I do not own Sakura Wars or any of it's characters…or Phantom of the Opera, any of the songs or 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. But I do own Clarice, Jacques, Fifi, Mikel, Peter, Ravina, Sophie, and Reina. NO TOUCHIE!
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.
Chapter 32
"This place really is out of the middle of nowhere." Kanna commented as Ayame drove through the row houses. "Yeah. But it's a good thing for Maria and Ohgami." Ayame replied, keeping her eyes on the road. "Too much publicity would be extremely bad for them in this condition." "Well sure! If I was laid up in bed with an injured leg and my boyfriend was keeping watch over me, I sure wouldn't want the press at the door 24/7. That is, if I were Maria." Ayame smiled as she made a turn into Dr. Reina's driveway.
"Looks like you guys have a couple of visitors." Reina commented as she looked through the blinds. "Visitors? Us? Are you sure that it's not a couple of patients?" Ohgami asked. "Oh I'm positive." Reina replied as she went to the door. "You might want to wake Miss Tachibana up. She fell asleep right after I shooed you out. The poor thing was up all last night. Said she couldn't sleep." Ohgami only nodded, a small smile on his face as he left the room.
"Psst, Maria." Ohgami whispered as he crouched down near Maria's sleeping form. "Hey…Jade Eyes…wake up." Maria only rolled over, her back now to Ohgami. But when she did, Ohgami could see the corners of her mouth twitching. "Maria! C'mon! I know you're awake!" "No I'm not." Maria replied. She then clapped her hand over her mouth. "Um…yeah you are." Ohgami said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "C'mon. Reina said that we have visitors." When Maria refused to sit up, Ohgami frowned, and then got up. "Okayyyy…you asked for it." There were footsteps, and then, CLICK! The bright lights flickered on, and Maria clapped her hands over her eyes. "That's cheating." she complained. "No one ever said there were any rules." Ohgami said. "Now come on! Get up!" Maria groaned, and a playful smile formed on her face. Then, after a bit of struggling and moving her injured leg carefully, she sat up. Ohgami smiled and admired the Russian's perseverance. She really hates to feel like a weakling. But she's never really been weak in my eyes…she's so strong… "Ohgami, why are you staring at me like that?" Maria asked, looking curiously at the Japanese man. "Huh? Oh, nothing Maria!" Ohgami replied, furiously blushing. "Well, okay…"
"So this is what a doctor's office looks like…" Kanna commented as she walked in from outside. "You mean to tell me that you've never been to a doctor's office?" Ayame asked. "Once. When I was born. But other than that, no way. Good ole' Kirishima training keeps me healthy." "Amazing!" Reina commented as she closed the door behind the two women. "How is Maria?" Ayame asked quickly. "Well, she's healing abnormally fast, and if it keeps healing like this, she should be good to go by Wednesday." Reina replied. "But enough of this. You must be tired of my talking. Ms. Tachibana is in the other room, and I sent Ohgami to go wake her up-" The sound of laughter interrupted Reina's statement, and all three women looked at each other. "And I'm pretty sure that she's awake."
"Hey Maria!" Kanna exclaimed as she poked her head into the room, the normal goofy grin on her face. "How ya feelin'?" "AHEM." Came Ohgami's voice. "Oh hey Captain! Didn't see ya there!" Kanna said, walking in. Maria stifled a giggle as Ohgami pouted. "Oh thanks a lot Kanna…" he muttered. "Anytime." the redhead replied as she sat down in a chair. She looked Maria straight in the eyes, with a curious look on her face. "You still haven't answered my question, ya know." "Huh? Oh, I'm doing fine, thank you." Maria said, embarrassed. "Ah, thanks to Ohgami, huh?" Kanna asked with a sly grin. "What? Of course not!" Maria and Ohgami both protested quickly. "Uh huh. Suuuuure." Kanna said, smirking. "Kanna…" Ayame called warningly from the other room. "Are you teasing them or giving them their scripts?" "Um…both." Kanna replied as she quickly handed Maria and Ohgami their scripts. "I'm playing Christine?" Ohgami asked raising an eyebrow. "What?" Kanna asked. "Aak! Switch scripts." Ohgami grinned. "I'm kidding Kanna." he said. Kanna leapt up and towered over Ohgami. "KANNA!" Ayame shouted as she walked in. From what she could see, Kanna looked like she was about to give Ohgami a black eye. "Huh, oh, hey Ayame." the redhead said with a cheerful tone. "Kanna, put Ohgami down." "Huh? Oh come on Ayame, you know that I would never hurt him…intentionally." "Kanna…" "All right, all right." Kanna put Ohgami down on his chair, and Maria chuckled as Ohgami let out a sigh of relief and wiped his brow. Both Ayame and Kanna looked at each other with surprised eyes. Both of them were thinking the same thing. Maria's laughing?!
An hour later:
"Hope you're hungry." Reina said, bringing a large tray of food. "You bet I am!" Kanna exclaimed, reaching for a bowl of rice and some chopsticks. Everyone watched in amazement as Kanna began to gobble down the food, faster than before. In approximately 4.2 seconds, Kanna swallowed the rice and looked at Reina. "Got any more?" she asked with a grin. The woman blinked. "Um…sure…" she finally replied. "You can have mine." Maria said, pushing her bowl away. "But Maria, you haven't even touched your food!" Ayame, Reina, and Ohgami said all at the same time. Maria blushed. "I'm not really hungry…" "Maria, eat! I didn't fix all this food for nothing!" Reina exclaimed. "But I-" "Maria, you really need to eat!" Ayame exclaimed. "But-" "Maria, please! You're injured, and not eating is really going to slow down your healing process!" Ohgami exclaimed. "KANNA IS ALREADY EATING MY RICE!" Maria shouted, angry that everyone had kept interrupting her. And as everyone turned to look at the redhead, they saw that, indeed, she was eating Maria's rice.
"Oh…" came the simultaneous response. Maria sighed, and laid back down on the bed, her head sinking into the pillow. Ayame bit her lip and wondered if now would be the right time to inform Maria and Ohgami of her decision. Well…it's now or never. "Maria…Ohgami…" Ayame began, but stopped when she saw that both Kanna and Reina were listening intently as well. "Um…Reina-san, Kanna…" "Oh! Sorry about that! Kanna, would you help me out in the kitchen?" Reina asked. "Huh? Oh! Sure Reina-san!" Kanna replied, gathering her dishes. "Call me Reina, please. That goes for you as well Ayame." Ayame nodded. "Of course Reina. Now if you don't mind…" "We were just going. C'mon Kanna." The redhead nodded, and then the two left.
Ayame looked back over at Maria and Ohgami, and cleared her throat. "Maria…I know that this might upset you, but…I need Ohgami to come back with me." "WHAT?!" Maria asked, clearly upset. "Ohgami needs to come back with me to the Imperial Theatre because he's behind on his deskwork." "So that gives you the right to take me away?!" Ohgami asked. "Commander Yoneda told me to stay here with Maria!" "Commander Yoneda would rather have you back in the Theatre." Ayame explained calmly, but Maria could see that her eyebrow was twitching. "And what about Maria?!" Ohgami asked furiously. "Who's going to watch over her? Other than the doctor? Who?!" "Kanna will." Ayame replied, now both of her eyebrows twitching. "Did someone call me?" Kanna asked, peeking into the room. "No Kanna." Ayame replied. "You're staying here with Maria?"
Ohgami asked coldly. "You volunteered?" "Uh…not that I can remember…" "Ohgami…" Maria cautioned, as she took a glance at Ayame's face. "Ohgami, just drop the subject." "Ayame-san-" Ohgami began. "Ohgami! You need to get your priorities straight, and they had better be as follows! #1, work. #2, your love life!" Ayame had finally snapped, like a rubber band being shot off, and her target was Ohgami. "This is an order. Get in the car, NOW!!" Ohgami jumped back at the tone of Ayame's voice, his face displaying an expression of fear, but his tone of voice still displaying bravery. "Alright Ayame. But can I at least have a couple of minutes alone with Maria?" "5 minutes. And that's it. And I'm counting!!"
