ACT 21

Oo Oo Oo Oo

Ohgami assisted Maria, looking for something to sit on. They finally made it. What Ohgami was doing was something Maria could not understand. It may have seemed like stupidity to some, but, regardless, that was what made Ohgami an exceptional fellow. That may have been something Maria failed to apply when she had been captain.

"I couldn't thank you enough, Taichou," Maria whispered under her breath.

"Hmm?" Ohgami uttered not hearing what she said.

"N-nothing."

"Uh-hrm. . . ," Kanna cleared her throat, distracting the two. She was wearing the Lion suit from neck to foot, holding the mask. She would have been rather entertaining to look at, but for Kanna, the suit was too hot and itchy. "What do you think you are doing here?"

Although the redhead was demanding an explanation, Maria and Ohgami could see how worried she was.

Ohgami smiled at Kanna. It somehow calmed the taller woman. His placid face was enough for Kanna to understand that it would be alright.

As for the blonde, why on earth was she with him here? The larger woman couldn't help but ask the Russian. "Maria. . . this is absurd. Is it okay for you to-"

"I'm alright."

Kanna smiled weakly. She wouldn't like to argue for she knew how hard-headed Maria was. There was no need to ask her why she was here, anyway. The reason, as anyone would have guessed, was HER. Who else?

"If you like to see Sakura…," Kanna said as she crossed her arms. "She's going to exit on the left side. Not here. This is the right side."

"And that was what I intended to do," Maria said.

"Heh." The redhead cocked her head. "Why do you keep on hiding? Why don't you just tell her your feelings?"

The green-eyed woman was just silent. It was obvious once more that Maria didn't like to answer personal questions.

After what happened to the blonde and the raven-haired girl, Kanna was happy that Maria was beginning to realize her feelings. But why did Ohgami help her? Kanna knew that Ohgami and Sakura were rivals for Maria's heart. That missing detail gave the redhead a lot of questions.

But, no matter. Maybe they had both come to an agreement or something. Whatever it was, Kanna would like to know... but she certainly could not obtain the answers now. She was more worried about something else.

"Never mind." Kanna turned her attention back to the play. There was a sudden change of lighting and effects. This only meant that the actresses on stage will abruptly leave their places. Kanna knew it would be her turn by then. And she knew that Sumire will certainly pass this way.

"How's it going?" Ohgami suddenly asked.

Kanna shifted to meet his gaze, not understanding his question.

"About the play."

"I'm just a bit worried," Kanna almost whispered to herself. Truly, that remark had nothing to do with the play, or even with Maria, Ohgami and Sakura. It was meant for someone else.

"You were saying something, Kanna?" Ohgami asked.

"It's nothing, Taichou."

In a while, Sumire came in with a pale face as she intentionally ignored Kanna's presence. Obviously, her scene with Sakura had just ended.

"Sumire-kun?" Ohgami said as the young lady approached. She was garbed in a Greek tunic and wearing a black, curly-haired wig. Ohgami was a bit awed at the drastic change in Sumire Kanzaki. No one would have recognized her if not for the distinctive mole beneath her left eye.

"Ah, Ensign," Sumire greeted. She turned around and saw Maria half-smiling. The top actress wasn't exactly sure what thoughts were playing inside of Maria's head, but, realizing how rarely the blonde smiled at anyone, she knew that it was likely to have been a compliment. "Maria-san. How nice of the two of you to drop by."

"So, it seems that your lives are incomplete without seeing me in my most challenging role ever. Ohohohoho!" Sumire remarked seeing how speechless they were.

'Well, that seemed normal,' Kanna thought while watching Sumire.

Maria noticed that Kanna remained silent after Sumire came. The Russian expected a word from the taller woman after Sumire belted it out like that. And the two seemed to be avoiding looking each other in the eye, or even talking to one another.

"Ah, Kanna, I think you're next," Ohgami reminded.

"Oh, yeah, it's my turn," a distracted Kanna said while covering her face with a lion mask. In cue with the music, she assumed her position on stage.

Sumire mutely watched the woman in the lion costume enter the stage. The truth was the younger lady was thinking about Kanna all this time. She just couldn't say it in words.

Why couldn't she stop thinking about her? Why?

She could easily admit that Kanna often annoyed her. They always fought and antagonized each other. They always argued over the smallest things. Everything she did, Kanna Kirishima was always there to frustrate her.

So why should she keep thinking of Kanna, of all people?

Sumire looked at her hands for a moment. How could someone like Kanna be of so great influence to her life? For some unknown reason she was feeling something special for the redhead.

"Kanna-san."

/Before the play./

"Ah, that's not the way. You still looked like a girl!" Kanna exclaimed. It had been an hour since they started doing the make-up rehearsals. Sumire was a bit irritated as to why Kanna kept on bugging her about her make-up. This was her sixth attempt and deep inside, she didn't want to be accused of being wrong. It really hurt her pride.

Why should she listen to Kanna anyway? It had always been Sumire's way. Her own way. Then again, since this was her first foray into doing male roles, this was the first time she was doing this. It was a new challenge.

The brown-haired woman wanted to say something back to Kanna. But she stopped when she stared at herself on the mirror. She hated to admit it, but Kanna was right. She still looked like a 'girl'. It would be such a shame if the audience were to end up confused, thinking that they were looking at two possible Thisbes. Surely it would not be so hard for her if she were like Maria or Kanna, but she was not.

She just frowned and wiped it off again with a towel.

"Hey," Kanna must have noticed how irritatingly Sumire acted.

"What? Are you gonna start to annoy me?"

"Theatrical make-up for guy roles aren't so different," the redhead said in a calm, friendly manner.

Sumire looked at Kanna her knitted brows slowly fading.

"It's just that .. . Y'know..." The redhead blushed and looked off to one side. "It's very hard to conceal a womanly face like yours. Unlike me, or Maria. We don't need a big make-over for it like you do. Your face is... well... too beautiful to mistake for a guy's."

It was very rare for Kanna to compliment her. And it felt good to hear it.

"Kanna-san, I wouldn't mind a little help from you."

Kanna almost raised her eyebrows in surprise over what Sumire just said. It was hard to believe that Sumire had just asked her for help. And so humbly, too. Normally, she would always try to prove herself right, even though she was wrong. But now. . . she appeared to be very different. Kanna began to ask herself if she was still the high, almighty, self-proclaimed top star.

She looked intently at her but Sumire's expression did not change. She held up the make-up kit, wanting Kanna to take it.

The redhead took it with a slight hesitation. "I'm not really good at this. I bet Maria is . . but me, I think I'm not-"

"Well, good gracious, Maria-san is not here. Why won't you do it?"

She still couldn't get over hearing Sumire say something like that. She knew that Sumire had always wanted to get one over her, and they would often fight over it. But it seemed that today was going to be an exception. Although they were bluntly spoken, the words that came from Sumire's mouth sounded different, somehow. She did not demand. In fact, she was requesting.

The redhead felt something inside her stomach. 'There's that nutty feeling again.'

They were now sitting opposite each other. Kanna moved closer to her as she took a hand towel. She couldn't believe that she would be doing a favor to her. Who could have imagined? Kanna sighed as she gently wiped out the thick red lipstick that was left on Sumire's lips. She could hear her own heart pounding.

"I think you should use a lighter shade of lipstick," Kanna said. "Like this one." Kanna pointed to one of the colors on the palette.

Sumire brought up the lip brush and handed it down to her. "Here."

'Must I do it all?' The redhead thought as she took it in silence.

Kanna began to apply the lipstick. Sumire's eyes were just too hard not to notice, especially when she sitting was this close to her. The taller woman was now having wild thoughts.

What was it about Sumire's eyes? Kanna felt a drop of sweat falling down her forehead.

It was her lips that she was after not her eyes.

'Her lips,' Kanna thought. There was that flashback again.

What? What was she thinking?

Oh, yeah, the lipstick.

"Ah, sorry!" apologized when she realized she had almost streaked the lipstick across Sumire's cheeks. The older woman was about to wipe it off when Sumire instinctively raised her hand to do the same. If someone were to come into the room right now, they would see Sumire holding Kanna's hand to her face in what appeared to be a very tender moment.

And. . .

The door opened. Their only impulse was to turn away from each other. They didn't even bother to see who it was as their hearts thumped wildly. They had never felt so uncomfortable in all their lives.

Then the door closed again. Who was that?

Ohgami?

Wait. Why were they blushing?

Why?

Why did they act that way?

Why did they always feel embarrassed when they weren't fighting?

And why, when they got this close, did things like this keep happening?

/Back to present time./

Sumire held her hands to her lips. She remembered suddenly what happened weeks before. She could still recall the day when they kissed each other accidentally while practicing. From her expression that day, it could have been nothing. But it really did affect her.

It was pretty obvious that they were thinking of the same thing at that time. They would simply cover that up with a fight. They didn't want others to notice it. . . and they didn't want them to know how they really cared for each other.

But what was there to be ashamed of?

Did Sakura feel ashamed when she confessed her love to Maria? Did Maria feel ashamed when she kissed Sakura?

No, they didn't. They both took the risks.

Sumire watched Kanna from backstage. She began to ask herself seriously, "Do I really like you as more than a friend?"

She let out a sigh. Why won't Kanna stop appearing in her thoughts?

"Is there something troubling you?" Maria's cold voice suddenly awakened her.

'Huh-?'

"Trouble?" Sumire quickly said. "The play? No. As a matter of fact, cross-dressing is no trouble at all."

"Huh?"

"You're just ahead of me on the handsome factor."

Maria became silent as she was before. But the younger woman could tell that the Russian did not buy her excuse. Sumire felt as if she had just made fun of herself.

"As always Sumire-kun, you never fail to amuse the crowd," Ohgami remarked. "I'm sure they're really surprise that you've taken the role of Pyramus."

"Thank you, Ensign." Sumire was glad to hear that. For now, she must set aside her thoughts for the Okinawan. That's right. The play was still ongoing, and it was more important to focus on that than to worry about Kanna.

'Of course, I won't be a top star for nothing,' Sumire exclaimed inside herself.