Angelic Layer – Like a Dream

Monday evening Misaki feverishly struggled with trying to get into the dress that she had to wear for the musical production, next to the other girls who were in it as well. The randomness of lines being recited and groans of trying to change into the intricate and tight dresses, could be heard. The scratch...scratch...scratch of nails being filed, makeup being put on, and high heels clicking together in their owner's hands before they were put on, were all too common a scene in the ladies dressing room behind the stage. Misaki was nervous. It had occurred to her only that afternoon that Oujirou would probably be run over by a mob of his fans the moment he opened the door that led to the school auditorium, what had she been thinking? Only, she hadn't had the time or the resources to call him and tell him not to come. In the back of her mind, she guiltily thought that she wanted him there to see her, more than she wanted to tell him something for his wellbeing that might cause her to perform only for Shouko and the rest of the people who would come. In either case, she had decided that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it now. With that, she reached for the button at the back of her dress at her neck. She could see Tamayo walking towards her in the same yellow cocktail dress that she, herself, was forced to wear for the first twenty minutes of the performance. Tamayo was still struggling with putting the earrings on that went with her dress. At this, she earned a smile from Misaki, who was struggling with putting on the sun colored high heels that went with her costume as well.

"Just to get these costumes on is a lengthy process, but to make us look good in them...that's another matter all together!" Tamayo exclaimed, exasperated, when she reached Misaki, and was putting the last earring on.

"I know!" Misaki answered her friend in agreement, protesting the fact that she was still fiddling with the strap on one of her high heeled shoes, trying to tighten it around her foot.

"Well, on the bright side," Tamayo said in a more enthusiastic tone, "At least we only have to wear these dresses for our first scene. After that we can change into skirts, and then we can wear that for the rest of the play."

"Umm...musical, but yes...I agree," Misaki sat back upright and smiled at her friend.

Tamayo examined her for a moment and nodded in approval, "Well, you look about as good in these things as anyone can...how do I look?"

"You look good," Misaki said, unsure if this was true of not. The dress didn't seem to fit to Tamayo's character at all, but then again...that was no surprise. The school skirts never seemed to fit for Tamayo either. She seemed like a person who would enjoy wearing a boy's clothes every day...all day, if she could. Either way, it didn't really matter now. Both of them played singers in a restaurant, hence the name, "Musical." So, she supposed it would be fine for twenty minutes.

Tamayo gave her a half smile, "Just keep telling yourself...its only twenty minutes."

Misaki giggled, "I hope Oujirou doesn't get the wrong idea from this outfit..."

Tamayo cocked her head, "Oujirou's coming?"

Misaki's face suddenly turned bright red, "Umm...well—"

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!!!!" Tamayo screamed in delight, her voice going from low to very high pitched.

"Keep it down!" Misaki said, blushing so hard that her entire face looked like it was a cherry.

Several girls looked around at them, giving the two odd looks, before Tamayo stopped.

"When did you ask him to come?" Tamayo asked, about to burst with excitement.

A low voice suddenly erupted from the door of the dressing room, "Ten minutes, girls!" Everyone looked over at the musical director and nodded in response.

Misaki looked back at Tamayo, her face turning even redder, "I told him...at dinner...Saturday night."

"MISAKICHI!!!!!" Tamayo squeaked, jumping up in down in delight. (How can you do that in high heels? Wow...she must have incredible balance...yeah...that's it.)

"Nothing happened," Misaki said sheepishly, her face turning redder still. This wasn't entirely true and she knew it. She had gotten her first kiss that night.

"Uh huh..." Tamayo teased.

"I'm serious!" Misaki squeaked in defense.

"Its okay, Misakichi, I believe you. No need to get all worked up about it. After all, nothing happened, right?" Tamayo didn't believe anything she was saying any more than Misaki did.

Finally Misaki gave in, unable to stand the pressure any longer, "Well...he...kissed me."

"HA!" Tamayo shouted in ecstatic hysteria.

"Come on...it was just—"

"And how was it?" Tamayo interrupted, in the middle of Misaki trying to defend herself.

"Well," Misaki said, taken aback, "it was...incredible..." She went into a temporary daze, looking far off for a moment.

"Misaki Suzuhara! Tamayo Kizaki! You're onstage in two minutes!"

This snapped Misaki out of her thoughts and she made her way with Tamayo to the edge of the stage, right behind the curtain. Nerves suddenly coursed through her as she saw the two main characters of the musical, meeting in the restaurant in the scene before she would go on. One of the girls in her math class was playing the part of waitress to the two. She listened carefully.

"So, what is it that you do, Miss Chisato?"

"I'm a lab student at the University," The girl responded.

"I see, so that makes you extremely intelligent," The young man replied.

"I suppose so. What is it that you do, Mr. Amori?"

That was Misaki's cue to get ready to walk in with Tamayo.

"Ready?" Misaki whispered very quietly to Tamayo.

Tamayo nodded, although her face had turned very white, due to nerves.

Misaki stepped onto the stage with Tamayo not far behind, pulling themselves up to their full height so that they would look better in their costumes. When Misaki finally made it directly behind the table of the two main characters, she began to sing what she had been taught to. Waiting just until the person who was playing Chisato to say, "When I fall for someone, he will make me happy...and I will never see a fault in him."

"Love is such a puzzle

I wish there was some way to know for sure.

That way I wouldn't have to juggle

my feelings and my doubts in the same hand..." Misaki's broke the air clearly and beautifully as she sang. Then it was Tamayo's turn.

"But even with all that,

for some reason its still something I'm...looking for...

And believe me when I say, its fact,

not a fiction that only I would understand..." Tamayo hit her notes with the same clarity.

"And when the you feel out of line,

and the world falls upside down,

the one you love will be there to bring you back up in time

even when there is nothing left to you

he'll be your crown

he'll be your light in the dark

the one to always make you smile

and when you have no where left to go

you know he'd walk a mile

just to make sure you have what you need

because he loves you so..."

This song ended with Misaki and Tamayo smiling in a pose as they tried to make their way off stage. As they did so, Misaki tripped on a cord and very nearly fell to the ground. Her foot hit the ground so hard that she almost twisted her ankle. Tamayo caught her just in time, and they quickly made their way off stage. Misaki caught just a glimpse of someone with black jacket and sunglasses on who was leaning against the wall of the auditorium and had stepped forward whenever she had tripped, as if he had wanted to catch her. She thought that this was very strange, but pushed it out of her mind.

"How embarrassing," Misaki said to Tomayo as they reached the dressing room and were making fast work of changing out of their intricate dresses, into the black skirts that they had to wear for their last appearance, "Especially with Oujirou watching. I wonder how he managed to get into the auditorium without people recognizing him. He would have caused a riot if they would have."

Tamayo giggled as she slipped on her knee-length black skirt and white top.


It was a good half an hour before they were waiting near the stage entrance again. This time, the two main characters were kissing. This was Misaki's cue to enter in the darkness around where the spotlights were. This time, however, Tamayo would enter the stage after Misaki was supposed to leave it. This gave Misaki a solo.

The piano started from somewhere backstage.

"So this is love...

the wonderful sensation

that gnaws at my heart at every waking moment.

I can't understand how I didn't see it before

I didn't understand you

I was a student

and in upper class society

trying to get an education

and you were just someone I happened to meet

at a coffee shop.

But now I see

even when it was not about you and me

that it was always meant to be.

And I promise...

All these things will remain

just as long as you love me..."

Being completely in the darkness of the stage the entire time, she made her stage exit. Tamayo gave her a thumbs up and made her way on stage for her last scene.

When it was over, Tamayo and Misaki made their way down the stairs. Misaki managed to miss the last step going down and nearly fell for the second time that night. After a minute of two, Tamayo said good bye to her and Misaki found Shouko completely absorbed in conversation with someone Misaki didn't know. So, it only seemed right to her that this would be the best time to look for Oujirou. Misaki made her way around the auditorium, looking for him. It was several minutes before some of the crowd left. After a while, she finally gave up and was about to make her way back to Shouko when she heard someone walk up behind her.

"Looking for me?" A familiar voice asked brightly.

Misaki turned around, feeling her heart become as light as a feather. But when she turned, it wasn't Oujirou's sweet smile and heart throbbing blue eyes that were looking back at her. It was the young man with the black jacket and sunglasses. Her heart skipped a beat...she had no idea who it was that was cornering her. Abruptly, the young man took off his sunglasses to revealed the calm blue sea in the eyes that could only be Oujirou. He was looking at her with a half smiling and half concerned expression.

"It's me. I'm sorry if I scarred you, Misaki."

A wave of relief washed over Misaki as she looked into his blue eyes.

"I saw what happened on stage. Are you alright?" Oujirou took two steps towards her so that he wasn't more than arms length away from her.

Misaki nodded, suddenly, tears came behind her eyes. Oujirou saw her lips trembling and her struggling not to let them run down her face. His expression softened even more as he took another step forward, closing the remaining distance between them. He gently put his arms around her as he pulled her to him.

"It's okay..." His voice was a comforting whisper.

Misaki started sobbing into Oujirou's coat, unable to control herself.

"See," He said softly, while rubbing one of his hands up and down her back in a comforting way, "That's what I love about you, Misaki. Your heart is so pure, but also so very breakable."

This earned him a response of her wrapping her own arms around him. If there was anyone that she had never wanted to cry in front of, it would have been Oujirou. But now...she found that he was the only one that she wanted around her when she was crying. She felt safe around him. Nothing...not her family, not the entire world could make her feel like he did. He was the only thing that really truly made her feel safe in the world at that moment, and that was good enough for her. He slowly bent down and kissed her on the forehead before he strengthened his grip around her. He didn't wish to let go, but when her grip loosened, he knew that she was done crying. He loosened his grip on Misaki as well, slowly letting go.

"Why don't you tell Shouko that I'll drive you home, Misaki. If you want me to, that is?"

Misaki smiled and nodded, "Yes, umm...can you wait here?"

Oujirou nodded with a smile as Misaki left to let her aunt know about the change of plans. Ss soon as she was gone, his hands immediately dove into his coat pocket to take out the cell phone which was now vibrating violently in his hands.

"Hello?" His voice called calmly into the device.

"Oujirou?"

"Ichirou? Is that you?"

"Who else would it be?"

"Oh, I don't know...maybe someone from the Angelic Layer staff."

"Why would someone from the office be calling you?"

"Oh, I don't know, brother. Maybe because I work there," Oujirou's voice took a rather sarcastic tone at that moment.

"Yes, well...anyway, back to the point. Where are you right now?"

"I'm at Misaki's school, therefore...with Misaki. Why?" Oujirou's voice was calm and collected as he said this, but a slight blush came over his face.

"Oujirou, you spend too much time with her. Honestly, she'll be influenced the wrong way."

"Oh? How's that?"

"Never mind. Look...whenever you get done with everything having to do with Misaki tonight, meet me at the lab. I have some news on the girl who nearly killed your dear girl. And I have a way to make sure it never happens again."

Oujirou's heart stopped momentarily at these words. Any mention of Misaki being injured always upset him, but that particular incident had put him into an utter rage and dismay like no other. In a low choked voice he said, "I'll be there," then his hands shakily reached for the button to hang up the phone. Hastily stuffing the device in his coat pocket he began to look for Misaki. He only had to wait a minute before she came into sight with a wide grin on her face.

"Ready to go?" He pressed a bright tone into his voice.

"Yeah," Her voice was crisp and happy. This made a smile appear on Oujirou's face, regardless of what he was feeling prior to that. He walked over to her, put an arm around her shoulders, and began walking towards his car, with her leaned against him as they walked.

When Oujirou had started the car and pulled out of the school parking lot, he became uncomfortably aware that Misaki had not said a word in several minutes. His arm extended behind her, pulling her into a half hug while his eyes and other hand were focused on driving. Misaki looked at his figure, in the dark car, illuminated only by the city street lamps. A blush came over her face as his arm squeezed her gently, in a loving way. He glanced over at her for a moment when he had to stop for a red light.

"What's wrong?" Oujirou's voice was clear and steady in the silence.

"Nothing...I just..." Her voice trailed off, then she started again, "Everyone knew who I was tonight. Even most of the parents knew that I was a champion in Angelic Layer...and I couldn't even exit the stage without tripping."

"Oh, Honey..." Oujirou said relieved that she was innocent and young enough that this could be the only thing bothering her. Misaki became vaguely aware of his unconscious decision to use another word to refer to her, other than "Misaki." "That's part of life. Making mistakes is just human. More than anything, we were all concerned that you might have hurt yourself," Oujirou glanced back at her for a moment before turning his eyes back to the road.

"You mean, you were concerned for me, but that's different. We like each other."

Oujirou shrugged, "I doubt I was the only one concerned. I heard people muttering stuff about how they hoped Misaki Suzuhara was all right."

"Then they must have been fans or something...wow...to think I might have fans...how scary."

This made Oujirou chuckle, "It really took you that long to figure out that your famous?"

"Well, no...and yes. I'm just...not used to it I guess," Misaki looked down at her hands.

"It's alright," Saying this, Oujirou withdrew his arm from around her shoulders and placed it back on the steering wheel, "It took a while for it to sink in when it happened to me, too." The car slowed and then came to a stop in front of Misaki's house.

"Well, here we are," Oujirou put his car in park and got out of the car to open the car door for Misaki. When Misaki and Oujirou reached her door again, he gave her a gentle hug, said goodnight, and watched her walk in the house before walking back to his car. His thoughts drifted back to her as he drove home.


Okay, wow...took me a while, but I finally made some progress on the story. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Be sure to tell me what you thought of it. Thanks!