I do not own Sakura Wars or any of it's characters…'cause if I did, I wouldn't be calling this a fanfic and I would be sailing on the Caribbean in my private yacht, literally swimming in pools of money.
So, now that that's over, you can read the fanfic. Enjoy!
Oh, and this is set in sort of a past/future sorta way and it's based on if Orihime and Reni hadn't come in ST2.
Jacques, Fifi, Clarice, Sophie, Mikel, Reina, Ravina, and Peter are all my characters. NO TOUCHIE!!!
Chapter 16
"Status report?" "Okay, in a nutshell, Ohgami wants to marry Maria before she leaves to Russia, but every time he tries to get close to her, she backs away, literally." "And you got all this information just by listening in on a conversation?!" Tsubaki asked incredulously. "Yup." "Yuri, I've said it before and I'll say it again." Kasumi said as she took a stack of programs out of a box. "You give the Moon Division a run for their money." "Have you ever considered working for them?" Tsubaki wondered. "Yeah, but it's not gonna happen. I'd have to see Kayama grovel at my feet first." "You're right. It's not gonna happen." "Oh hush."
The three girls worked in silence for a moment, then Yuri spoke up again. "You know…I heard that there was something upsetting in today's paper…but I don't know what it was." "Upsetting?! Try shocking!" Kasumi exclaimed, holding the paper up. "WHAT?! WHERE'D YOU GET THAT?!" Yuri asked, grabbing the paper away. "Sakura gave it to me. She told me to get rid of it before Maria showed it to Manager Yoneda. Although-" "AAAHHH! THIS IS GREAT!" Yuri cried, ignoring Kasumi's response. "Ooh! Let me see!" Tsubaki exclaimed, moving over to where she could see the news article. "Awww…" both girls said as they scanned the story. Kasumi sweat dropped, then went back to working on the programs for the next play.
*WHAM!* The door to Yoneda's office flew open and a very outraged Maria, being held back by a very distressed Ohgami were revealed. "What is the meaning of this?" Ayame asked. "HAVE YOU READ THE PAPER?!" Maria replied furiously. "Forget read. Have you even looked at it?!" Ohgami asked, letting go of Maria. But then, after second thoughts, he took her hand and held it. "No. Is there something we should see?" Yoneda asked "Hah. That's a laugh." Maria said bitterly, her composure regaining. "There's an entire front page article on Ohgami and myself at Ueno park last night. Not to mention the story itself, which is about three pages long!" "…………Didn't I warn you two about PDA?! I told you that the media would have a field day. Did you two think I was lying?" "Sir, maybe we didn't make ourselves clear enough." Ohgami replied. "Last night someone took a picture of Maria and myself. You only gave us the lecture on Public Display Of Affection this morning." There was tense silence as Yoneda and Ayame conversed with their eyes. Ohgami squeezed Maria's hand gently and smiled warmly when the startled blonde looked over at him. Maria's troubled look vanished and the faintest of smiles crossed her thin lips. "Okay you two." Yoneda said gruffly, seeing the love struck couple. "Ayame and I will handle the media. If something comes up that we think you should know, we'll tell you." "Aragato." Ohgami replied. Maria merely nodded as her thanks, and then left the office.
As soon as Maria was gone, Ohgami closed the door and turned to Ayame. "Maria overheard us practicing, so I fibbed and told her that we were quoting lines from a movie commercial. So if she asks, can you tell her that?" "Yeah, sure. I understand." Ayame replied. "So when are you going to pop the question?" "Hopefully, if she accepts my proposal of a movie and dinner, then I'll ask later on tonight." "Oh! She's so lucky!" "I hope she'll think that she is…Maria's special to me, she deserves something…and I'm willing to spend the rest of my life with her." "…" Ohgami smiled and then remembered something he had to take care of. "So anyways, thanks a lot for covering me for now." he said to Ayame. "Well, I gotta go. I have to ask Kayama for a favor." As Ohgami walked out of the office, Ayame wiped her tear brimmed eyes and smiled. "That sweet kid. He really does care for Maria."
Now how am I supposed to get in contact with Kayama on such short notice? Ohgami wondered as he walked up to his room. When he opened the door, he immediately looked out the window, as a loud bang was heard. "HI THERE OHGAMI!" Kayama exclaimed from his upside down hanging position outside. "COULD YOU OPEN THE WINDOW? IT'S HOT OUT HERE! I NEED TO GET INTO AN AIR CONDITIONED ROOM!" "Well…there's the answer to my question. Hmm…I wonder…" Ohgami pondered as he walked towards the window. "I wonder how I'm supposed to get one million dollars on such short notice?" There was silence, and Ohgami snapped his fingers in frustration. "Rats. Well, it didn't hurt to try."
"Oh Tsubaki! Guess what?!" Yuri asked as she ran up to the redhead. "Um…am I really supposed to answer that question, or are you just gonna tell me?" Ignoring Tsubaki's sarcastic question, Yuri continued. "Ohgami's going to propose to Maria tonight!" "Ooh! Tell me more! I know you got all the details!" Not again…Kasumi thought as Yuri started talking again.
"Ahhhh…it's cooler in here." Kayama said as he hopped off the windowsil and into Ohgami's room. He produced a guitar from out of nowhere and began to strum it while Ohgami closed the window. "So what brings you out here?" "I just came by for a visit…why?" "Well, I really need your help. You see, I think someone's stalking Maria." Immiediatly, the white guitar disappeared behind Kayama's back, and the captain of the Moon Division stood up straight. "Okay Ohgami. You're going to need to give me a full description of what's been going on."
Maria walked up the stairs to her room and was surprised to see a small box at her door. Now if Ohgami had never entered Maria's life, she would have thrown it out the window, but the blonde was feeling a bit lovestruck at the moment, and well……she picked up the box. Maria took the lid off the white box and gasped in surprise when she saw her locket. She threw the box aside and opened the locket, and that's when she turned pale. The picture of Yuri was still there, but one slight ajustment had been made. There was red ink on his coat, indicating blood. Someone who knew exactly where Yuri had been shot had been evil enough to fill that memory in for the blonde. Maria began to lose consciousness and the last thing she remembered was falling in a heap on the floor.
*THUMP* "Hey, what was that?" Ohgami asked. The loud noise had interrupted his sentence. Kayama drew his pistol and cautiously opened the door. "Kayama, what is it? Is-" "Ohmygod! Ohgami come here fast!" Worried about what it was, Ohgami ran out into the hall. "MARIA!" he exclaimed in horror, running to the blonde's side. "Hey…wake up." he whispered. "I think she fainted." Kayama said as he scanned the hallways and all the windows for any sign of…well… anything. "What's she holding?" "Oh god…it's her locket…the picture is ruined…" "Hey!" Kayama shouted, upon seeing a figure flee from outside. He ran downstairs and out the door, hot on the trail of the mysterious person. Ohgami, at a loss for what to do, finally took Maria in his arms and returned to his bedroom, where he sat down on the bed and held her, waiting for her to wake up.
"Hey! Slow down!" Yuri shouted as Kayama ran by her. "What's all the fuss?" "Sorry, can't talk at the moment." Kayama replied, running outside. "Men. They're all the same." Yuri said, returning to her gossiping session with Tsubaki. Kasumi finally gave up on ignoring the two and decided to lean in and listen.
In the basement, Kanna and Iris were developing the photos from Kanna's camera. "Ooh! When'd you take this one?!" Iris asked, holding up a picture that had developed in the makeshift darkroom. "Backstage, after the Anastasia play." Kanna replied. "Here's another scenery one." Iris commented as she hung a picture up. Suddenly, there was a loud thump from upstairs. "Hey, what was that?" Iris asked. "Dunno." Kanna replied. "Let's go see." Iris exclaimed, hanging up the last picture and running out of the room. Kanna sighed and walked out after the little girl. "Why not?"
"Hey! Stop!" Kayama shouted. He shot his pistol several times in the air, and it made the figure stop in his tracks. "All right. Hold it." Kayama said, sticking the pistol against the man's back. "What did you do to Maria?" "I don't know anyone named Maria…and I didn't do nothing." The man replied in a thick accent that Kayama couldn't place at the moment. "I'll ask you one last time. What did you do?" "I didn't do nothing, honest. I got this note saying that I was supposed to give this box to a blonde and if I did, I'd get 2,000 yen." Two men in tuxedos approached Kayama. "We'll take it from here, Captain." One said. "Search him…and then bring him back for questioning." It looks like this problem goes deeper than I imagined…but what would a man such as him have anything to do with Maria? Curiouser and curiouser………
