her own wing.
Hisoka then turned to Keiko. "I want you to bring Spica."
"Um, Hisoka-senpai, are you sure that's wise? President Iwamura doesn't mind me, but she's braving the roads out there right now," Keiko gestured at the nearby window. "Vice President Takahashi isn't exactly my biggest fan."
"Keiko-chan, it has to be you. I just sent Mayumi-chan off. I need Hiromi-chan here with me since she's the best calming influence given the Étoile has to focus on being mobile. I trust you can do it. You always find a way, dear one."
Keiko gulped, but nodded solemnly. "Yes, senpai. I'll do my best."
"I know you will," Hisoka said with the smile, bending over to kiss the girl on the forehead for luck.
Keiko then departed in the direction of Spica, making her way quickly despite the darkness. I live in the darkness, she mused as she went. I'm the Shadow Pixie and the darkness is my home.
After less than 10 minutes of making her way, not much longer than it would usually have taken, Keiko arrived at the Spica student lounge. Before their leader had left for help, the President of Spica had made it clear that all of Spica's Strawberry Hall boarders were to collect and stay here, and it looked like they continued to follow those orders to the letter.
When Keiko entered the room and announced herself, flashlights shone on her and she could hear several groans. Of all the schools, she was least popular with Spica. She noted the primary reason for that coming toward her. Miss Fire and Brimstone herself…
"An ill omen if I ever saw one," Vice President Takahashi said as she faced Keiko. "Go back to Miator. We don't need or want you here."
Keiko was a prodigy with languages and she did her best to make use of her formal Japanese, grammar and vocabulary beyond her years or frame, in an effort to be both soothing and convincing. "Vice President Takahashi-sama, the Étoile Cadette, currently the senior authority in the Hall, has directed that the students of all the schools collect together in the dining hall. There are supplies there, candles and food. We can also make better use of sharing resources if we're in one place."
"President Iwamura gave us explicit orders that we are to stay here. We're not going anywhere until her return."
"That was before she left and before the power went out," Keiko tried to reason. "Given the weather outside that window, I'm sure you can see you'll be waiting a long time for her return. I'm sure you can also see the anxiety level has risen with the darkness. There is strength in numbers. We really should combine."
"No, shadow child. The only anxiety is over your darkness. You may be able to deceive the Étoile, and you may have Miator and Le Rim wrapped around your profane finger, but I see through you. Spica won't be tempted by Satan. You can take your empty advice elsewhere."
Keiko seethed. Not because of the ridiculous personal attack, but because of the complete disregard this girl had for her fellow students because of her blind prejudice. Keiko looked around and, despite the dim light, she could see the fear in those eyes visible to her.
I don't have time to argue with her. I have no choice but to pull out the nuclear option.
"Vice President Takahashi, we don't have time for this so I'm going to lay it all out. You don't like responsibility. You want to follow orders, not give them. You're a manager, not a leader. If because of you Spica goes it alone after the Étoile called you to join her, let me assure you that you will be personally responsible for whatever happens. Whatever happens will be on your head." Just then a gust of wind rattled the large windows of the room and several girls yelped, even Takahashi-san jumped.
Keiko wasn't sure if Mother Nature's timely emphasis would help her or not with the superstitious one before her, a girl who had already indicated she believed in exorcism and had publically suggested it for Keiko, but she drove on to her conclusion for lack of any other ideas. "On the other hand, if you join the others, the Étoile Cadette will be responsible. Right now there is only one murderer in this room. Are you really so eager to join me in the distinction?"
There were gasps in the room despite Keiko's history now being common rumor if perhaps not knowledge. It was the first time the girl had acknowledged it so bluntly, and it sounded so much more ominous coming from the tiny girl's mouth. Takahashi-san opened her own mouth, then closed it, clearly unsure what to say next. She processed for a few moments more as Keiko looked directly into the older girls' eyes in challenge, forcing herself not to blink. It wasn't long before the older girl wilted under the powerful presence of her junior.
"One day, I will see you burning in Hell, little demon. In this moment, however, I will follow you, doomed as that makes us. Lead on, devil child." The girl then turned away and moved into the crowd, clearly washing her hands of responsibility. The weight fell palpably on Keiko's tiny shoulders.
If going to Hell means never seeing you again, I'm there, Keiko thought uncharitably. Useless, impotent Pontius Pilot...
"Listen everyone," Keiko called out after only a moment's hesitation, "the Étoile Cadette is waiting for us in the dining room along with all the dorm students from Miator and Le Rim. We need to stand together. We can be confident and strong then." Keiko paused a moment. "How many flashlights do we have?"
"Two," someone called out. Keiko could pick both of them out easily; she had hoped perhaps additional ones just hadn't been turned on.
"Okay, I want one flashlight in the back and one in the front. Everyone else file along in between them. If you are really scared, I don't want you carrying a light. I need someone willing to lag back in the back, or slip forward in front. We'll have to walk stairs, as you know. We leave no girl behind!" That last was said with intense emphasis uncharacteristic for an eleven year old girl.
There was some mumbling and she could see the flashlights both shift hands. She then walked to those who ended up with the flashlights to briefly interview them. Once she assured herself they were good candidates, she assigned one to the front and one to the back.
"Okay, let's get moving. We'll all be happier when we're with our friends from the other schools."
Keiko then struck out, taking the route she knew to be most direct. She started in front to ensure the lead light-carrier was clear on the planned route, but then frequently slipped back and forth between the two lights to make sure all was well. She had told the rear light girl to never allow anyone to get behind her and to call out if she felt at all that she herself was falling too far behind. Whenever she was not there, she kept her eye often on the light in the distance behind her and had to trust the girl would do as she was asked.
She seems a sensible girl. I know leadership is trusting those you delegate to. I guess this is practice.
There were a few rough moments. The route led through areas that had large windows, and the screaming wind outside wailed like a banshee. Still, through will and stubbornness Keiko kept the courage of the braver souls up, and they then ministered to their less confident and insecure peers. It took about 20 minutes to cover what would have usually taken 5, but they got there.
They arrived shortly after Mayumi's Le Rim contingent. Like Keiko with Spica, apparently Subaru had taken control of Le Rim since the President had what could only be described as a nervous breakdown at the sound of the transformer explosion and the loss of power.
Subaru in change is the best thing that could happen to Le Rim. Can we make it permanent, I wonder?
Keiko waited for Subaru to finish her report to Hisoka and the Étoile Cadette before starting her own report. Hisoka smiled as she realized Keiko was essentially President pro-tem of Spica now. "You did good, kohai."
"I paid a high price, senpai."
"The price of courage is often high," Hiromi assured her as she came up from behind to give Keiko a quick reassuring hug. "If you don't mind, I'll go take over Spica from you and make sure everyone is okay. I think I'm best suited to calm them."
Hiromi didn't wait for direction and headed off to the corner of the dining hall where most of the Spicans, those who hadn't drifted off to join their friends in other schools, where huddled nervously.
Keiko watched as Hisoka smiled after her roommate, shaking her head but clearly in agreement with Hiromi's certain assessment of her own remarkable talents.
"Okay Keiko-chan, I have a new assignment for you. One you're uniquely suited for but which may take all your courage. I want to you go through all the student rooms on all three wings as fast as you can and check them all." Hisoka reached out and handed the little redhead a key and a flashlight. "That's the master key for the entire hall. It's not commonly known, but the Étoile has one for just this kind of occasion. We stopped by the Étoile office on the way down here with Chie-chan to grab it. I'm sure we still have stragglers hiding in their rooms. We need to bring them out too. Please be swift. Next up will be an expedition outside and I need you for that as well. That'll be a team effort. For the room check here, I know better than to saddle you down with anyone else. The flashlight is for the rescued girls' benefit, not yours. I know you like the dark." Hisoka smiled and winked with that last comment.
Keiko smiled at the accurate sentiment. She then turned and started quickly running back up the stairs and from room to room, calling out for girls. She opened all the doors that hadn't been left that way by their fleeing occupants.
She found a surprising number of girls still up there. She quickly realized that dragging girls with her from room to room just slowed her down, so she set up a base in the lounge on each wing, running down each corridor and depositing girls back in the lounge before running down the next one, opening the doors if no one came out simply on the basis of her calls. For the most part, the girls came out on their own.
It took her perhaps forty five minutes, a surprisingly short time, to perform the task. The fact several of the girls she "rescued" were actually quite comfortable on their own in their room, the bravest…or perhaps most foolhardy…of the bunch, helped. She would let the fearless types lead a cohort of girls down to the dining room on their own. She tracked those groups, though, so that she could confirm their arrival when she herself got back.
She was relieved to discover when she returned that all she had retrieved had made it back safely. In the end, despite the darkness and fear, some semblance of calm returned. Most present were huddled around the E'toile, who turned the whole thing into a camping trip, facilitating the girls telling ghost stories and the like. It worked, and Keiko made sure she learned from the masterful girl.
Much more happened that day, but when it was all said and done, no student except the Étoile Aînée, and she due to her own foolish bravado, was injured. But the event would live on in story for years to come.
***PGBR***
Monday, Dec 4, 2006 1:00am
Keiko awoke in a cold-sweated panic. Strawberry Hall. Despite the dream, she knew what was wrong wasn't the past but rather the present. The girls are in danger!
Keiko became aware the phone was ringing, probably had been for several rings before she had awoken enough to note it. She reached across the bed to Hisoka's nightstand where the bedroom phone was kept since nine calls out of ten were hers anyway.
"Mushi, mushi…"
"Keiko, something's wrong in the Hall."
The voice didn't identify itself, but Keiko knew it to be Aoi Hiromi's, Aoi Nagisa's aunt and Keiko's old friend. That's weird. Hiromi's usually like Shizuma, unable to see past her own glare.
"I know," Keiko acknowledged. "I was just going to throw something on and run down there. How'd you know?"
"Hisoka," Hiromi answered simply. "I haven't seen her wound up like this in years. Forgive me, but I've had to take drastic measures in the hopes of staving off a new episode. She's also insisting on clinging to little Chie, so I can't leave her out of my sight."
"And you can't call for help because we can't have anyone know she isn't stable. I understand, Hiromi-chan. I'm trusting you to take care of Hisoka for me, and although I probably won't like what you're doing to help her, I do forgive you. I'll handle whatever it is happening here."
"I'll let you go. Let me know if there's anything I can do, 'kay?"
"I'm on it. I'll contact you when I can. I love you."
"Us too. Now get going!"
Keiko hung up. She jumped up and literally threw some clothes on- the sweats she'd been kicking around in the night before. She then dove for the door, slipping on sandals despite the growing chill rather than take the time to put on socks and shoes. She grabbed a jacket as she fled the cottage she shared with her lover. Moments out the door, she noticed the pocket of the jacket was buzzing. She kept walking as she pulled out her forgotten cell phone to note a recent text message.
"Ma-chan broke out of clinic to call. I know she's in Boston and I'm in Riyadh, but let us know if there's anything we can do. Call when you can. Love Su-chan and Ma-chan."
Oh Lord, Mayumi feels it too from America. What's going on, anyway?
Keiko broke into a run as she hurried toward the campus. As she approached the school buildings, she felt a tug in an unexpected direction. The Lake? It wouldn't take her on a straight line to Strawberry Hall, but she still felt drawn. She scowled at her conflicting imperatives, but allowed herself to follow the insistent detour.
Shizuma? There was no doubt, the former Étoile positively shone like a beacon when she was passionate. She's with someone else, but that person is just reflecting her so I can't tell who it is other than it doesn't really feel like Nagisa.
As she approached the lake shore, she heard sounds. More specifically moans.
So, the Queen is picking another flower. While I feel for Nagisa-chan, it's not generally my concern given Shizuma doesn't even realize what she is and seems to be careful. As long as she doesn't really abuse it in a way we can see or sense, Chikaru and I left handling her to Hiromi's discretion for now. It wouldn't seem to rate my attention given what's happening in the Hall. Why am I drawn to it at a time like this? She listened a moment with her eyes closed, trying to fathom who Shizuma's partner was and why it would draw her despite the pull of Strawberry Hall.
A word was uttered in passion and she was able to place it.
Chikaru?
Keiko groaned inwardly and her stomach fell.
Dammit!
Chikaru having a fling wouldn't normally be a big deal. She's seventeen years old going on at least twenty five. I've been prodding her toward Shion, after all. But why did it have to be Shizuma? She knows better! Of all the stupid teenaged hormone…
Deep breath.
There's no time right now. We'll have to deal with this later...hopefully she'll hold it together long enough to get through this. I hope she won't hate me for interrupting the only good she'll ever see come from this. We need her in the Hall and I can imagine making love to Shizuma would prevent her from feeling what has the rest of us tuned to this place frantic.
"Shushō-sama!" Keiko broke in with a title sure to get Chikaru's immediate attention even through Shizuma's pleasures. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but we need to get to Strawberry Hall now!"
"Keiko?" Chikaru responded after a long delay, clearly disoriented.
Keiko grimaced. Not surprising that she's disoriented. I can barely tell it's her. She's still glowing like the moon to Shizuma's sun.
"Please, we have to hurry," Keiko said to coax the girl along. "Something is going wrong in the Hall, something serious I'm sure."
In the moonlight, Keiko could see two white figures stand up and begin scrambling for their garments.
I'm impressed Shizuma isn't asking questions. I'm sure there'll be a lot of them later, for all of us, but we can deal with them then.
Keiko waited as the girls quickly got dressed. She suspected in the rush that some undergarments had been omitted, but that couldn't be helped. The girls seemed to acknowledge Keiko's urgency if not the cause of it.
As soon as the three reached the path again Chikaru stumbled a bit, and Shizuma reached out to steady her as they kept moving. The brown-haired girl burst out, "Ughh! How didn't I feel this?"
"Maybe because you were busy?" Shizuma said, surprising Keiko again with her lack of questions regarding what exactly was tipping the other two off.
Chikaru smiled grimly at the irony of the situation as she forced herself with unusual difficulty to separate from her recent lover in order to allow the pace to quicken. "Ever the practical one," Chikaru muttered loudly enough for the others' benefit ostensibly at Shizuma's quip.
Keiko noted the lingering handhold which seemed only reluctantly released by Chikaru.
"Speaking of practicality," Shizuma continued, "since I've never figured out this uncanny knack you have for always knowing exactly where you're needed with people, Chikaru-chan, would you mind telling me what we're heading into?"
Chikaru thought a moment as she kept up the pace with the others. "I don't know. Just a lot of hurting and fear. Not one girl, but all of them…or a very large proportion."
"I don't suppose this sense of yours can tell you if Miyuki and Shion-chan have gotten back."
"Unfortunately it's not like that. I couldn't tell you. All I can tell you is they're okay. They're dear enough to me that I'd know if they weren't."
"Then I'll just hope. If there is trouble, we'll need them," Shizuma reasoned.
As the three girls reached the Hall gate, Keiko let out a frustrated epithet. "I left my keys at the house!"
"I didn't," Chikaru said and pulled out a small set of keys dangling from her neck.
"You have a key to the gate?" Shizuma asked, a perplexed look on her face. "Then why in Heaven's Name did we scale the walls to get to the lake?"
"Because it made my first time more exciting that way," Chikaru said simply and she threw the gate doors open.
Shizuma raised an eyebrow at this, then smiled and seemed ready to respond but was interrupted by Keiko as she took command. "I've done this before and I'm the teacher, Shushō-sama, so I'm taking charge." She continued before Chikaru could nod, although the brown-haired girl did along with a sideways glance at Shizuma's reaction…another raised eyebrow and glance to Chikaru at Keiko's reference. "I'm going to set things up in the dining room. It makes a great base of operations for whatever is happening. Chikaru-san, the Night Sister tonight is Sister Saotome. I'd suggest you check with her first. I'd like to think she must already be involved. Hanazono-san," Keiko began, but was interrupted.
"Forgive me, but I'm checking on Nagisa first. If she's okay, I'll gather Miator and bring everyone down to you. If that goes okay, I'm going to find Miyuki and Shion-chan if they haven't shown up by then."
Keiko smiled and shook her head with the irony the silver-maned playgirl presented. Does Nagisa know you're not monogamous? She kept those thoughts to herself, however, as she realized something. I'm only twenty two and I'm already too old for this. "Except for the first part, Hanazono-san, that's essentially what I was going to say. If you figure out what's happening, get word back to me as soon as you can. I trust that you two won't do anything stupid like try and fight a fire or defuse a bomb single-handedly, right?"
The two younger girls smiled at this, at which point they were at the Spica door. "Okay everyone, let's do this."
/*/
Nagisa felt awful.
REALLY awful.
She long since had emptied the contents of her stomach…repeatedly…and was now planted on the toilet emptying things from the other end. She knew she had to work fast because their roomkeeper, Chiyo, who had ended up spending the night in their room, had it even worse. She was delirious as best as Nagisa could tell. Tamao was tending to the little girl right now. The blue haired girl was doing better than the others, but even she had it coming from both ends.
"Nagisa-chan, is there any chance you're done so you can come here with Chiyo-chan. I'm going for Sister Saotome," Tamao declared. "Chiyo-chan has a fever now. I'm getting scared."
Nagisa gut cramped horribly and she moaned in pain. Still, she managed to clean herself up and make her way into the bedroom.
"Yeah," Nagisa groaned. "We're in over our heads."
As Nagisa plopped down on the edge of the bed beside Chiyo, Tamao slowly got up. She quickly side-hugged her roommate, then headed out the door.
Tamao wasn't exactly moving very fast, and she could hear moans coming from several other rooms as she made her way.
I have a bad feeling this is severe food poisoning, Tamao thought. Poor Shion. This isn't the way it was supposed to be.
"Tamao-chan!" Tamao looked up to see Shizuma hurrying down the hall.
"Shizuma," Tamao said as she stopped to acknowledge her curiously disheveled senpai, making the name more of a groan than she intended.
"Tamao-chan, you look awful!"
"Gee, Shizuma-sama, I didn't know you still cared. I love you too." Tamao then felt the heaving come on her and she experienced the humiliation of vomiting on the edge of the hall floor in front of her erstwhile rival. Fortunately, there wasn't much left in her to throw up. She felt Shizuma's arm around her as the spasms quickly subsided.
"Food poisoning," Tamao spat out, along with the putrid contents of her mouth. "At least I think so."
"Nagisa?"
"Worse than I am, but okay," Tamao shared as she slowly rose, thankful for Shizuma's steadying as she settled her balance again. "I'm really worried for Chiyo-chan. She's delirious and just started a fever."
"Where is she?"
"With Nagisa-chan. She spent the night with us since we got out of dinner so late."
"Why aren't you back there with them?" Shizuma asked, not exactly accusing her of abandoning anyone, but the thought hung there.
"The Night Sister, Sister Saotome. We need help. I think it's more than just us. Just listen."
"I know. I heard it. Chikaru-chan's heading to Saotome-sama too. We're supposed to bring everyone down to the dining hall. Oosaki-sensei's setting up a command center down there. It sounds now like it'll be an infirmary."
"Then you need to get Chiyo-chan down there. You're not sick yet, so you can carry her if you have to, and Nagisa should be able to move herself." Tamao paused a moment. "I'm not sure if there'll be enough bathrooms near there, though. I'm still going to the Night Sister's room. I'll be able to tell Chikaru-san what's going on."
Shizuma nodded, then unexpectedly gave Tamao a quick hug. "Good luck, rival. Don't you dare embarrass me by losing to this after winning against me."
The unexpected humble humor surprised Tamao, and she smiled despite it all. "I won't."
With that, Shizuma ran off to her love's side and Tamao ambled toward the room containing Sister Saotome.
When Tamao arrived, she found Chikaru holding a basin next to the Sister's head as she threw up in bed. From the smell, Tamao suspected the poor old woman had soiled herself. She's the oldest of the still active nuns, even older than old Hamasaka, and she looks as sick as Chiyo. She didn't have someone like me to carry her to the bathroom.
"Tamao-chan," Chikaru exclaimed as she looked up at the open door to notice the blue nightgown-clad Miatoran. "You look terrible."
"So you're flirting with me too, now?" Tamao said as she made her way to Chikaru's side. The smell threatened to set off another round of vomiting, but at the moment Tamao suspected there was nothing left to throw up…except her spleen of course.
"You saw Shizuma-chan, already?" somehow sensing who the other such 'flirt' would be in Tamao's life.
Tamao nodded. "She told me about Oosaki-sensei and the dining hall. She's going to lead Nagisa-chan and carry Chiyo-chan down there. And before you ask, Nagisa-chan is okay but worse than me. Chiyo-chan is delirious and just broke a fever."
"Anything else to tell me?"
"Just that I think it's food poisoning…yeah I know, I'm almost as sick about that as I am being sick. It's affecting a lot of people."
"Tamao-chan, can you wait here with Sister Saotome? Now that I know what's going on, I'm going to call for help. Even once we call, I suspect we'll still have to take care of ourselves for a while. This is too widespread, too many people, for this little town to handle right away."
Tamao nodded. "Just don't be too long. I'm not sure how long before I get sick again given the smell in here."
Chikaru grimaced sympathetically. "I'll be right back."
/*/
"That's odd. The gate's wide open," Shion noted as she and Miyuki approached it.
"Notice all the lights on?" Miyuki then noted.
"I don't like this," both girls noted in unison as they ran quickly to the Spica entrance, the one closest to the main gate of the hall. As they came up the stairs and into the main second floor corridor of the Spica wing, they found several doors open and a few girls flitting between the rooms. Moaning was emanating from several.
Shion noted one such flitting girl, the Étoile Cadette, Hikari. "Hikari-sama, what's going on?"
Hikari turned to acknowledge the voice. "Oh, President Tomori! I'm so relieved to see that you're not sick!"
"Sick?" Miyuki asked.
Hikari bit her lip. "Yes, sick. It started about an hour ago and now most of the floor is vomiting or dealing the diarrhea. Some are worse than others. For example, my friend Yaya-chan is well enough to tend to Amane-senpai. They're sick but okay, so I've been trying to gather those who aren't sick to help those that are, and to have the less sick help those who are worse off."
Shion and Miyuki looked at each other. Based on the symptoms and timing, and the spotty affects, both knew there was only one likely cause.
"Damn," Shion said in English.
Miyuki started responding to the situation to give her friend a few moments to process what the situation would mean to her personally. "Étoile-sama, you have a good head. That's exactly what I would do in the same situation." Miyuki could see Hikari beam at the praise, despite the grave situation. "I'd suggest you get everyone to open their doors and make sure the whole Spica wing is involved. I'm going to see if the same thing isn't happening with Miator, then I'll check with Chikaru." She then turned to Shion. "Shi-chan," Miyuki prompted gently and watched the blonde nod, "keep an eye on the youngest. If anyone is dangerously sick, we need to let Sister Saotome know."
Shion nodded silently again, then she walked off to insert herself in the workflow Hikari had already instituted. Leaving her friend to take charge of her school's wing, Miyuki ran as fast as she could around the corner to her own responsibility. As she turned the corner between Spica and Miator, she saw Chikaru running up the stairs. "Chikaru-chan!"
"Oh, Miyuki, you're back!" The smile on Chikaru's face was the most relieved she had ever seen on her cousin's features. "Do you know?"
"About the food poisoning? Yeah. I was just going to check on Miator's dorms."
""They're holding their own, I think. I haven't checked Le Rim yet, though, and you look like you know more about Spica than I do."
"Hikari-sama has things well in hand for now, and Shi-chan is taking over." Miyuki did a double take. "What do you mean you haven't checked on Le Rim?"
"You think you have a monopoly on nighttime liaison's, mon cousin?" Despite the stressful circumstances, Chikaru allowed herself a brief moment of coyness with her oldest friend.
Miyuki's eyes widened at the implication, given that Miyuki had been with Shion all night. She then decided this wasn't the time to process it all. "We'll talk later."
"I don't doubt it," Chikaru said through a slight chuckle. "We'll need something to find humor in, I fear."
"So, what's the plan?"
"I just called for help," Chikaru explained. "It appears the sisters are mostly as sick as we are. Sister Hamasaka has her hands full caring for her aging peers. There won't be any help from that quarter. Saotome-sama is one of the sickest here. I called the authorities and they're sending what ambulances they can, but it's not a big town you know. I called the campus nurse and she's going to gather what help she can, female or male, and bring them up. All of it except a few ambulances will take some time getting here, though."
"So we're on our own for the moment."
"Yup," the Le Rim President agreed. "I will add that your Oosaki-sensei is setting up an infirmary in the dining room. I think the next step is to move everyone who isn't able to care for themselves down there. Those who can move themselves but are sick should probably stay in their rooms, close to their beds and bathrooms. Those who aren't sick should be helping those who are."
/*/
Considering they had so many sick girls, things were settling out remarkably well despite several conflicting orders unknowingly given by those in charge trying to help in an absence of easy communication. Very few on campus were unaffected by the illness, although there was great variability in symptoms between those that were. The sickest discovered so far were currently being loaded onto the handful of ambulances that had been available in the town below Astraea Hill. All were older nuns like Sister Saotome. Apparently Sister Carina, the first of the nuns who left the dinner, had boxed up leftovers and taken them back to the Sisters' residence with her. The food, especially the desserts, was well appreciated unfortunately.
The EMT's had reviewed with Oosaki what the student leaders were doing and called it as good as would be happening for a while. They promised they'd be back as soon as possible and drove off in a rush leaving Oosaki Keiko still in charge.
Each President had taken over their school's response and remained on their individual wings now. Keiko, Shizuma, and a pale Momomi were leading things in the dining room/infirmary.
Things seemed under control, yet something was troubling Keiko. Memories of her room by room search came back to her and she wondered if, despite the differences in the circumstances, they had indeed found everyone.
I can't go right now. I'm needed here.
Still, Keiko had an idea and walked over to draw Shizuma away from the Spica student she was tending to at the moment. "Hanazono-san, you don't by chance have the Étoile master key still, do you?"
Shizuma bit her lip, looking contrite. "I keep forgetting to hand it off."
I can't spare Shizuma. She's like Hiromi; if she's calm then everyone else around her is as well. This room would be in chaos if it weren't for her being right here now. I don't like the alternative, but I have no choice.
"Do you have it with you?"
Shizuma nodded and fished the object in question out of a pocket in her uniform. "I never bother to carry my own room key, I just carry this one. It's why I keep forgetting."
Keiko took the key from Shizuma and twirled the familiar object in her fingers a moment. "Under any other circumstances, I'd chide you for the bad habit. Right now, however, I'm grateful you're so cavalier about such things."
"Kiyashiki-san," Keiko called out to the honey blonde girl who was tending another very sick but stable girl nearby.
Shizuma arched her eyebrow as she figured out what Keiko was about to do.
"Shizuma, I need you here. She can do this." Keiko whispered emphatically despite her own misgivings.
As the honey-blonde approached, Keiko addressed her. "I think we have everything under control down here. If you're okay leaving Kenjo-san's side, I have a special assignment for you."
"Of course, Oosaki-sensei."
"This is a master key for the student areas of Strawberry Hall. I want you to take this key and check with each of the Presidents. I want every room that isn't open checked. Knock first, if no answer then open the door. I don't want to miss a room where both of the students are like poor Tsukidate-san over there." The eyes of both women turned to look at a worried Nagisa sitting tending to her fitful roomkeeper, trying to coax the girl to drink electrolyte solution they'd pulled from the nurse's office. "Start with Spica, then Miator, and end with Le Rim. I suspect Minamoto-san has already thought of it and let's just say she won't let a little thing like a locked door stop her."
Momomi nodded. "She'd bust the door down."
Keiko smiled at the logical assumption. "Pretty much," she said, allowing the girl to reach her own conclusions. "Anyway, please hurry. Whatever this bug is, it's mostly an annoyance. For those as sick as Tsukidate-san, though, it could be deadly if we don't keep pushing fluids."
"I understand, Oosaki-sensei. You can count on me."
"You did good things with the Day of Service, young Spican. Hopefully you're learning you can accomplish more by working with people than at ends with them."
Momomi simply smiled and nodded. She turned and moved as quickly as her own still very queasy stomach would carry her.
An extra bonus for taking my own poison, Momomi thought as she made her way to the Miator wing. Even creepy Keiko trusts me now. I wonder which closets I should explore first with my skeleton key?
As she rounded the corner to the stairs up to the second floor and the Miator wing, she passed the obvious choice. I will certainly make my way back to you, my precious, she thought as she briefly fingered the locked knob of a door. On the nameplate:
Étoile Office
/*/
As Chikaru rushed to the makeshift infirmary with the bundle in her arms, she could see Momomi rounding the corner heading in the direction opposite the one Chikaru was coming from. The air of malignancy surrounding the honey blonde Spican would usually draw her attention, and something told Chikaru that she'd pay for ignoring her sense later, but at the moment more pressing matters were on her mind.
Kagome.
Things had seemed to be going so well in the Le Rim wing. Like elsewhere in Strawberry Hall, they were wounded. But also like their peers, they were rising to the challenge. Kizuna had been only mildly sick, and she and Miho had begun setting things up much like Hikari of Spica had in her wing. Remon and Satsumi had been more sick than their respective roommates, but they were caring for each other in Satsumi's room. Early on, Chikaru realized Kagome had been drawn to locating the sick and she left the little girl to that important task to which she was so well suited. Chikaru had been so focused on the wing as a whole that she hadn't focused on the girl who never wanted to be a problem…who was always there for everyone else.
"Keiko!" Chikaru didn't care about formalities at the moment, or even whatever other pressing matters the Miator instructor might be dealing with. Nothing in the world mattered now except the little, limp bundle in her arms.
Her redheaded friend, who had been stooping to talk with Nagisa, turned and began making her way quickly to meet Chikaru. Chikaru could see Shizuma looking across at her with clear concern and start to rise to follow, but Chikaru shook her head emphatically and tried to ignore the insidious calm she could feel potently tugging at her fury. She embraced her own passions even more as a bulwark against the siren song that to her was now Shizuma and instead she turned her attention to finding a space to lay down her beloved load.
"Byakudan-san?" Keiko noted as the two closed the distance between them. "What happened?"
Chikaru struggled to maintain her composure as she gently placed the precious form on the floor "I wasn't paying attention, dammit! That's what happened!"
Keiko started at the force of the uncharacteristic passion rising out of her young friend. Uncharacteristic especially in that Keiko could sense it at all from the normally emotionally opaque girl. She could feel emotions roiling within the usually serene girl that were barely contained. Primary among them was fear.
As Keiko knelt to assess the unconscious girl, Chikaru continued. "We had things under control. Kagome-chan seemed fine. She's always been either a blank wall or a mirror to me. You can appreciate why I find that refreshing."
Keiko nodded. She could understand. She also could see the reason for Chikaru's distress. The child was completely unresponsive. Keiko pinched some skin…checked her eye…and determined the girl was bone dry.
"She collapsed in the bathroom of Remon-chan and Kizuna-chan's room. All alone, Keiko. Her friends weren't there. I wasn't there. We all thought she was okay, so no one was keeping tabs on her. She was likely alone, like this, for at least half an hour before I finally thought to ask where she was and Kizuna and I went looking." Chikaru's words were becoming so pressured, so rapid, that Keiko was having trouble understanding her.
"Chikaru-chan," Keiko looked up at the spiraling girl, trying her best to be soothing. "She's a strong girl and will get through this."
Chikaru looked back at Keiko and the redhead could see something she'd never before witnessed in Chikaru's features before. Panic. It was obvious to Keiko that the child's moorings were already crumbling far in excess of even the stressful circumstances of the moment. Chikaru needs help just as much as Kagome, but I can't help her through this. Chikaru will need Kagome very soon, so first things first. Keiko reached out a hand to brush the girl's face, a face whose eyes closed a moment as the girl behind them clearly struggled to regain control over her emotions.
"I'm sorry, Keiko," Chikaru said as she leaned briefly into Keiko's touch, then bit her lip although her eyes remained closed. "This girl…" Her voice trailed off.
"It's okay, Chikaru. I understand. It's the same way I feel about you." Keiko smiled as Chikaru opened her eyes to regard her. Chikaru nodded.
"So, back to Kagome-chan," Keiko redirected attention back to the very sick little girl between them. "She needs hydration. The ambulances just left and I'm not sure when the nurse and her people will finally get here. All the other girls are conscious enough to drink electrolyte solution, or else we would have sent them in the ambulances regardless of how sick the sisters are. My aunt, bless her, was clear the girls come first regardless of what that could mean for the old."
"So where does that leave little Kagome-chan?" Chikaru asked quietly.
Keiko sighed and dove right in. "You know how to insert an IV, Chikaru-san, and I'm as far from squeamish as one can get."
Chikaru gulped. "It's been five years, Keiko-san." Chikaru lifted one of the girl's arms and looked down it. "She's dry to the bone. Finding a vein will be like the needle in the haystack."
"It's harsh, I know, but you'll have as many tries as you need. She's out like a light and won't feel your mistakes. Just work up the arm until you get it."
Chikaru nodded as she gently laid down the arm and started to get up. "You stay with her, Keiko-san," Chikaru said authoritatively as she rose.
"As you wish, Shushō-sama," Keiko said with an encouraging smile. "Don't forget you're stronger than you look, or believe yourself to be."
Chikaru again nodded at the words, more grimly this time as she beheld her precious little girl one more time, and then rushed to the nurse's office for a line placement set, tubing, and a liter bag of saline. I hope she'll have it in her heart to forgive me the hamburger I'm about to make of her pretty little arm.
***Author's Note***
This monster is over 10,900 words before these notes. I can't bear to break it up, so it will stand and I must just beg forgiveness. Lots happening in Strawberry Hall. Amazing to realize we're just finishing the same weekend we were in almost 100,000 words and four real-life months ago...
In defense of the direction I am going with Momomi, Shizuma, and Hiromi, I point simply to Shizuma in the SP! anime, especially in the first several episodes. I feel licensed to play with that, and I am going to. On the other hand, the junior crowd will still have their own storylines which will continue despite the escalating stakes of the upperclasswomen/adults. There will be crossing over, obviously, but we still have Miyuki/Tamao to address as well as Remon/Kizuna. And things will get more interesting between Yaya and Tsubomi, and even Amane and Hikari as we learn those two actually do have some depth (although I really had to dig for it!). Thanks again to everyone who is following this...and also to those who are reading my Maria Sama ga Miteru and Puella Magi Madoka Magica stories!
And by the way, I don't bite...much at least. Any reviews are most welcome. Things have been getting a bit quiet in there. It makes us writers skittish...