Yet another ST fic

Yet another ST fic. Yeah.

(alternate titles: "Sequel to: ''Just another ST fic. Yeah."' or 'The Return of Kouran's Time Machine.' or 'A New Enemy from the Past.')

~All Sakura Taisen characters belong to Red, Sega and Bandai. Anybody I've left out?

Author's note: Finally I finished the battle. I hated the ending. Anyway, I hated the whole battle thing. Hm...I didn't understand it when I chose to say Sakura burped. I guess my brain wasn't functioning well. But Yui said it was funny, so I kept it anyway. This is quite a long chapter... It's more light hearted now, so...I hope you'll enjoy the rest of this fic! Oh, one more thing. There's a bit of intro to the Shikigumi here... Anyway, just read on.

Translation: Dare - Who Hanabi - Fireworks Ano - *In this case, it means* Um Saa, dewa, mata ne - So...I'll see you later!

Chapter 6 - Confession And Depression

[Recapturing]

Sakura: Kanna, Hanae and myself were talking at the terrace and suddenly someone appears! Please don't let it be Maria-san...

[End of Recapture]

(The following is about the same as the previous voice-over)

"Ohhohohohoho! Thank your lucky stars I'm not Yuri! She spreads rumours like a raging wildfire!" Kanna mutters, "And your HAIR is a raging wildfire..." (*You know which hairstyle...*)

In her room, Yuri awakes, sneezing, but is still in a sleep mode. "Which idiot is talking about me behind my back..." Then she goes to sleep, falling back heavily on her bed. (I wonder what Sumire will do if she knew Yuri called her an idiot??)

"Sumire-san!" Sakura exclaimed, while Hanae said, "Welcome to the Matchmaking Club, where dreams come true!" Sumire scoffed. "I do NOT want to be in such a low class organization." Hanae smiled good naturedly, "Hey, I was just joking."

*At this, Sakura gives a reasonably loud sigh of relief*

Then a voice calls out, "Dare?!" *this is in JAPANESE -_-;;*

Everybody shrieks, "Maria!" (With the exception of Sumire and Sakura, with the 'san' suffix) then disperses as fast as they can.

Maria runs to the 'scene of crime', but finds no one there. That's strange...How did they disappear so fast? And I'm positive they called my name... Then her eye caught sight of the broom closet. She opened it...

Hanae thought, She's out there...She touched Sakura and teleported just as the closet door flew open.

"You idiot! How come you didn't know Maria-san was on night patrol?"

"I'm not a god!"

"Obviously."

"Good evening, Sumire, Kanna. What are both of you doing CROUCHING behind a wall? You could have just stood up and hid behind it, you know."

"Maria, you're making us look stupid."

"Where's Hana-" Sumire's mouth was cupped by Kanna's hand, silencing her.

"Hana?" Maria raised an eyebrow.

Kanna searched for words. "Hana...Hana...HANABI! Yes! Ano, Hebi Onna (snake woman) was looking for Kouran's hanabi! Kouran sent you here to look for it, didn't she?" Sumire nodded rather reluctantly.

Maria was amused. "And what earth-shaking power did Kouran acquire to put her in a position to SEND Sumire up to find the hanabi?" Kanna didn't think of that. But Sumire broke free of Kanna's grip and smoothed her hair. "I decided to do something for my fellow Hanagumi member for a change," she said with a flick of her hair. "Oh really?" Maria said a little doubtfully. Then there came a loud cry of "We're home!" all the way from the main entrance. Maria looked out of the window and Kanna and Sumire took the chance to escape to their rooms. Maria turned around, and her face gets all SD (because she can't find anyone) and she sighs. "Those two are behaving really weird..."

* * *

"Shihainin!" Kaede exclaimed and went up to Yoneda and the Baragumi, ignoring the Baragumi. Yoneda said, "Now, Kaede, don't misunderstand, I didn't come home with these people." Kaede smirked. "I know you didn't... How is Oogami-san?"

"He's all right, well with the Pari-Hanagumi. They're taking care of him pretty well."

"Sou ka... Ne, how are the girls of the Pari-Kagekidan?"

"They nice. Really nice...."

"Maa maa! You're getting that look in your eyes again..."

"Hey, how come nobody takes notice of us?" Kikunojou whined.

"Saa, dewa, mata ne!" Hanae said to Sakura, oblivious that Kaede and the rest was there. As she turned (away from Sakura) she saw the Baragumi and Yoneda. She screamed when she saw the Baragumi.

"Hello~~~ HANAE-CHAN!!!" the trio chorused.

She ran behind Kaede. Kaede asked Hanae, "You know these people? The Baragumi?"

"The FREAKS Incorporated, you mean...Unfortunately, I do. It's a long story, I guess I won't be going home tonight."

"It's okay, you can use Oogami-san's room."

"That would be nice, but I think I'll sleep on the floor, it's not nice to sleep in his bed..."

"What else were you thinking?!!!"

"No, don't think that way, Kaede-san. I mean, I'm not his replacement or anything..."

"Oh. I get it."

"WAI WAI!!! HANAE-CHAN IS GOING TO LODGE HERE TONIGHT!!!"

"Kaede-san, I'd better come with you before I change my mind..."

Yoneda and the Baragumi go back to their rooms while Hanae follows Kaede.

* * *

Hanae begins the story of how she got to know the Baragumi, in the dining hall.

"It was last year when I met those, erm...People. Yeah. They're actually quite nice, but annoying at times, and...How do I put it... Sexually confused? Anyway, it happened when the Baragumi came to our textile shop to buy some cloth. Apparently Kikunojou wanted to take up sewing to be MORE feminine. So they marched up to Ryuue, gave him their names, the poses, etc. etc. and even added, 'We're the Baragumi.' Of course, Ryuue already knew that. Since then they've been coming over to buy cloth, and other odds and ends. Actually, they're one of our regular customers."

Kaede took this all in with interest. "I see... So the textile shop is only manned by the Shingumi?"

"No. There's the Shikigumi (Four Seasons Unit) too."

"Shikigumi? I've never heard of them before..."

"Actually, they're more commonly known as 'The Four Seasons' (Shiki). I think you have some classical music fans in the Hanagumi, don't you?"

"Of course! I've heard of the four girls... But I didn't expect the group 'Shiki', which Count Hanakoji always talks about, is actually part of the military..."

"They WERE the third secret group of the military, until they lost one of their members... Then they were sent to us."

"Oh...Why are they called the Shikigumi anyway?"

"Their names. Harumoto Matsuko, which symbolises spring, as the kanji for her surname states. All their surnames begin with a season. I guess it's fate. Then there's Natsutomo Kanako (Summer), Akishima Shiki (Autumn) and Fuyugaki Ume (Winter). Shiki is their captain." (*And no, her name is not the kanji for 4 seasons. Her name is the kanji for 'tree of wisdom'. Go figure.*)

"I see...*laughs* We're sidetracking."

Then, there was a sound of shuffling behind them.

"Who is it?" Kaede and Hanae called.

"It's me, Maria."

Maria sat down and Hanae gave her a brief description of why she (Hanae) was here.

Maria smiled and then her expression turned to a puzzled one. "Do you two know the reason why Kanna and Sumire have been acting so weird lately?"

Of course, Hanae knew, but she couldn't give the game away. "Um, no." She crossed her fingers under the table.

Maria nodded, and said, "I'd better get going. Good night."

Kaede returned with a 'oyasumi' while Hanae waved cheerfully. MUCH too cheerfully.

* * *

Morning breaks...

"I really have to go. But I will be coming here often, if you don't mind."

"No, of course, we don't. But...What for?"

"Aa, kore wa himitsu desu, Kaede-san. Demo, honto ni arigatou! (Ah, this is a secret, Kaede. However, thank you so much!)"

"It's okay. Anyway, take care!"

In a flash of pale blue light she was gone.

* * *

Sumire, Kanna and Sakura were in the kitchen, making breakfast. They were discussing about last night's issue.

"Ne...Kanna, Sumire-san, I find it very hard for Shinta-san to meet Maria-san... The Nihonbashi is so far away."

"Mattaku. That's the problem."

"I really don't wanna say this, but I thought of a way to let him get closer to Maria...However, It's gonna be hard on her."

In a flash Sumire and Sakura appeared beside Kanna, who was fanning the stove. (They were eating French toast...Yum!)

"Actually, we can-"

"Kanna, why are you using this stove instead of the gas one?"

The three got a shock as Maria appeared and Kanna, fanning too hard, got ash in all of their faces. Maria was not affected as she was pretty far away from the stove. The screams brought the rest of the Hanagumi who were hanging around the area to the kitchen.

"What happened?" Orihime cried.

Then Leni started laughing as she saw the faces of Sakura, Sumire and Kanna. Sumire was pissed off. "BAKA! This is an expensive dress! And my hair is ruined!" Kanna muttered, "Finally..." Sakura giggled. Then she whispered to Kanna, "I liked her old hairstyle better, ne, Kanna?"

* * *

Hanae came over that morning, after they had their breakfast. They were going to have a rehearsal at noon, so she took the chance to talk to Kanna and Sakura.

"Where's Sumire?" she asked.

"Gone to do her hair."

"Oh... Any plans yet?"

"Kanna does!"

"Yeah, I do."

"Aa, Hanae-san! Good morning."

"Yes, good morning, Sumire."

"So what's the plan?"

"Oh. The plan. It's an evil plan..."

"Go on, tell us. Don't beat around the bush."

"Oh, all right then. Well, it's this...."

A few minutes later...

"Wow! Good idea...I hope it won't be too dangerous for Maria-san."

"Hanae-san?"

"Hanae?"

"Oi, Hanae, you there?"

"HANAE!"

"Huh???"

Sumire and Kanna raise their eyebrows and tap their feet while Sakura just looks at Hanae.

"*reads their minds* OH. I was thinking. I could ask Komugi do it for me. She could do it, a genius in science, you see... But pneumonia... Hm, we have to make a trip to the hospital. Don't worry, it won't kill her."

"You sure?"

"Affirmative."

"So it's settled then."

"All right, I'll update you as soon as I can, I'll go back now."

"Hang on, oi, hang on!"

"What?! *annoyed*"

"The Shingumi knows that Shinta...Maria?"

"They read his mind."

"Oh, okay."

"Bye. *teleports*"

* * *

Hanae went back to the textile shop and found Komugi in her room. She explained the plan to Komugi and Komugi said softly, "We can't enter the hospital illegally. However, I don't think it's necessary to use pneumonia. We actually can use the simple 'flu. Just make it a more serious case. I think it's enough. It's hard to find a pneumonia patient these days, so I'll get the 'flu virus from Matsuko. She just went to see Shinta for medicine."

"Okay. So...Onegai shimasu, ne, Komugi? (I beg of you, okay, Komugi?)"

"Hai."

* * *

"I got it, I got it!" Hanae shouted that evening. Heads turned. "Got what?" Iris asked. Hanae knew Iris' psychic powers, so she 'read-proofed' her mind. Sakura, Sumire and Kanna immediately excused themselves and went off with Hanae. Maria looked at them with a curious look in her eyes. "I wonder what they're up to?" She turned to Iris and Leni (Orihime was in the music room, they were in the lobby) and they simply shrugged.

"Put this in her drink. Any drink."

"What's this?"

"The 'flu virus."

"Okay then."

* * *

The four of them were surprised when they saw Shinta in the lobby. Leni and Iris had disappeared. Kanna was about to greet Shinta when Hanae hushed her. "Don't spoil the moment," she grinned.

"You mean...?"

"Aa! A confession of love!"

"Sumire-san, you're too loud."

"Shh!"

* * *

"Maria... I've got something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Actually I... I..."

"Shinta, I actually quite busy right now, so I'm so sorry, I've got to go-"

"NO! I just want to say I LIKE YOU A LOT!"

Time seems to freeze at this point. Maria looks shocked. Shinta blushes furiously. The four plotters have a surprised but pleased look on their faces.

"Shinta... This is so sudden... I just...Can't accept it right now... I'm so sorry!"

Then she rushes off, starting to blush (even worse than Shinta at that) and frowning.

"Kanna, Sumire, Sakura. Don't drop it into her drink yet... I don't think they want to see each other right now."

"Whatever you say, Hanae-san."

"Okay."

"Hai."

* * *

"Oh *hic! Yo, *hic*Hana-chan *hic* you're back.."

"Shinta!"

"Taichou, he came back just a while ago... He's been drinking nonstop!"

The concerned Shingumi and Shikigumi looked towards Hanae. The Shingumi read her mind, and immediately knew what happened. They cleared away, pulling the Shikigumi along.

Hanae couldn't bear to see Shinta like that. She hugged him and called him the way she used to when she was very young. "Shinta Nii-chan... Don't be sad... I know you love her a lot. Give her some time."

Shinta started bawling.

* * *

"Maria, what's with you?!" Kanna said, exasperated.

Maria was clinging on to a bottle of vodka, with three empty bottles on her right and eight unopened ones on her left.

"Maria-san! Are you going to finish all that?" Sakura cried.

"Mattaku... Ano baka!" Sumire cursed.

Maria seemed oblivious and continued drinking. She was very confused.

Why am I like this? she asked herself. Do I like him? I don't have any more feelings for Taichou, he only has feelings for Sakura anyway... What a joke! But why... Is it because... I don't dare to love him...?

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Ryuue: Poor Shinta! He's been drinking nonstop!

Kanna: Maria too.

Ryuue: I hope they're all right...

Kanna: JIKAI! EMBARRASSING SITUATIONS! AH? Iris...?