From the moment she heard about the duel between Shizuma and Kaname and the reason behind it, Nagisa felt guilty for putting the other girls out. She didn't like the feeling at all. She suffered also from confusion. She couldn't figure out why Shizuma had taken a sudden interest in her again. A part of her enjoyed the fact the Shizuma wanted her, but another part of her didn't want anything to do with her. She still loved her, but she didn't want to get hurt by her again. It would be too much.
On the other hand, she had found a friend in an unusual source. The thought of Kaname had sent a smile to her face. She had felt so much comfort from the older girl, the very idea confused and surprised her. In the amount of time she had gotten to know Kaname, she had felt like she could open up to the girl. When it came to opening up in general, she hardly felt as if she could fully open up to Tamao. It was fear of the blunette's judgment which kept her from it. With Kaname, it was a given fact the older girl was judgmental, but at the same time it was rather good thing in Nagisa's book. If she could say why it was, it could be because the red head felt like she wouldn't lose Kaname of her opinion of her if she told her the truth.
But back to the competition…
When the first competition took place, Nagisa watched on as both girls work their hardest on making their dessert choice. She watched as Shizuma worked as calmly and smoothly as possible, while Kaname had looked very concentrated and nervous as she worked. From just watching the Spica girl try her best, Nagisa couldn't help but hope a little that the older girl would win the competition just because how the blunette looked as if she wanted it badly. The end result however disappointed her. The moment she received the brownies from Shizuma, she didn't really want them, she felt guilty for taking them; it just felt wrong. Between the brownies and chocolate chip cookies, she rather had the cookies. Brownies were too rich for her.
To her delight, she was able to sample the chocolate chip cookies, when Tamao miraculously handed a bag filled with the cookies Kaname had baked. She was surprised at the appearance of the cookies, but was hurt when it wasn't Kaname who had given her the cookies. She had asked Tamao how she came upon them. Her roommate told her it was Momomi. At first she didn't want to eat any of the cookies in fear Momomi had done something to them, but she braved it after looking at them closely. Seeing nothing wrong, she had happily ate a cookie or two or three. The cookies were good if someone like hard chocolate chip cookie. Nagisa like those type of cookies with a little chewy kind, but all in all she loved them since they were made by Kaname.
The very thought of the next competition didn't sit well for her. Even though she didn't want to see either girl loose, she didn't know who she wanted to win more. Kaname has been such a great friend to her and had cared for her greatly. Just being near her helped heal her heart. As for Shizuma, she still loved her, but she wasn't sure about what that love entailed.
SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP
Inside of the greenhouse was pleasantly warm. More students were present of this time as they waited in wanting to watch the second portion of the duel. The news of the competition reached the ears of many students. Many viewed it as a pre-show for the Etoile competition; you know just something to get the student's blood up and pumping for when the new Etoile would be voted on. Many others viewed it as such a romantic gesture. Although plenty were completely taken by shock and surprise that the duel was about Nagisa. There was plenty of confusion among the students on how Nagisa had fit into the equation, but there were also a few "that's-why" responses as there were people who were wondering what happened between the famous duelists.
Silence entered among the chattering slew of females as both duelists entered and took their places at the two prepared tables. Upon each table were gardening aprons, flower cutters, a pair of gloves and a vase. Once they took their respective places, the judges entered taking a seat on three chairs that were waiting for them. Seriously, at the drop of the glove, the competition began.
The second the glove hit the floor, Shizuma and Kaname went out in search of the perfect flowers. Each competitor had about an hour to design a beautiful bouquet of flowers. As it was all the flowers in the greenhouse were up for grabs, but there was a limit on how many flowers they were able to use.
The Spica girl looked around the flowers with Nagisa on the mind. She wanted to pick out the perfect combination. As she stood before some roses, Kaname looked over towards where the red head stood. She had caught the girl's eyes and an encouraging smile. Breathing in, she allowed for herself to listen to her heart in choosing her flowers.
Although it might seem a little strange, but while she looked through all of the flowers and arranged them in the vase, Kaname felt a guilty pleasure enter her. Yes, indeed, she loved flower arranging. Her little passion was something she kept hidden in case people judged her for going against what she looked like and how she behaved. Her secret love of flowers was another push into why she wanted to be the Etoile. The chance to tend to flowers most days would have been a great delight. No one really knew about her secret love, not even Momomi, well the brunette kind of sensed it since Kaname once called herself a flower. Even though she didn't want people to know about her secret passion, she decided to heck with it. She needed to win.
Her bouquet of flowers incuded: heather, casablanca lily, star gazer lily, yellow roses, white orchid, and dahlia "bishop of llandaff." When picking out the flower selection, she had pictured the red head. Her goal was to make a bouquet which represented who Nagisa was. The white color from some of the flowers was to portray Nagisa's innocent and purity. Some of the more vibrate colors depicted the girl's passion. As for the roses, there being ten, meant friendship, jealousy and "you're perfect."
On the other hand, Shizuma had chosen to use the gloriosa lily, sweet peas, watsonias, red roses, pink orchids, red tulips. In creating her bouquet she wanted to express her feelings for Nagisa. She used such deep shades of reds to show her great passion for the red head. Although she had a different message to relay to Nagisa, she still shared one message with her opponent and it lied with the lily, "I dare you to love me." (A/N: Imagine You and Me reference). Unfortunately for them, the messages they were trying to convey in the flowers were lost on Nagisa who knew nothing of the language of flowers only that they were pretty. She would later learn though.
Once the hour was up, they kept their creations on the table. All three judges stood up and walked over to table. Each eyed the bouquets with a critical eye as they viewed them from all angles. After a few moments, they went back to their seats.
Since they judged Kaname first last time, it was only fair to begin with Shizuma this time. The person leading the way was Shion. Smiling somewhat wickedly, she began, "Shizuma, I found your bouquet arrangement filled with too many clashing colors. From me you'll get a six." She would have gone lower, but she liked flowers too much.
Seeing it was her turn, Miyuki spoke up, "Shizuma, your flower arrangement is beautiful and in good taste, I'll give you a ten."
The silver wolf smiled as she looked over at the girl she was doing this all for. After catching her eye quickly and giving her a smile, she looked over at the last judge.
Chikaru smiled as she looked deeply into the Etoile's eyes, showing the girl the ever infamous twinkle of mischief in the Lilum girl's eye. "Eight."
Thus her score came to twenty-four.
The spot light was then shifted from the silver wolf to Kaname. Clearing her throat, Miyuki spoke, "As for you, Kaname, your bouquet was lacking in color. You'll get a five from me."
The Spica girl couldn't help but think that things weren't going her way. However, she had some hope when it came to her president's turn.
"Your flower piece held such beauty and elegance. It deserves a ten."
A little smile formed in Kaname's heart as she felt grateful for knowing her president had her back. Of course, she knew that Shion voted so highly because she wanted to have one up on Miator. Somehow the blunette couldn't help but think that her president was putting her own personal grudges and feelings before those close to her. A part of her was saddened by this fact then again she couldn't have been prouder.
The Spica girl turned her attention to the crazy, but mysterious president of Lilum. Although she would never admit to it, she had always felt uneasy in the presence of Chikaru. She had always found the raven haired girl knew too much from what she let on to. She also didn't trust the girl's sweet outer appearance. It's just unnerving. However, Kaname knew that Chikaru used her skills for good. Mentally she crossed her fingers in hopes for a good response from the Lilum student body president.
With the ever present twinkle in her eye, Chikaru smiling said, "Ten."
Twenty five, the Spica girl mentally breathed. The idea of a victory caused a smirking smile to form on her face. Sportsmanly, she walked over to Shizuma and offered her a handshake. "So far we're tied, Etoile-sama."
Taking her opponent's hand, Shizuma smiled, "So we are." She looked over at the flower arrangement her rival created for a second and moved her eyes back to the Spica girl, "It's interesting, I wouldn't have picked you for creating pretty flower bunches."
The other girl shook her head, "Everyone has their secrets and besides, I am a private woman."
Shizuma didn't comment as she agreed with Kaname. "Are you intrigued about our final competition?"
Kaname nodded her head, "What will our last game be?"
"Unlike our other matches, this one will be more of a private matter. We'll use one of the empty dorm rooms (A/N: not the one that Kaori stayed in). There will only be you, Nagisa, and me."
"I would prefer if there were at least three more people there. For security purposes mind you."
"Are you sure? After all we will be playing," she leaned her head in to whisper in Kaname's ear, "strip poker. First one to make Nagisa's nose bleed wins."
The blunette smiled at the idea. She wasn't ashamed to show off her goods, so inviting more people didn't bother her, yet she couldn't help but hope that maybe Shizuma had a problem with it. Whispering as well, Kaname said, "The more, the merrier unless you have a problem with it."
"I don't."
"Good, but there is one question I need to ask. What happens if Aoi's nose doesn't bleed?"
"The first one without any clothes on loses of course."
"Perfect, when is it?"
"Next Saturday after dinner," explained the silver wolf. "If I were you, I would wear as much clothing as I could wear."
"That would be cheating. We'll wear the equal amount of clothing, ten pieces each."
"Agreed."
SPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSP
After the small victory over Shizuma, Momomi had approached her ex-lover to congratulate her on her win. She also wanted to know what the final part of the duel would be. She had smiled at the idea of her blue haired friend and the current Etoile dueling it out in a war of strip poker. She was even more thrilled when she was asked to join the fun as a witness. Although she was thrilled at the chance to see Kaname's naked flesh again, she was also worried about her.
Since her break up, Momomi realized how important her ex-roommate was in her life. Even if they couldn't be lovers any more, she would force herself to be fine with it. The fact was she was rather glad for the break they took. It gave her time to think about the most important things in life. For the most part, she realized her mind was only seeing the small world around both her and Kaname. It really shocked her when she viewed so much more of the world. One of the things she viewed was how she had other friends outside of her ex-lover. One of these friends happened to be her president, Shion.
Due to her president's influence, she found out that she really hurt Kaname by hurting Nagisa. No, she didn't see the hurt on the blunette's face, but she knew it. Her knowledge came from observing her friend with the red head. She could see the happiness and the contentment from her ex-roommate. Somehow she realized how she had to make it up to Kaname. So, that's how she found herself trying to hook Nagisa up with Kaname. It was mostly in subtle ways like the cookies.
At the moment, she held in her hand a half of dozen roses of various colors. Kaname didn't do the arrangement, only Momomi. The bringing of the roses was only an excuse to approach Tamao to ask her if she could visit with Nagisa for a moment. Tamao didn't want to agree, but shae was told that if she wanted, she could stay as Momomi handed the flowers over. The poet agreed, despite how suspicious she was of the older girl.
Together they walked to the dorm room the young blunette shared with the red head. When they walked in, Nagisa wasn't in sight. Before Momomi could get frustrated, the red head had come out of the bathroom. She stood stock stiff when her eyes viewed Momomi standing there. The ultimate two choice decision of fight or flight overcame Nagisa, but her fear caused her to remain standing.
Seeing the girl uncomfortable, Momomi sat down on the bed so as to not frighten the younger girl any more, "Relax, Aoi-san, I have no wish to hurt you."
Seeing the tension between both girls Tamao walked over to Nagisa and placed a comforting arm about the girl's shoulder to lend her some strength. "It's alright, Nagisa-chan, I'm here for you."
The red head nodded her head and looked at Momomi waiting for the older girl to speak.
Momomi sighed and held the roses up to Nagisa, "Call these a peace offering from me and a possible gift from Kaname."
With great hestation, Nagisa reached out for the roses. She placed the bouquet up to her noses as soon as she had them in her possession and smelt the enticing fragrance. "Thank-you," she stuttered.
Momomi only nodded, "In any case, I have a question for you."
"Go on."
"What are your feelings for Kaname?"
Having the question hit her, Nagisa sat on her bed to think. "I care for her," she slowly said. "I'm thankful for all that she's done for me."
"But do you love her?"
"Why do you want to know?"
A smirking smile formed on Momomi's face, "Actually, I don't. You could tell me how you feel about her, but I don't really want to know." She stood up and walked towards the door, "I just wanted to ask, if you loved her. Depending on your answer, I hope you be kind to her." Leaving behind her food for thought, Momomi went on to rejoin either Kaname or Shion.
A/N: The story is finished, but I haven't edited yet. Just be patient.