Releasing the Inner Phantom
"We need more aggression from you, Riku. You're not forceful enough. Come down and take a break", Cathy instructs Layla and Riku. "Layla needs to be wary of you. This acting isn't cutting it. Now I want you to sit over there and think about the role. I want it ten times as better in ten minutes." Riku sulks and walks over to his bag.
This is harder than I thought. I just can't get that obsessive feeling Layla told me about. Riku watches Layla talk to Cathy. They get along so easily. She, huh? I bet Layla likes Cathy.
"They are really close aren't they."
"Fool?", Riku whispers.
"They communicate so easily. If you aren't too careful, you will probably lose Layla and be nothing but the stage partner."
Riku's eyes widen. "I-I'm fine with being just the p-p-partner."
"Are you really? I never thought Sora with take something so serious so lightly. You fight for your spot on stage, but not for love."
"It's different."
"I guess you don't really love Layla then", Fool sighs.
"I DO!" Riku shouts. Mia, Cathy, and Layla turn around shocked and looked at Riku. He apologizes and waves it off as talking to himself. "I do…"
"If you did, you wouldn't let her slip away so easily. You said you wanted to protect Layla. How can you do that when you aren't even close to her?" Fool disappears, leaving Riku to his thought.
I have to protect. I can't let her be hurt again, by nobody. Layla-san needs to be mine! I will win her …
"Alright. Let's try this again." Riku gives Cathy an unconscious glare as he approaches the trapeze again. Woah…Did our little actor find his inner Phantom.
"Is it just me, or does the atmosphere feel tense?", Mia whispers to Cathy.
"Where are about to see the Phantom come to life my friend." Cathy folds her arms and looks up. Mia follows her gaze, not knowing what to expect.
He seems different, serious. I should be prepared for anything.
Layla and Riku begin the routine. Riku movements are sharper and his gaze never leaves Layla's for a moment. There is a glint in his eye. Layla responds to his new emotions with some timid and fearful movements of her own.
Layla and Riku land on the wire. Riku looks straight into her eyes and Layla actually feels a little fearful. As Riku takes a step forward, Layla unconscious step back. She misses the rope and almost falls, but Riku grabs her arm and yanks her towards him. One arm is wrapped around her back and her other hand hold her chin and lifts it up to look him in the eye. Layla's hands are splayed across his chest.
"Oh…", Cathy mutters. Let's see how Layla responds to the kiss.
"Mine…", Riku whispers as he pulls Layla's face closer. Layla's eyes widen when Riku forcefully presses his lips to her. He begins to move his lips along hers, opening and closing his mouth and Layla responds, lost in the moment, her eyes closing. Then her hands grip his chest, starting to feel the need for air. Riku seperates their lips for a second. Layla takes a breath. Riku moves his hand holding her face to the back of her neck. Riku uses this moment to engage another, even more passionate kiss. His tongue enters her mouth and Layla moans. He pulls Layla closer and reaches up to grab the rope that leads them to the rafters, still initiating the kiss. He breaks the kiss and Layla lays her head on his chest, as they shoot upward into the rafters.
"Wow…" Mia stands fanning herself. "That was hot!" Cathy has a huge smile on her face. The rope begins lowering Riku and Layla to the ground. Once on the ground, Riku still hold Layla by the waist and leads her over to Mia and Cathy. "That was excellent guys. That's exactly what we need." Cathy notices a blank stare from Riku.
"Riku?" Cathy waves her hand in front his face. Riku blinks rapidly.
"Huh?" He looks at Cathy and Mia questionably. He then looks to the side and sees Layla really close to him. Riku sees his arm possessively around Layla's waist and jumps back. "Ahhh! I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened." He begins bowing repeatedly and announcing his apologies.
"You mean you don't remember anything, Riku?", Mia asks.
Riku finally stops bowing enough to answer Mia. "I remember thinking about the role and my feeling, then my mind just went blank.
"Well let's just say you gave Layla that breathless kiss I was looking for. Had her seriously scared of you", Cathy chuckles. Riku looks at Layla and sees a blush on her cheeks. He then blushes furiously.
"Can we take another break? I need air."
"You're not the only", Cathy laughs. Everyone blushes even more. I feel sorry for these co-stars having to work with Cathy-san sometimes, Mia thinks. Riku runs out of the room.
"I'm also going for air." Layla begins walking out of the room.
"You're gonna need with a kiss like that", Cathy laughs even harder. Layla turns to glare at her and then continues leaving.
His chest felt soft, but he has so many muscles on his arms and legs. He's also skinny. Something isn't right. Layla goes off to speak to Riku yet again.
Riku is again by the column outside of Kaleido Stage. I can't believe I did that to Layla-san. My lips kinda hurt. Woah…
"Where did you learn to kiss like that? Give me lessons sometime."
"Fool! You saw that!"
"You really know how to turn someone on, and I thought you were innocent." Fool chuckles.
"This isn't funny Fool. I pretty much violated Layla-san."
"But you got into character. Now you just need to learn how to control it."
"Control it? How do I do that?"
"I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"Riku!" Riku turns around and sees Layla walking towards him. Fool has already disappeared. "Who were you talking to?"
"N-n-no one", Riku stutters.
"Hmmm…" Layla pushes Riku against the column by his chest. She feels the same softness. "Who are you, really?"
"I'm Riku Takahash…"
Layla pushes harder on his chest. "Don't lie to me!" Riku feels frightened. Oh no, she's on to me. I need to get out of this. What would the Phantom do?
Riku's gaze steels. He gives Layla a cold hard stare. "I am Riku Takahashi. That is all you need to know for now. I suggest you keep this yourself." He removes Layla's hands from his chest and lightly pushes her aside and walks into the building. She watches him leave, shock apparent on her face.
Riku finds his way back to his stuff. He shakes his head. How the heck did I get here? Last thing I remember was being interrogated by Layla-san. The Phantom did it again. I hope I didn't do anything terrible. Layla walks in to the room and glares at Riku. Riku turns his head away from her quickly. I did… The rest of the day awkward, but Riku was able to call the Phantom back and get through rehearsals. Layla wasn't shock about Riku's character anymore and was able to respond better, but it still wasn't clicking as Mia and Cathy would've liked.
At the end of the day, he collapsed onto his bed. I don't remember half of the day. Ughhh… I need to control and fast.
"Rough day?"
"Yeah…Layla caught on to me. She must have felt my chest through the bandages during the kiss."
"Oh…Is that what she wanted to talk to you about before?"
"Yeah…She was about to seriously interrogate me, but the Phantom popped up in my defense. I'm really tired now. Goodnight Fool." Sora immediately falls asleep.
Throughout rehearsal, Riku was able to call forth the Phantom. He earned praise from Yuri and many fangirls in company. It's harder for him to be alone with all the girls trying to flock him, but successfully avoids them. It's finally come to dress rehearsal. They have removed the net. All the girls are screaming at how Riku is. He is wearing black boots that cover his unitard. The unitard is just black on the bottom and the top looks like a frilly shirt and black blazer. There is a black cape with red lining around his neck and white gloves covering his hands. Right now his mask is white and cover one fourth of his face, of the side that hides his deformity. Layla has on a lacey white dress that reaches her knees and white lace gloves.
They have just reached the climax scene. My arms hurt more than usual. The costumes must be adding more weight than I'm used to. Riku stretches his arms off stage, and then the Phantom kicks in to perform. Once again they initiate the kiss, but Cathy still feels something missing. Riku grabs the rope and he and Layla shoot up to the rafters. The weight of the costumes and his tired arms make him loosen his grip. Riku knocks the Phantom from his mind as his eyes widen. He forces his hand to grip the rope and continues to slide down the rope. Everyone screams and shouts. Riku squeezes Layla tighter him and increase his grip on the rope and comes to a stop a few away from the end of the rope. Riku's breath is coming in pants and his arm is shaking.
Layla looks up at him and he looks down and smiles. "These costumes are a lot heavier than they look. Hehe…ughhh…"
"Are you okay?, Layla asks worriedly, noticing the pain on his face.
"Yup…Can someone pull us up now!" The rope begins moving upward. Once they reach the rafters, Riku let's go of Layla and hold his left hand behind his back.
Yuri runs up. "You guys okay?" Layla and Riku nod.
"Good job holding on." Riku smiles, but sweat is pouring off his face. Layla walks up to him.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah… I better go prepare for the next part. See you guys at finally." Riku runs off.
Dressing Room…
"Ahhh…Sssss…" Riku looks at his left hand. The palm of his glove is torn and covered in blood. He slowly removes the glove, hissing the whole time. Tears are coming out of his eyes. He walks to the sink and carefully washes his hand then wraps it in a bandage. I better ask the costume department for a new glove. I can see Kate-san later. He removes the cape and runs out the door.
Something seemed off, but then again everything is off with him or her… I don't know. Was he hiding his hand? Riku walks up to Layla. "Ready for the finale?" Layla looks at him and nods.
The finale begins. Yuri, Layla, and Riku swing along a specially made trapeze. When the Phantom learns he cannot get his affections truly returned, he gives up Christine to Raoul and pulls his disappearing act. Riku swings along the trapeze to make his magical exit. Near the stage exit, there is an invisible black box that he is supposed to fall into. He swings towards box and goes for his flip off the swing. In the middle of his release, his hand has a pulsing pain and releases the bar sooner than he was supposed to. He barely makes it into the hole at the top of the box. On his way down, his stomach hits the wall of the box and he lands with a loud grunt and begins gasping for hair.
Yuri and Layla hear the impact from stage and swing down to the box. Riku is rolling on the mat in the box and having a hard time breathing.
"We need to get him out of here. We can barely see here." Yuri tells Layla to help him pick up Riku and they lead him to a dressing room. As they put him down, he is red and trying to catch his breath. Kalos and Sarah bust in the door. Riku reaches his hand out to Sarah.
"B-b-bandages…", he barely whispers, still wheezing.
"Yuri, Kalos, turn around."
"Why?", Yuri asks. Kalos just grabs Yuri and leads Yuri out of the room. Layla stays. Sarah pulls Riku's arms out of the unitard. His glove also falls off. Layla gasps as she sees the bloody bandage around his hand. I knew he was injured. Sarah pulls down the costume to his waist. Layla sees the bandages wrapped multiple times around his chest. Sarah starts ripping them from his body. Once the bandages are removed, Layla and Sarah see a large purple bruise forming along Riku's ribs. Layla isn't so shocked to see two mounds upon his chest. Riku is still panting and his eyes are closing.
"Oh no you don't." Sarah starts lightly smacking Riku's cheek. Riku's eyes flutter, but are still heavy. "Wake up!"
"So tired…It hurts…"
"Don't you give up now Sora…You still have to face Layla after this…You can't leave her hanging."
"Sora…?" Layla looks really closely at Riku's face.
Sora's eyes widen and makes eye contact with Layla-san. "Layla…san…" Her eyes close.
"Sora!"