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? Onryou's plot is mine, Shikigumi's mine, Shingumi's mine, and so is the extended wing of the Teigeki. =D
Author's note: Ahhhh...Took a break... It has been about a year, huh, readers? Thanks for all the encouragement, Sapphire Jade-san & MizuYanagi-san! I really appreciate this. After I have finished all my fics (i.e. the sequel to this fic), I will not write fan-fiction anymore... But real, solid stuff in the Originals section, maybe, yeah. Hee~ Dozo!
Translation: yoshi - an expression, like, "All right!" Sou da ne, Jan-Poru - Right, Jean-Paul? iie - no
Chapter 10 - Problems Under One Roof
New York City
"The night is rarely this calm, huh?" Yule Carlton said to his friend, Hunter.
"You'll be going back to London tomorrow, yeah?" asked Hunter.
"Nah, to Japan."
"What for?" Hunter exclaimed.
"They need me there..."
"I thought you had no family?"
"I do, kind of."
"I see. So why come for training here?"
"*laughs* That would be a secret."
"Yeah right. A guy like you..."
"No kidding!"
"You make a good actor, Yule. Oh well, sleep early, you've got a long journey."
"Never mind if you don't believe me. *laughs* Good night."
* * *
"Taichou..." Rose started comforting her best friend. "Don't talk to me, I'm already very irritated." "Just listen to me, Taichou. Give me one minute." "*takes a deep breath to calm herself down* Shoot."
"If you don't want to go, don't go. But if you feel that the Big Shots are giving you too much pressure, I'd rather you quit the Shingumi and live a happy life. You seem sad. I'm sorry if Ryuue and I have been immature, but... It's hard to stop because we can't really agree on anything. We'll try to change, I promise. For real. And as for the Oogami guy, I think you should take a break, he's not too bad, only he tends to be a two-timer. *sees look on Hanae's face* Okay, maybe he is bad, but that is Sakura and Erica's problem to solve. I know you care for people, but the thing is... You should show yourself some concern as well! Relax, Hana! Though Oogami may be a cad, you never know if he would be a nice man, right?"
"*sigh* True, Rose, very true."
"Now, have a good night's sleep. I know you don't want to get a transfer, but if it does you good, I'll encourage you to go. After all, your insatiable curiosity for learning new things never ceases, does it? I heard the top secret group is a mixture of elites. Do your best, Hana, when you wake up everything would be okay. Rose's honour! Besides you still have till Christmas to decide! Um, okay, it's two weeks away..." Rose smiled. Hanae smiled back and got into bed. "You know," she said slowly, "Sometimes, sometimes, you sound like a mother."
* * *
"Iris wonders if onii-chan is awake yet?" Iris asked Leni early the next morning. It was about 5 a.m. and Iris wanted to carry out her plan of sabotaging Oogami. Leni shook her head. "Most of the time, the earliest person to wake up is Sakura, and she only comes out at five-thirty. Maria doesn't count because she stays up till morning sometimes. So..."
"All right! Come on, Leni, we have to make some reservations. Iris doesn't want Onii-chan to be late for his date!"
* * *
When Oogami woke up, he saw a suit laid out for him on his chair. There was also a card on it saying "I'll meet you at the café beside Ueno Park at 10 a.m. Really hope you see you there. -Love, Yours Truly". Oogami smiled and guessed it was Sakura, because of the handwriting. Then he caught a whiff of Erica's perfume. He wondered, "Could Sakura-kun have the same perfume as Erica? Hm... Could be a possibility. Anyway, I'll see when I get there."
There were no performances that day, only at night, so Oogami was pretty free. After all, the Shikigumi could take over his duties, and since they were so fast, they managed to usher, sell gifts and clip tickets at practically the same time. The San-nin Musume were definitely glad to have them around.
The Teigeki was expecting a large crowd because Hanae had written a play (in secret) based on a story Tetsu once told her and posted the synopsis to the newspaper. It turned out that people had written to the newspaper and asked the newspaper if any of the theatres in town would have the play since it sounded so good. The newspaper immediately contacted Yoneda and he agreed to let the play out in a month. When he informed Hanae, she went into a state of panic but with the help of Maria, she managed to direct and act in the play and cope with the sudden attacks on Kyushu every once in a while.
(*Note to readers: You don't have to read the following 3 chapters unless you want to. It's just a sidetrack from the main story to let me get on the roll after such a long time of rest from fic-writing. But it's also the storyline for the new play and what the Hanagumi are playing as, if you're interested.)
The Hanagumi were working hard because right after 'Sleeping Beauty' came 'Onryou', or Revengeful Ghosts. Though the Hanagumi members were initially put off by the name, Hanae explained to them the meaning of the title. It was about a woman whose husband betrayed her while she was pregnant, and he and his lover conspired to kill her after the baby was born and get the baby for themselves. If it was a boy, then they would let him live. If it was a girl, they would let her grow up and sell her to a brothel. In the end, the woman learnt of the plot but it was too late, the adulterous couple killed her and got the baby (a girl). After she died, the husband and his lover were haunted by not only a terrifying bloodstain on the ground where she died but also blood on their hands, which only they could see. After living with the horror for 12 years, the girl was also killed by them because they didn't want to have any 'memento' of the woman, but because of that, they were haunted by both ghosts (mother and daughter) who were sighted by people and were called onryou (revengeful ghosts).
Hanae thought that she would just be directing, but Maria proposed to the Hanagumi that since she had put in so much effort, she should be in the play as well. Shinta had actually told Maria about Tetsu and he knew that Hanae would like to act in it, so Maria suggested proposing the the idea to the Hanagumi. At first Sumire wasn't happy with it, but in the end she felt that it was all right to let Hanae act the main character because "after all, it's the actress who brings out the character, but not the other way round. Ohohohoho!" Hanae ended up as the main character, Iris as the daughter who got killed in the end, Sumire as the lover of the unfaithful husband and avoiding a male role for the rest of the female cast of the Hanagumi, Ryuue was chosen to be the husband, which he unwillingly agreed.
In the end, Hanae did a really good job as the woman, Reiko, and she managed to show everyone the true actress in her. They never knew that Hanae had the talent on stage. Even Sumire was stunned as Hanae sang the song of the play with really sad lyrics (something like 'as I die alone in agony and grief, I shall never forget the love I gave you but you didn't return') extremely well. With that particular scene of her dying, she made almost the whole watching cast cry because of the pitiful state she was able to portray. Sakura admired her greatly because of her ability to act as Reiko, and soon news of the new actress spread around Teito.
* * *
As Sakura got up, Iris came running to her with a letter, supposedly from "Onii-chan". Sakura was delighted and shooed Iris out of the room (she didn't notice how easy it was, though) and quickly opened the letter. "10 a.m. I still have time before the rehearsal. Yoshi, I better get changed!"
* * *
Erica found a letter at the door that morning and opened it. She squealed to realise it was a letter from Oogami and closed the door. She did not notice her nightgown was caught in the door and as she turned she heard a ripping sound. Groaning, she opened the door again, and careful not to catch her dress in again, closed it.
* * *
"Done it?" Leni asked Iris when they met in the lobby. Iris nodded. "Jan-Poru went with me! We were scared about lying, but this is for the good of Onii-chan. Sou da ne, Jan-Poru?" Then there was a burst of activity when the Shikigumi started the usual cleaning of the Teigeki every morning.
"Last one to the broom closet is a three-eyed monkey and has to clean the bathrooms!" Kanako shouted as she ran up the stairs. Matsuko ran after her and said, "Not fair! Yesterday I lost and cleaned the bathrooms and I was a hairy pig, what's with the monkey thing?!" Kanako shouted back, "'Cause the last one should be Shiki! HAHAHAHA!" As they reached the broom closet with Ume following close behind, Kanako continued, "To prevent myself from getting sacked by Taichou, I can't make the insult too great, can I?" Kanako was secretly rather afraid of Shiki. However, she didn't know the other two girls were terrified of Shiki too. Shiki was a strict captain and her calmness could be rivalled to only Komugi's. No, she wasn't void of feeling, just... Calm. That was why so many people trusted her and relied on her when troubles arose. And she was to play a vital part in the sabotaging of Oogami...
* * *
"I feel so much better, Rose," Hanae said as she woke up, exhilarated. Smiling, Rose said, "That's good. So have you thought about the reply to the Bosses?" Hanae frowned. "Actually, no." Rose let out a sigh, saying, "That's all right, I guess it's pretty normal. Anyway, I read Iris' mind just now by auto-reflex, and I found that... She's going to sabotage Oogami by letting him meet Sakura and Erica at the same time."
"Good! That kid's really good!"
"*rather shocked* T-Taichou?"
"Yoshi! I'll go take a bath, then go look for Iris, we'll set off to see how that jerk ends up..."
"I though I'm supposedly the shrewd one in the Shingumi?"
"You never know, Rose, you never know. *has gleam in her eye*"
* * *
"Sakura-kun!" Oogami waved. Sakura was there already. "Sorry to make you wait, Sakura-kun," Oogami said. "Iie, Oogami-san, I was early," Sakura hurriedly put in. Sakura thought, I wonder what is Oogami-san's intention for meeting me here...
Then they heard someone hollering, "Oogami-san!!!" Erica bounded into the café, tripping over a chair. Oogami was puzzled; why was Erica here? "Sorry I'm late, ah, Sakura-san is here too!"
* * *
"Two of you better confess! What did you do to Taichou?" Kanna demanded from the pair who were caught in the act - Iris and Leni. They were almost out when Kanna caught them behaving sneakily. Catching Iris who said "Onii-chan" and Leni then asking her to be quiet, Kanna guessed they had done something to Oogami.
Their heads lowered, they did not utter a word. "Na, Kanna-han, don't be like this! They must have done it for Oogami-han's good, sou ya?" Kouran interceded. Iris and Leni looked up and nodded vehemently.
"Now, what did you two do?" Maria questioned.
"Leni, tell us de~su!" Orihime grew impatient.
"Kanna-san, don't put too much pressure on the kids," Sumire said just to put her finger in the pie. She was busy concentrating on her nails and flicking her hair.
The Pari-Kagekidan were there too, and they looked blankly at the Hanagumi as they argued. Lobelia said, "What childishness." Glycine silently agreed, while Hanabi sighed and nodded. Coquelicot was just hovering around Leni and Iris was glaring daggers at her while Leni managed a weak smile.
Then there was a shout from the stairs. The Shingumi were chasing after Hanae, who seemed to have gone mad after last night, and she was running, muttering "Must catch that jerk" under her breath.
"Taichou, calm down!" Ryuue called out.
Then Shinta was heard crying, "Hana-chan! Hey, you're going to crash-" The wall had a hole which was Hanae-shaped.
"Taichou-sama would be fine. She can protect herself. She is only going to get to the bottom of matter. Please, everyone. Let Taichou-sama do what she deems fit."
"Thanks, Komugi!!!" Hanae cried from afar.
"Yay, Taichou is going to catch the villain!" Chiyone added, without helping the situation much.
"Though it's none of our business... I suggest we follow Taichou," Rose said.
The Hanagumi and the Pari-Kagekidan appeared and looking at the Shingumi, then at each other, arrived to a silent, but similar decision.
They were on the way to Ueno Park.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaede: Ne, Shihainin, what do you think about the current situation?
Yoneda: *chuckles* They are having fun, Kaede-san!
Kaede: What a weird man Oogami-kun is... Do you think he is right, Shihainin?
Shingumi: NO!
Yoneda: *shrugs* I feel that it's natural, after all, I was once like him. *chuckles*
Shingumi: *fierce glare*
Kaede: *sighs* JIKAI! Water out of the Rock! The truth is out, Oogami-san, don't break too many hearts, ne?