Triangular: 19
Author's notes: Hi there! I hope you guys haven't lost interest in the fic. ^^ Here's the nineteenth chapter – the one before the very important one!!!
***
The past week had flown by pretty quickly for CLAMP Gakuen. In no time the tickets were sold out and presentation day had come. A chilly, snow-covered Saturday, with lots of snowflakes raining down Tokyo.
His heart thrummed wildly as he stood before the large, intricately designed mahogany doors. This was it – the moment he comes in that large auditorium, it was all going to start. What he worked so hard for – now it was all going to start right before his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Shirou Kamui sighed and clutched the golden handles, finally opening the double doors to reveal himself to the cast and crew.
"SHIROU-KUN!"
"KAMUI!"
"Kamui-chaaaaaan!!!!!!"
"Kamui, you're here!"
"Kamui-san, you better hurry up."
"Shirou-san, go into the make-up room, hurry!"
Kamui winced as he heard almost all voices in the room instruct him of what to do. He just sighed again and headed backstage, dropping of his bag on a chair and pulling his script out of it.
"Alright," he murmured to himself, taking in some fresh air. "This is it."
*
Kishuu Arashi silently stooped down to Kamui's eye level, expertly applying blush to Kamui's cheeks.
"Kamui-san, stay still." Arashi said, retreating her hand from Kamui's cheeks. "I'll get it wrong if you keep moving."
"Arashi," Kamui started, prying his eyes away from his script. "I can't understand why men have to wear make-up." He continued, looking up at his female friend, a powder puff in her hand.
"You have to, Kamui-san." Arashi replied, now making the blush even. "With all those lights out there, you need make-up. Just practice your lines while I'm doing everything else, alright? I hope Kotori-san's doing alright with Nataku."
Kamui snorted, now straightening himself up as he read his lines again out loud. He'd been doing it ever since yesterday evening, and judging by his practice today, he was getting pretty good. A few sentences memorized more, and he'd be good to go.
"'I don't understand it, Kajiru. I'll never will. I thought they were just rumors.'" He pronounced, reading the line. "'Rumors that he rebelled against God about that judgment.'"
"'That was true. He believed that God's judgment was not right and rebelled against Him. God banished him into hell and he became Takeshi, the demon who tortured you.'" Arisugawa Sorata suddenly spoke up from the other side of the room.
"'What will happen to him then? After what you did to him?'" Kamui replied, now looking at himself in the mirror.
"'He'll just simply vanish. Transform into nothingness. His soul would disappear.'" Sorata said out his second from the last line, now waiting for Kamui's second from the last one too.
"'But it was weird – he still remembered our promise years ago.'" Kamui murmured.
"'A promise eh?'"
"'Yeah, a promise.'"
Kamui and Sorata sighed right on cue, exhaling a great deal. Arashi only sighed and started doing Kamui's hair.
"Aren't you guys nervous?" Arashi suddenly asked, eyeing Kamui from different sides. "I mean, the show's going to begin in an hour."
"Nah, I'm not nervous." Sorata said, lying back on his chair. "If Nee-chan did my make-up I'll never be nervous."
That made a handheld mirror thrown to him square on his face.
"What about you, Kamui-san?" Arashi now turned to the young man before him, ruffling out his hair a little bit. "Nervous?"
"Kind of." Kamui replied, looking up. "Although I'm a bit confused why we're not moving yet."
Arashi's eyes widened. "Moving to where?"
"You know, to the auditorium." Kamui said, raising his eyebrows. Arashi only blinked, realizing that Kamui still didn't know that they were going to perform there, at the CLAMP Gakuen Theatre.
*
"WAIII!!!!!!! KAMUI-CHAN WA SUTEKIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Monou Kotori danced around backstage, her blonde hair following every movement. Kamui sweat-dropped, believing Fuuma's words that his sister was indeed boy-crazy. "KAWAII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Ano, Kotori…" Kamui tried to say, creeping away from the girl.
"KAMUI-CHAN WAAAA UTSUKUSHII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Kotori…" Kamui moaned, rolling his eyes as Kotori started to run around.
"KAMUI-CHAN WAAAAA KAWAIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Alright, be that way. I'm going." Kamui murmured to himself, walking silently away from the blonde girl.
*
10 minutes before the play would start.
It was all that was left.
And indeed, in a hurry, Kuzuki Kakyou and Monou Fuuma started to check if all things were all right and good to go. All the props were placed, all moving mechanics working, all lights functioning properly. All actors were ready – their costume racks placed and arranged strategically, any accessories placed orderly beside the racks. Their hair was done and make-up finished, costumes put on and last-minute adjustments being made. The theatre was starting to be filled with the awaiting audience, anxious and excited about the play.
5 minutes until the play.
Kamui made a mistake.
He slowly walked to the curtain, slightly parting it to see how many people have entered the theater to watch him perform. But as he did, his amethyst eyes widened in utter bewilderment as he noticed that every seat in the theatre was taken; looks of excitement and anticipation etched on every face. In the very front row, in the very center, sat Imonoyama Nokoru with his golden hair and bright blue eyes; on either side of him sat Ijyuin Akira and Takamura Suoh. Meanwhile, Ohkawa Utako was seated beside Akira and Nagisa Azuya beside Suoh. Kasumi Karen, his foster mother, and Shirou Yuzuriha was seated on the second row, amongst all the other people Kamui didn't know. Of course, there was the faculty; consisting of Kigai Yuuto, Shiiyu Kusanagi, his homeroom teacher Aoki Seiichirou (who was suspiciously seated beside Karen) and many more. The high school principal Hinoto was seated beside her sister and the principal of Kamui's former school, Kanoe. Kanoe, meanwhile, was suspiciously seated on the other side of Kigai Yuuto while the super creepy girl, Yatouji Satsuki, was glaring at her on Yuuto's left side.
Kinomoto Fujitaka and Kinomoto Nadeshiko, with their daughter and Yuzuriha's friend, Sakura, were seated on the third row with Daidouji Sonomi and Sakura's best friend, Daidouji Tomoyo next to them. Li Syaoran (Xiaolang, if you prefer) and Li Meiling sat on the other side of Sakura. Ryuuzaki Umi and Hououji Fuu were seated nearby; Saiki Daisuke with Segawa Keiichi sat near them.
His eyes further widened as he continued to search the humongous crowd. Sitting on the center seat of the second row was his math teacher, Sumeragi Subaru, with Sumeragi Hokuto and the assassin-like Sakurazuka Seishirou on either side of him. He started to feel faint, his head feeling very light as he accidentally and slowly closed his eyes, losing his balance, and finally falling to the floor with a thud.
The audience members, who were busy chattering away, were silenced by a thud and screams backstage.
"KAAAAAAAMMMMUUUUUIIIII-CHAAAAAANNNNN!!!!!!! IIYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Kamui-san?! Kamui-san?! KAMUI-SAN?!"
"Oi, Kamui! Wake-up! This isn't funny!"
"Shirou-san!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Subaru looked up at the stage, just as everyone else did, prying his eyes away from the play synopsis on the booklet they gave out.
*
Monou Fuuma dropped his checklist and hurriedly ran over to the angel clad in white, who was lying on the floor with so many people surrounding him. Concernedly, Fuuma pushed a few people out of the way and cradled Kamui in his arms, gently nudging the ebony-haired student out of his unconsciousness. Kamui woke up a few nudges later, opening his eyes to see warm golden ones peering at him.
"I can't do it, Monou-san." Kamui murmured, now noticing that he was in Fuuma's arms. "There are too many people…"
"C'mon Kamui-kun," Fuuma smiled, making Kamui stand up and straighten himself. Fuuma followed him, placing his hands kindly on Kamui's shoulders. "You can do it. Maybe…uh…you can just imagine the audience in their underwear."
Kamui's response showed a no, for he blushed a shade of deep berry red as he looked down on the floor. Fuuma only smiled sheepishly.
"No, don't. That's a bad idea." Fuuma later on commented. Gingerly, Fuuma brought his fingers to Kamui's chin and made Kamui look up to him, a warm, kind glance placed in his golden eyes. "But Kamui-kun, I know you can do it."
Kamui was still staring at him with uncertainty.
Fuuma smiled again. "I know you can. Now go out there after the opening and give it all you got."
"Yeah," Kamui finally spoke up, smiling an appreciative grin. "I will."
Their little tête-à-tête was disturbed by Kuzuki Kakyou's clapping.
"Alright then, people," Kakyou started, gathering the attention of his cast and crew. "This is it. I hope we make it good, and best of luck to all of you." He looked at everyone earnestly, the look of hope etched in his gold eyes. "Kishuu-san, get ready."
**
The audience was immediately shut up by Fuuma's voice telling them to shut their cell phones off or turn it to silent mode, turn their beepers and anything else off. The crowd did as told, with Subaru silently clenching his fist, being surprised as the spotlight was suddenly turned on to focus on the beautiful Kishuu Arashi, standing before a microphone on a separate stage, dressed in a dark blue gown glittering with sequins. Her long, silky hair was pinned up artistically by pins and little blue flowers, her bangs were also professionally parted, making her look absolutely elegant as a few curled strays framed her face.
As she started to sing, the audience was perfectly stunned on how angelic Arashi could sing. She captivated everybody, even the students who didn't think that such a talent was within the so-called 'Ice Queen'. After the first verse, lights suddenly illuminated the orchestra, revealing the conductor as the music started to accompany the first-thought acapella.
This was definitely it – the play has started.
Right after Arashi's song finished, all lights were turned off. After a few seconds, Tsukishirou Yukito's voice rang all over the theatre.
"A peaceful morning up in the clouds, up at the peaceful Kingdom of Heaven." The spotlight was turned on and was directed to the left side of the stage, revealing Yukito dressed in an angelic costume. "Or is it?" Now the lights were turned off and the curtains were parted, revealing a dark stage.
"Kogoe-san!!" said Akizuki Nakuru, pronouncing her line, the spotlight immediately focusing on her as she ran towards Kinomoto Touya, who was walking around the stage once the lights were turned on. "Kogoe-san, I can't find Kamui-san anywhere!"
"Have you checked the restricted areas?"
"No, but it's like impossible that Kamui would go to a restricted area. He knows how many hidden loopholes are there."
"Ayuko-san, you may never know. Might as well go check."
The spotlight once again turned to Yukito. "And check they did. In every restricted area up in Heaven, the angel named Kamui was nowhere to be found. Every angel was worried – even I became worried too. But I guess what Kogoe said was right…"
The lights on the stage went out, making the crew change the background just in time. Kamui took in a breath of fresh air, praying to God that he wouldn't make a mistake. Once the lights were turned on, Kamui stepped on stage and started to be in character. He walked around a few times, eyeing the backdrop of ancient Japan, although he was in a remote village.
"Good," Kamui pronounced, the small microphone hidden expertly in his costume enhancing his voice. "I just fell into a stupid loophole. Where am I anyway?" Subaru quickly looked up and stared longingly at Kamui, who was on stage, now looking back at a young girl known to the audience as Shidou Hikaru.
"Tenshi-sama!" Hikaru said, dressed in a crimson kimono, running to the white-clad angel. "Tenshi-sama!"
"Tenshi-sama…?" Kamui now looked back at his wings and outfit, seeing that he hasn't made himself decent to fit into ancient Japan. "Damn, I forgot…"
The play went on, with Subaru looking intently at his angel. He didn't listen to the story – he just kept watching Kamui perform his role perfectly. Kamui, meanwhile, was thankful to God above that he hasn't made a single mistake. And when he did, he kept on thinking about ad libs to cover his mistakes up. But deep inside Kamui, he was praying for his eyes not to wander to the black-and-white clad Sumeragi Subaru who was sitting a few yards away from him, or to the black-and-blue clad Monou Fuuma. For once he did, he was sure to forget all his lines.
Meanwhile, Sakurazuka Seishirou gripped the armrest quite tight, pouring all his frustration and anger on the small piece of cushioned wood. He hated the fact that Subaru hadn't spoken a word to him ever since they entered the theatre, no matter how hard he tried to strike up a conversation. He hated the fact that Subaru kept staring at that second year student longingly and lovingly. He hated the fact that Subaru didn't love him anymore – his cute little Subaru-kun has taken a liking to someone else.
And now, he hated that little obstacle – an obstacle named Shirou Kamui.
Of course, he should get rid of him, right?
Or wrong?
Author's notes: I hoped you guys liked my extension of the chapters! Anyway, I think the next chapter's going to be pretty short…but hey – chap 21's going to be as long as this, I promise! Please, r&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you very much!!!!!!!!!