By: Riyuji
Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with Ultra Maniac. But it would be okay with me to have Rio so I could add him to my mop-head character collection together with Haru. But… it doesn't matter.
Author's Note: Well, this takes place at the end of UM… I know that this setting (for scene two in my fic) has been chosen for oh-so-many other UM fanfics but this one is heading in a whole different direction. If this storyline has been used already, it is all purely coincidental for I am but a newbie in the UM fandom.
"WHAT?"
Nina had to take cover due to her childhood friend's outburst. Who knew Yuta would react that way after finding out that she declined the offer to become the princess of the kingdom. She crawled out of the tree she hid behind to see if her companion was still going to throw another verbal bomb at her.
"Nina! Why did you decline? You do know that your grandfather is going to freak when he finds out?"
And as if on cue, Nina's computer started ringing.
Nina carefully flipped it open only to be greeted by her grandpa. "Hello, Grandpa!" She was definitely trying to hide her fear but sounding like her usual chirpy self.
Her grandfather didn't respond immediately, causing her worries to heighten.
Yuta decided to look over her shoulder to find a solemn look on the old man's face. And out of the blue, "Yo, Gramps."
Almost unbelievably, he still didn't answer. Boy, that was new.
"Nina." His voice was calm, which was still unusual for him. "I'm glad that you decided to choose what would really make you happy by declining the offer of the prince but…" Oh, boy… Here comes the outburst. "Why did you give up all of the Holy Stones? Why did you give it to the Orihara girl?"
Nina put on that innocent smile of hers that gave everything away. "Well…" She wasn't sure what to say to him. "It was all a misunderstanding! The prince thought that he was in love with me but it wasn't me! I don't know why he thought it was me!" There she went with her usual rambling.
Yuta couldn't help put shake his head sideways. He suddenly remembered that time when they were kids and the prince asked for the name of the girl in white. It was actually his fault why the prince thought he had fallen for Nina Sakura. But it also wasn't his fault because how was he to know that the prince was asking about Maya. Both Nina and Maya were dressed in white at the time after all.
Then, he realized something else. He tapped Nina on the shoulder and pointed something out, "Nina, your gramps always watches you from that huge computer in his room. I bet he knows the whole story already."
"Grandpa!" Nina shouted at the mini computer in her hands. The smiley face that usually appears at the monitor of her computer already replaced the image of her grandpa that had vanished a few seconds ago. "Nina-sama…"
"So much for that," said Nina with a sigh. "Hey, Yuta-kun, because I'm not going to become a princess anymore, let's go to the crowning ceremony of Maya-chan together!"
Yuta just smiled that arrogant smile of his and extended out an arm to his companion. "It would be my pleasure."
-=-=-
A few days has past since Maya was chosen to be the princess of the Magic Kingdom. Nina was back at Japan and continued to study at Shuei together with her mortal friends. Only today she didn't have much time to hang out with them. She told Ayu that she had a special engagement to attend.
It was a special engagement… for Maya and the prince anyway. Maya was now part of the Royal family and the Prince was able to find his true love. It was such a gay occasion, in both manners of speaking.
The room drowned with applause as the happy couple walked down the steps to the grand hall. As Maya and the Prince entered the hall, they were instantly greeted with calls of 'congratulations' here and there. Nina and Yuta were able to greet them earlier, thus avoiding the crowd.
"They do look like a happy couple don't they?" said Nina, a smile on her face.
Yuta couldn't help but look at the girl that he has adored for almost most of his life. She was looking, well, so unlike her today, from the hair, down to the gown that she wore. She was…beautiful… in his opinion of course. And to a few other people who were throwing glances at her every now and then.
A light tap from behind interrupted Yuta's train of thought. He glanced over his shoulder to find someone handing him a drink in an… odd cup. The mug was shaped like some type of human skull. "Uhm, thanks, I guess," he said rather reluctantly.
The girl who handed him the drink hid her face from his view. She squirmed a few seconds later, both her hand covering the blush that was beginning to form at her cheeks.
"Yuta-kun, what's that?" asked Nina, pointing at the cup that her friend held. She looked past him to see the girl that had given him the curious beverage. "Ah! Luna-chan!"
Luna was too busy staring at the male magician she had just approached to take notice of Nina. She peeked out of her palms at one point, then turned to face the other way.
At that moment, Yuta was able to see how the girl named Luna looked like and only one word came to his mind. "She's so cute…" he said aloud, almost dreamily.
"Eh?" Nina was in shock. Did she hear Yuta correctly? She just stood there, surprised with what has just come out of her childhood friend's mouth. She simply couldn't believe that Yuta would find someone like Luna to be cute! Then she began stumbling over her own thoughts.
'Huh? What am I thinking? I know that Yuta-kun is just saying that. I mean, he's always saying that to all the girls that he meets! Like the time he met Ayu-chan. Ah! But I'm not saying that Luna-chan isn't cute either! It's just that she's just so depressing… Wah! I don't know what I'm thinking anymore!'
That was usual Nina Sakura for you.
Yuta had snapped out of his delusion, taking notice at the girl beside him. She was somewhat deep in thought but this is Nina we're talking about and this girl is never really deep in thought! The boy snapped his fingers a few inches away from his companion's face. "Oy, Nina. Snap out of it."
Nina just stood there, finger before her mouth, still tripping over her own thoughts.
Yuta flicked his forefinger on the girl's forehead, jarring her back into reality. "What's gotten into you?" He then took a sip out of the drink the allegedly cute Luna had given him.
Nina snapped all of a sudden. "Yuta-kun! Don't drink that!" she shrieked in surprise. As if in slow motion, she began running toward the young genius of the kingdom and pushed the cup away from his grasp. Still in slow motion, the mug twirled in the air a couple of times before landing on some random standby's head.
Back in the normal time space, Nina and Yuta had gotten the bright idea to run for their lives and pretend that that particular scenario never happened.
As the two teenagers made their way out the palace, a loud gruff voice echoed throughout the hall. The infuriated Dr. Sakura was drenched in whatever the beverage was inside the cup and said cup was still itself balancing over his head. "NINA! YUTA!"
-=-=-
Both Nina and Yuta were leaning on the one of the finely decorated exterior walls of the palace, trying to catch their breaths.
"Nina, what was that for?" Yuta asked in between gasps.
"It's not my fault Luna-chan is a little weird," the girl replied, defiantly.
The last part of her sentence made him curious. "Weird?"
"She's not going to stop following you! She did that to Kaji-kun before."
Yuta just waved it off. "You have got to be pulling my leg."
Nina puffed her cheeks in annoyance. "Fine, But don't come to me when she really does stalk you."
-=-=-
Ayu and Nina had just made it into the school before the Principal had closed the gate. Ayu fixed her bag and called Nina. "Nina, come on. We shouldn't be late for class."
They both casually walked into the room and placed their bags into their respective lockers. "So, Nina," chimed Ayu, a tone of curiosity in her voice. "What was that big engagement you had to go to yesterday?"
"I wasn't much, Ayu-chan. I just had to attend the wedding of Maya-chan at the Magic Kingdom." It slipped her mind that memories of Maya were erased from all the mortals that knew her. So she received questioning reply from her friend.
"Who's Maya?"
Nina raised her hands and started shaking her head. "I mean, there was a big party for the prince of the Kingdom and his bride. So everyone had to attend it, and so I had to go too."
Ayu nodded. "Ah, I see." She closed her locker door and made her way to her seat by the window.
Nina followed suit to her seat.
"Nina."
The kid witch turned to her seatmate. "What is it, Ayu-chan?"
"What? I didn't call you, Nina."
"Nina," the voice called out again.
Nina stood from her chair and pointed out the window. "There."
Outside the window stood a tall tree. The leaves rustled with the wind but the rustling seemed quite unnatural. A figure then pushed a few leaves away and came within sight of the kid witch and her friend. "Yo, Nina, Ayu."
"Yuta-kun! What are you doing here?!"
To be continued…
-=-=-
Author's Notes: Reviews and constructive criticism will be welcomed.