Once upon a time, there was a girl who was constantly ridiculed by others. She was very sad because of this, but one day, she decided she's had enough.
"Aw, I was kinda hoping you'd play the violin at practice today!" Ahiru says cheerfully as she bounds over to the piano area as other students make their way back to the dressing rooms to get ready for their next class.
"I am here as a pianist. I was not requested to play the violin." Autor says curtly, pushing his glasses up, and fixing his music sheets.
Used to his attitude by now, she continues unperturbed, "But you were so good at playing the violin!"
Autor turns to look at her.
"Oh! Umm... Not that your piano playing wasn't any good! It was really great! You really are very talented!" Ahiru tries to correct herself as she waves her hands in front of her. Autor just stares at her, his expression unseen by the glare on his lenses.
"SIGH." A heavy sigh was heard from the side.
The two turn to see Femio sitting in the corner of the room, his back turned to them.
"What's wrong, Femio?" Ahiru inquires.
"Ignore him. He's just still upset he missed his chance to see his 'golden-haired Princess' again." Autor pushes his glasses up and rolls his eyes.
Femio quickly turns around and points an accusing finger at the other boy. "Don't patronize me! You don't know how it feels to be away from your love for so long!" And he turns his back again and continues to mope. Ahiru sweatdrops and gives a weak chuckle.
"C'mon, Ahiru. Leave him be." And Autor heads to the door.
"W-Wait! Don't leave me-"
Ignoring Femio, Autor opens the door to be surprisingly met with a short girl standing there in the way.
"Who are-"
"Ah! Young Mademoiselle Yuma! How are you?" Femio, suddenly composed, bounds over and offers the new arrival a rose.
"Oh. I'm..."
"Hello there, Yuma! My name's Ahiru. Nice to meet you!" Ahiru speaks, popping out from behind Autor and moving to greet the girl.
Said girl was slightly shorter than she. She had mustard blonde hair tied in two buns that make her look like she had cat ears. These were in turn, matched with a straight fringe of bangs, and sideburns at each side of her face that curled and fluffed at the ends. She had peachy pink eyes, and a cat-like lip. The general appearance of the girl clearly exudes one of youth and cuteness.
"Nice to meet you too, Ahiru!" The small girl said. Yuma then looks around the room, and a sad expression is suddenly cast on her face. "Is Ms. Cat no longer here?"
"You just missed her." Autor informs the girl.
"Yes, class ended just a short while ago." Ahiru adds.
"Oh..." Yuma looks down sadly.
Suddenly looking down as well, Ahiru notices that one of the girl's ankles was all bandaged up.
"What happened to your ankle?" Ahiru blurts, and the girl looks up at her. "Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pry!" Ahiru flails.
"You don't know, Mademoiselle? She had an accident during the summer performance. She fell off the stage and twisted her ankle." Femio says concernedly.
Autor and Ahiru look at each other. The event sounded exactly like what Pike had told them before.
Ahiru starts, "You... went to the summer ballet classes with Pike and Lilie?"
"Ah! So, you know them, huh?" Yuma looks sideways a little, looking somewhat annoyed.
"What's the matter?" Ahiru asks, concerned by her reaction.
"Oh! Nothing!"
"Have you heard of what has happened recently?" Autor asks Yuma.
"Heard of what?" Yuma looks up.
"Pike is currently in the hospital, and Lilie... is missing." He replies sternly, looking serious.
"Lilie is missing?" She looks surprised. "I mean... I visited Pike in the hospital. I was also there a number of times cause of my ankle, you see. But- What happened to Lilie?"
"You've been away from school this whole while, Mademoiselle. That is why you don't know. Lilie hasn't been coming to school or to the dorms for quite a while now." Femio speaks.
"Hm. I see." Yuma covers her mouth with her fist, seemingly in thought. "Well! Sorry, but, I must go look for Ms. Cat now! It was nice meeting you all! Goodbye!" She speaks quickly and cheerfully, and exits the room.
The three exchange glances.
"She seemed... nice." Ahiru says, looking in the direction of the spot the girl once stood in.
"She seemed off. Like there wasn't quite something right with her." Autor states sounding rather harsh at no one in particular.
"You should know better than to judge a mademoiselle so! She's probably just having a hard time right now! All these crazy events- Her ankle in pain- Her heart torn asunder!" And Femio strikes some overly dramatic poses as he speaks.
'Hehe... All that's missing now is the sprinkle of petals and the bull charging in...' Ahiru muses to herself. She couldn't help but wonder, though... Now that she remembers it. "Hey, where's your butler, anyway? Isn't he always with you?"
"Oh! I let him go on a vacation! I am seeking to better myself in my pursuit of love! I told him to not come back until I have become a man worthy of the love of my sweet golden-haired beauty!" Femio beams and strikes another pose, holding up another rose in the air.
Ahiru spies Autor shaking his head and pinching the knot between his eyebrows in an attempt to stay calm. She nudges him a little with her elbow, catching his attention, and she flashes him a bright smile, promptly making him face sideways as he coughs and straightens himself, a faint blush on his features.
After their latest run-in with the blonde girl in black... Autor, though he still would be considered his usual self; Does seem to be a little more open now with Ahiru. He's still often at odds with Femio, mostly 'cause he finds the latter to be utterly annoying, but even that has settled down to mere quick banter between the two. At least, for the past few days it was.
However, Ahiru was now sure, that she's truly found a friend. Not just in Autor, but even in Femio. The three spent breaks together and would also walk home together. Autor would leave them early during lunch, never hanging around long; and doesn't always walk home with them due to library duties. But nonetheless, if he's not by himself, he was with them, and was surely their friend.
Now, walking home with her two newest friends, she couldn't help but smile and laugh to herself.
"What are you laughing at? Did I say something funny?" Autor speaks annoyedly.
"Oh, dear Autor, I'm sure one would chuckle at you even if you didn't say something funny. After all, with that mop of hair of yours, the typical bookworm look, and the fact you hardly ever smile save for an occasional smirk... Someone's gotta laugh at you sometime!" Femio says playfully, purposely making Autor's eyebrow twitch.
And as the two begin to bicker (more on the side of Autor since Femio is just messing with him), Ahiru can't help but smile widely, and for a while, all her troubles seem to disappear.
Ahiru, now at the dorms, walks up the stairs and into the hallway leading to where her room is located. Noticing a girl in the corridor, she recognizes her as Yuma, the small girl she had met after ballet class earlier that day.
The girl seems to be having trouble getting her luggage into her room, her suitcase looking almost bigger than the petite girl.
"Hey, Yuma! Need some help?" Ahiru approaches with a friendly smile.
"Ah! Ahiru!" The girl looks up surprised as Ahiru takes the handle of the bag from the girl and helps bring it into the room. "T-Thank you..."
"Haha, no problem at all-" However, with just that slight distraction, Ahiru's clumsiness is brought out again and she accidentally drops the bag and trips over it, successfully making the case burst open and it's contents fly out.
"Ahh!"
"Oh no! I'm so so sorry!"
The two quickly move around the room to pick up Yuma's scattered clothes and other luggage.
"I'm really so sorry, Yuma... I just wanted to help and made a mess of things instead." Ahiru says while picking up the things, looking a little frazzled and embarrassed.
"No, it's ok..." Yuma says simply gathering her things.
Almost done gathering the things, Ahiru reaches for the last object still left on the floor. "Wait, here's one more-" She picks it up and sees it is a small brown teddy bear. "This is..."
"I-It's nothing!" The small girl grabs it and stuffs it into her suitcase with the rest of her things, surprising Ahiru.
"Was that bear yours? It's very cute!" Ahiru says with a reassuring smile.
"I-It's not! It's just a childish gift someone gave me!" Yuma excuses rather lamely, blushing a little. "A-Anyway! It's getting late. Thank you for your help Ahiru! I appreciate it a lot!"
And she proceeds to push Ahiru out of the room, bidding her goodnight and closing her door.
"O... kay."
The next morning, in Ballet class, many of the girls are chatting amongst each other while waiting for said class to begin.
Amongst the noise of small conversations, they heard the door open. Expecting to see their instructor, Ms. Cat, they were surprised to see Yuma who they had not seen since the Summer performance.
"Hey, isn't that Yuma? The one who fell off the stage during the Summer performance?" One girl whispers to another.
"Yeah, I heard she twisted her ankle and hasn't been back to the school grounds since then." The other whispers back.
"Really? Is that why? That was quite some time ago. Was it that bad?"
"Nah. I heard it healed even before summer ended, but she was too much of a baby to go back to school immediately."
And the girls chuckle quietly to themselves, not knowing that the small blonde girl heard their conversation.
"I'm/We're sorry for being late!" Two voices shout as the door bursts open.
"Huh? Wha...?" Ahiru, thinking she heard an echo, jumps in surprise to see Femio right beside her.
"Ah! I thought you would be late again this morning, Mademoiselle Ahiru, so I thought to delay my entrance to make sure you wouldn't have to burst into the room alone." Femio smiles and hands her a rose.
"Err... thanks."
"Oh, but it seems that Ms. Cat is not here yet! I guess we're not late yet after all." He perks, looking around the room.
"However, if you don't get out of the way of the door, I may as well consider you late!"
And the two turn around fearfully to see Ms. Cat and her dark aura standing behind them, Autor by her side.
"S-sorry, Ma'm!"
Class had gone by pretty normal, and everything went well. Through the whole period however, Ahiru hadn't had the chance to talk to Yuma, who seemed to be looking rather upset the whole while. She figured, she would go talk to the small girl after class.
Later in the dressing room where the girls were getting changed to get ready for their regular classes...
"Hey, Yuma! How are you today?" Ahiru greets, suddenly appearing beside the shorter girl.
"Oh! Uh.. hello, Ahiru. I'm... fine." She replies quietly as she resumes to pack her things into her school bag.
"You looked like you were having a bit of trouble today, but that's okay! It's just your first day back. I heard you were quite talented, I'm sure you'll get the hang of things again in no time!" Ahiru offers encouragingly.
Glancing towards the girls who she overheard a while ago, who were heavily engrossed in their own conversation, she turns back and smiles up at Ahiru and says a quick... "Yeah, thanks."
"Hey, some of my friends and I are going off for lunch now, do you want to join us?"
"N-no thank you." And she stands up to try and leave, picking up her bag.
"But-" And before Ahiru could convince her otherwise, she notices one of the handles of Yuma's bag is caught on the side of the bench. "W-wait! Yuma you're ba-"
"Really, it's okay, Ahiru, I appreciate your offer but..."
"No! It's-"
But before Ahiru could finish what she was trying to say, she accidentally trips and stumbles, surprising Yuma who moves away to dodge the falling ginger-haired girl. However, the bag, stuck by the bench, makes her do a take and she falls over as her bag gets flung across the room, and spills its contents.
"Oh no... Not again...!" Ahiru, looking thoroughly embarrassed, stares at the mess she helped make.
"And what's this supposed to be?" One of the girls who Yuma heard talking earlier says as she picks a certain item off the floor. "A teddy bear?"
"Wow, Yuma! Aren't you a little too old to have stuffed animals? Much less bring them to school with you?" The girl's friend chimes in, looking amused.
"That's-!" And the short girl tries to make a grab for her possession. Being taller, the girl holds it out of reach.
"You really are every bit the baby others used to say about you." The girl says looking at Yuma sideways.
"Haha, yeah, even Lilie who was your friend used to say you were nothing but a little crybaby!" The other adds.
Ahiru decides to intervene. "Hey! Leave her alo-"
But before anything more could be said, Yuma grabs the toy from the girl. She looks up at the two girls, glaring at them through tear-filled peach-pink colored eyes, and promptly runs out of the room. Ahiru could do nothing but watch her retreating form disappear through the doorway.
"Yuma..."
Yuma, having ran straight from the school back to the dorms, now lied down on her bed, curled up beneath her blanket, her small stuffed bear just sitting a little ways away from her at the edge of the bed.
Peeking beneath the sheets, she spies the small brown bear. It does nothing but stare back at her with it's black beady eyes.
Throwing the sheets off herself, she grabs the toy and walks over to her window and opens it.
"I'm always treated like a child. My parents coddle me... They've been even more over-protective ever since the stage accident. And all the others at school think I'm nothing but a baby... Not knowing how much I went through just to convince my parents to allow me to go back to school and continue dancing. Always clumsy like a child. A crybaby." She looks at the bear in her hands. "Lilie used to laugh at me all the time for having this toy..." And all her thoughts return to the incident of when she fell off the stage, right as all eyes had been on her. They all looked down at her, as if she were a small helpless puppy who had strayed from its mother. Or like a butterfly whose wings got torn and was as helpless as it was when it was a mere caterpillar.
The bitter feeling of humiliation and pain... "Enough with being made fun of! And enough, I am done with childish things!" She shuts her eyes and draws her hand back, ready to throw the small toy out the window.
"Hahaha, you really are so funny, you know that?" A cackle can be heard from outside the window.
"W-who?"
Jumping down from the roof and gently onto the side of the roof to stand in front of her window, was a girl in a black ballerina dress and with blonde hair that was a shade much brighter than hers.
"W-where did you come from! Who are you!" Yuma asks, stumbling backwards and dropping the bear.
"I had been wondering when you'd return, Yuma." The girl looks at her with her cold dark green eyes, a smirk present on her pale features.
She takes a step forward and extends her hand towards the shorter girl, and begins to speak.
"The shame you feel shakes you all the way to your heart. It's making you suffer, isn't it? Let me help you."
"What exactly happened again?" Autor, who was walking at Ahiru's right, curtly asks, lugging Yuma's bag along.
"She kinda ended up forgetting her stuff in the dressing room!" Ahiru sweatdrops.
"Her whole bag? That was rather careless..." Remarks Femio, who was walking at her left. He puts his index finger on his chin and looks up in thought.
Ahiru wasn't lying. Yuma had forgotten her things, but she did not however, reveal to them the events that led the girl to do so.
It's not that she wanted to hide her own fault in the incident, but she figured that Yuma had been upset enough by what happened, and would certainly not want more people to know of it.
Leaving her two friends in the courtyard, she goes up to where Yuma's room can be found, the bag in tow. She knocks twice on the wooden door.
"Yuma? Are you here? I was told you came back here some time ago." She pauses, waiting for a reply or for the door to open. Hearing none, she continues. "I brought your bag. You kinda ended up forgetting it in the locker room. I'm really sorry about that, by the way..."
Still not hearing anything, she holds the knob and notices it isn't locked. She clears her throat and... "Are you okay?" ...opens the door warily.
She enters, but finds the room to be empty. Suddenly, she feels a certain feeling of dread that she can't explain. "What-" And out of the corner of her eye, she spots the small brown teddy bear, lying on the floor in front of the window.
She moves over to it quickly and picks it up. And as she knelt on the wooden floor, she notices that it's not just the bear who was out of place on the wooden planks. There were black feathers... spread all over the vicinity of the window.
"No-"
"Autor! Femio! We've got a problem!" Ahiru screams as she runs out of the building. Running straight and in a panic, the two are surprised when she fumbles and crashes into Autor, who in turn bumps into Femio, and all three end up in a pile on the floor.
"What the heck, Ahiru!" Autor says sitting up, rubbing his head, looking annoyed.
Ahiru, who was sprawled over Autor's lap also sits up. "We have to find Yuma! I think it's that girl in black again!"
"Girl in black!" And Femio, who was at the bottom of the pile, suddenly bolts upright, knocking the other two off of him. "I am coming my golden-haired Princess!"
"Wait just a minute, Femio. Do you even know where to start looking?" Autor says to the other boy, straightening himself and dusting himself off.
"Hm, you're right!" Femio crosses his arms and a knot can be seen between his brows.
"We have to find her before it's too late!" Ahiru bellows as she too stands up.
"We should split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Autor suggests.
"What? But what if one of us does find her, what would you do on your own?" She asks worriedly.
"We'll find someway to signal each other. Right now, time is of the essence!" He replies back.
"Then off we go! To save the little Mademoiselle, and to find my true love!"
And Autor and Ahiru can't help but sweatdrop before they all run off and go their separate ways.
Taking different routes, Ahiru runs and finds herself nearing the town square. Things are unusually quiet, and no one can be seen outside of their homes. Now that she thinks about it, she hasn't realized either just how dark it's now become. Is it that late already?
Thinking, her thoughts once again stumble into her doubts. When she finds them; will they be able to save Yuma in time? Will she be able to call the others? Will they get here on time? If they don't, will she be able to stop the girl in black by herself? She couldn't help but wish that Autor was here with her right now.
Suddenly, spying a flock of ravens in the town square, she sprints and enters.
Sure enough, there was the same spectacle. The girl in black, and a victim atop a spiked black pillar; the victim being none other than Yuma.
Quickly changing into Princess Tutu, she prances onto the scene.
"Well, well, well. If it isn't my dear Princess Tutu." The girl in black turns to Princess Tutu, the common smirk on her features present. "Or should I say, Ahiru?"
"Stop what you're doing! Let Yuma go!"
"Oh? I know now your secret and you make no reaction? And I was about to introduce myself too." The girl says with mock-hurt.
Princess Tutu stops and looks at the other ballerina with seriousness.
"I am Princess... Lenore." The girl in black says, doing a curtsy.
"...Lenore?"
"Well! At least that's what you can call me for now!" Princess Lenore says cheerily and starts to laugh.
Princess Tutu, remembering what she has to do, diverts her attention back to Yuma while Princess Lenore is occupied with herself. "Yuma...!"
"Oh? And where are you going? We're not done with our lovely conversation yet!" Lenore prances and throws a barrage of wind and black feathers at Tutu.
Ignoring the scrapes and scratches she was receiving, Tutu continues to dance towards Yuma. "Open your eyes, Yuma." She speaks determinedly.
"I'm... ashamed of myself."
And the two look to see Yuma awake, but with a blank expression and half-lidded eyes.
"Everyone makes fun of me... Everyone thinks of me as a baby..."
"How pitiful, she is so close to breaking. Isn't it just such a lovely sight?" Princess Lenore sneers.
"Everyone makes mistakes, you needn't be ashamed! And so what if you're a bit childish still...? It's who you are. Never feel shame in being who you are." Princess Tutu says as she begins to dance around the black pillar.
"She's too far in. You'll lose her; just as you lost Pike." Lenore remarks confidently, spinning on her toes.
"You have to remember Yuma. What is it that you want? Who is it that you are?"
"What... I want? ...Who... I am?" Yuma says blinking slightly.
"Don't let what others say get to you, otherwise, you'll end up losing sight of both those things." And as Tutu dances, she begins to rise, green vines serving as her pedestal, and it starts to grow around the pillar.
"She's- gaining power!"
Reaching Yuma atop the pillar, Tutu slowly descends to meet the small girl.
"Who are you?" Yuma says sitting up right slowly, but still with a dazed look.
"I'm Princess Tutu. Here, I brought a friend with me." She smiles and holds out a small brown teddy bear.
Yuma stares at it blankly, but a shine seems to start to creep back into her eyes. "That's my..."
"Don't you think... he'd be sad too if you stopped acting like yourself?"
"I..." And Yuma blinks awake. She takes the stuffed animal from Tutu. "I...!" And she begins to cry as she holds the small item close to her. And as she does, the pillar seems to disappear into the ground.
"NO! You foiled my plan!" Princess Lenore screams as she sends another hurl of wind and feathers at Tutu.
Princess Tutu seeing the attack, grabs Yuma, and they both jump out of harms way.
"Ah!" Yuma exclaims, and seems to fall unconscious.
"Are you alright?" Princess Tutu says before bringing her attention back to Princess Lenore.
"You...! I am growing tired of your constant meddling, Princess Tutu!" And she raises her arms again for another attack-
"Hold it right there!"
And just at the right time, they see Autor and Femio enter the scene, the latter wearing the red princely outfit he once donned.
"I still don't understand how you do that." Autor murmurs, referring to Femio's transformation into a prince.
"Oh, you think too much!" Femio smiles and dismisses the other boy's skepticism. "Now, my fair and beautiful Mademoiselle! I have come here as your handsome Prince! I will save you, my love!"
And almost as if all signs of the old Femio seems to go away, he dances with perfect movement towards the girl he loves.
Princess Lenore just looks at him in disgust. "I was hoping to never encounter you again."
Taking the stance that meant 'love', Femio faces the blonde girl. "Please, Mademoiselle. You hurt me. I wish only to express my love for you!"
"Hmph. Maybe some other time." And suddenly a whirlwind of black feathers comes out of nowhere and engulfs Lenore, and disappears with her.
Femio looks on, disappointed he wasn't able to reach her with his feelings.
"Yuma!"
Femio turns back and sees Ahiru and Autor tending to the said girl.
They observe the girl. She was asleep, but she was fine. She had a few unshed tears in her closed eyes and was clutching onto her small toy dearly.
"She's alright, but we should get her back to the dorms." Autor says as he scoops up the small girl into his arms.
"Yeah." Ahiru watches on, concern etched on her face. Also, her thoughts drift back to the girl in black... Princess Lenore. She now knew her name... But who was she really? Knowing her secret was one thing, but she actually sounded as if... She were familiar with the girl, Ahiru. Why is that so?
"Oh, Ahiru, by the way..." Autor's voice pierces her thoughts.
"...Good job. I guess... you truly are Princess Tutu." Autor says, with his back turned to her, then continues walking.
Realizing what he meant, Ahiru couldn't help but smile. "Thank you."
She doesn't see that Autor too was smiling.
Femio on the other hand, a little forgotten behind the group, looks back to the spot Lenore had been last and continues to stare in that direction sadly.
Chapter 5 : Childishness