Disclaimer: Takeshi Konomi, god of TeniPuri. I am only a mere messenger of his shoujo-y thoughts that he is reluctant to publish. How I wish.
~oOo~
A/N: The length of time between updates has been increasing, yes? My apologies. I did not have enough motivation since: a) no current beta reader; b) lack of time; c) lack of cheesy thoughts (or excess that the thoughts have outpoured); d) no more reviews. :C For all the writers here, I'm sure you know this feeling. Anyway, for everyone who's waiting for this, have a nice read. C:
~oOo~
His Eyes on Hers
~oOo~
Chapter 16: Metamorphoses, First
"The matches for today's preliminaries will be between the Seishun Gakuen Tennis Club and the Akitenhouji Gakuen Tennis Club. Doubles 2 will start at 8:00 a.m. For the registration of the players, please proceed to the registration booth. Please be guided accordingly. Again, the matches for today's..."
"Everyone's here now?" Coach Yamada seemed to be in high spirits as he sprinted towards each of the regulars. "Let's do an attendance check. Captain Tezuka-kun?"
"Sensei, only Ryoma is missing now." Oishi looked around him and confirmed his statement. Tezuka nodded, while the old man scowled in a childish manner.
"That's not new," Momo grinned, "he always wants to come late so that everyone will notice him when he makes his grand entrance."
"Yeah!" Eiji faked a pout, "Even during the Nationals. Ochibi's always an attention-hoarder!"
Inui took out his notebook and his eyeglasses glinted, "There's 99.9 percent chance that he will come five minutes earlier than his usual 10 minute late-coming." Kaidou hissed at Inui's calculation.
"On the other hand, I wish Taka will have time to make it here today to watch us." Fuji smiled. The present regulars all agreed.
"In any case, don't let your guard down, everyone." Tezuka commanded and proceeded to lead the group towards the registration booth. Coach Yamada only watched the young men and smiled faintly.
"Ryuzaki-sensei must be really proud of this team." he thought and followed them, cheering with a "Go Seigaku!" along the way. The people surrounding them could not help but smile as they watched a man in his fifties cheer like a high school student.
A high school freshman and another boy, who seemed to be shy, walked in from the entrance of the courts. With them, the freshmen trio also made their entrance, holding what seemed to be cheering equipment in their arms.
"Are you sure everyone will be fine with this?" A young man with light brown hair asked as he scratched the back of his head. "It's embarrassing. I can just watch without cheering like this." The young man ended, still unsure about his kouhai's suggestion.
The feline-eyed lad at his side looked at him and nodded reassuringly.
"You'll be fine, senpai. This is your forte'."Ryoma assured him as he tilted the brim of his cap down.
A member of the trio also agreed. "That's right, senpai! No one can beat you with this. Only you can do it!"
"That's right! We'll cheer for you senpai. So, don't worry." The bald-headed member of the trio said.
"Senpai, here," the last member of the trio with a unibrow handed his senpai a flag attached to a metal tube. It was about two arms' length compared to Kawamura. Without any delay, Kawamura Takahashi transformed from a timid teenager into a very passionate male cheerleader.
"NO ONE CAN DO THIS BETTER THAN ME! WOOH! BURNIN'!" Taka shouted with a burning passion he was known for – that is, when he holds something similar to a tennis racket. "SEIGAKU WILL DOMINATE THE TENNIS BATTLEFIELD WITH THEIR AMAZING POWER OF YOUTH!"
The schoolgirls shrieked and moved a distance away from the queue consisting of Taka, Ryoma, and the freshmen trio: Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo. They easily spotted the Seigaku group who were about to approach the registration booth. With Momo and Eiji's waving, it was not hard to catch their attention. "Wow. This sure is nostalgic," Fuji commented as he looked at the present people in their team. "But instead of Ryuzaki-sensei, we have Yamada-sensei..."
"...And instead of Ryuzaki-chan and Osakada-san as our cheerleaders, they were replaced with three freshmen... and a very passionate sushi chef-to-be." Momo added as he glanced at Ryoma when he emphasized Sakuno's name.
"You're mean, Momo-chan-senpai!" the trio chorused as they held their empty PET bottles, their main weapons for cheering. Their faces were evidently heart-broken, as tears threatened to fall from their eyes.
Inui's eyeglasses glinted. "To be exact, Momo is wrong. Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro only took their respective places here to cheer, they did not replace anyone, anyhow." Momo's nemesis only shrugged, thinking what a fool Momo was. Surprisingly enough, no serious fight ensued between Kaidou and Momo.
"I want our cheerleaders back!" Eiji whined and wildly flapped his arms about. "The crowd's definitely not complete if they're not here!" Oishi held Eiji's arms and kept him from whining like a child.
"Ochibi knows something that we don't!" Eiji accused Ryoma as he struggled from Oishi's grip.
"So?" Ryoma lowered his cap when he noticed that all the regulars were looking at him.
"Still as selfish as ever, Echizen." Momo looked at his best friend. Ryoma simply waited for their captain to finally lead them to registration.
"Enough of this. Let's go and register." Tezuka commanded, "and never let your guard down even if we are missing our cheerers."
"Ossu!" Everyone, even Ryoma and Kaido, yelled in high spirits, assuring their captain that they would, indeed, not let their guards down.
"Even though it isn't that obvious, Tezuka-buchou seems to be very enthusiastic about the preliminaries." Momo whispered to his best friend while they were waiting for the start of the Doubles 2. His kouhai merely shrugged as he drank down his Ponta.
"After all, he is leaving." Momo continued, "This time, it might be... for good."
Ryoma grinned a little when he remembered how Tezuka possessively 'suggested' to Coach Yamada yesterday that he wanted to be the one to play Singles 1. The old and kind man readily agreed and even told the serious captain that if Tezuka wanted to go abroad, he should just tell Coach Yamada. Ryoma was placed on Singles 2, instead.
"Yeah. It's a rare opportunity. He should grab it without having any regrets." He had his smug face before taking another gulp. "The world of tennis is waiting for him."
Momo could only look at him with his mouth agape. The younger regular, in turn, looked at his senpai, confused.
"What?"
Momo's sly smile almost reached his ears, thereby irritating Ryoma a little.
"I have to praise Ryuzaki-chan for this," he said and tried stifling a laugh. For a split-second, there were haunting images in Ryoma's mind of Sakuno bringing Tezuka lunch. And even his Sakuno feeding their captain.
"What does Sa-Ryuzaki have to do with Tezuka-buchou?"
The spiky-haired junior laughed really loud, which caused the other regulars and cheerleaders to turn their attention to them.
Ryoma frowned. "Tch."
The regulars were back to talking with each other. Momo also continued talking to Ryoma.
"I mean, did you hear what you just said?" Momo plastered a toothy grin. "You're talking more freely. And I swear, just this very hour, I'm hearing more words from your cocky mouth than all the years we've spent in junior high."
Ryoma lowered his cap as he stood up and made his way to the trash can. "Irritating Momo-senpai," he muttered, loud enough for Momo to hear.
"Echizen!"
"Not talking."
"Tell Ryuzaki-chan I'll thank her for making you evolve like a PokeMon* by treating her lunch..."
"Not happening."
"Just me and Ryuzaki-chan, at the rooftop!"
A vein popped on the tennis prince's forehead and he stopped walking.
"Mada mada dane," He smirked as he crushed his empty can of Ponta.
"Let me tell Tachibana's sister about your further plans."
Momo's face paled as a gust of wind passed between them. Eiji showed up and ran towards Momo, ignoring Ryoma who threw his trash.
"What's this flood of revelations I'm hearing? You're going out with Tachibana's sister, yet you wanted to ask Ryuzaki-chan on a lunch date. And because of that, you're making Ochibi so jealous because he likes Ryuzaki-chan?" Eiji caught his breath as he finished his statement, obviously interested with meddling with his kouhai's love-life.
"Wow. Your ears sure are sharp, Eiji-senpai." Momo sweatdropped. "But what you've stated is only half-true."
"Tell me, tell me before Ochibi comes!" Eiji pleaded with his puppy eyes.
"What are you talking about, Eiji-senpai, Momo-senpai?"
Ryoma towered upon the two as they were sitting and the former was standing in front of them.
"Ah, Echizen." Momo started to sweat, "We were going to talk about why Osakada-san and Ryuzaki-chan are not here to cheer for us. You might know something."
"Yes, yes!" Eiji transformed into his cat-like appearance. "This is our first tournament with the line-up from junior high complete, yet they're not here! I miss their cute, melodic voices when they cheer for us!"
Ryoma only looked away. "Like the hell I know.I wish I knew why she's not here..."
"She?" Momo and Eiji's ears perked up. Is what they've been waiting for three years now becoming a reality?
"It's a case of change in priorities."
Momo and Eiji saw Ryoma look somewhat defeated, and this time he couldn't do anything about it. To prove their guess, they saw the prodigy they've known to be the most arrogant person – nest to Atobe, that is- to accept defeat as he frowned before their very eyes.
From what? They didn't dare ask.
-oOo-
"Not again!" She ran as fast as she could not knowing exactly where to go. "And I even forgot to mail+ him to ask where we will meet…" Though I never even have the courage to ask him in the first place, she added to her thoughts, and blushed.
She ceased from running and slowed down for a while. The lunch boxes close to her chest felt cold. The food lost its warmth.
"I must really love acting to even forget about Ryoma's lunch." Sakuno shook her head and reminisced how she panicked this morning when she discovered that she forgot to cook for him. She walked silently as she talked to herself, looking for a person wearing a white cap somewhere.
"But it can't be helped! I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning to memorize Ayame's lines. I have to catch up!" She hugged the lunch boxes closer to her. "Speaking of Ayame..."
-Flashback-
"Watch out!"
"I guess this is karma."
"It's not your fault, Sakuno."
"Sakuno-chan, please."
"You'll be our new Katayama Ayame starting tomorrow."
Sakuno was shocked beyond belief that she thought she would follow the others in the clinic.
"B-but Suzuhara-sensei!" Her stuttering came back and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. "I-I... can't..."
"What's wrong, Sakuno-chan? Any objections with the decision of the club?" Suzuhara-sensei smiled, as if he wanted her to remember that they were in this very same situation only weeks ago. The young Ryuzaki got the feeling of déjà vu, but this did not make the feeling of crying disappear. In fact, it was putting more pressure on her.
"We all know, Sakuno-chan," Suzuhara-sensei said, "that this time, this is our project as the Theater Club. But now, I'm also a part of this club and so are you. We are all in this together; everyone in this room is, including those in the clinic."
The remaining members of the club went closer to Sakuno and the coaches. Hiroshi and Tomoka went to Sakuno's side and put a hand on her shoulder. She shifted her gaze from Suzuhara-sensei to nowhere in particular.
"This role is heavy, not to mention that the pressure has been doubled now that you have to be Ayame with only a little time left to practice and memorize the lines. I'm sorry for this."
"Is this...my p-punishment?" she muttered to herself, but the solemn atmosphere inside the room was more than enough to let the others hear her.
"No, it's not." Kokuten-sensei stepped in, catching Sakuno's attention. Her female coach had such a gentle face while looking at her that she just wanted to cry.
"Because it's not your fault."
"Sensei, it is." Sakuno looked down again and covered her face. "It is, so please tell me that this is my punishment... I'll be more than glad to do this so you will all forgive me... Especially... S-Sai-k-ka-ch-chan..."
And she was down on the ground as her tears started streaming from her brown orbs. Tomoka hugged her and started patting her back. Hiroshi could only stare and do nothing, his attention was focused on Sakuno and no one else.
"Tomoka-chan." Kokuten-sensei tapped the girl's shoulder and silently asked her to leave Sakuno for a moment. She was very hesitant at first, but the sincerity in the coach's eyes won her over. Tomoka stepped aside.
"Please do not think of this as your punishment. In the weeks you've stayed here in the club, have we failed in making you fall madly in love with acting?"
This made her stop. Suzuhara-sensei kneeled down and joined his co-adviser. "So mad that you wish you could spend all your waking hours acting on stage?"
"Acting shall never be a form of punishment while we are proud members of this club." Kokuten-sensei hugged her momentarily. She released Sakuno and tucked her chin up so that Sakuno was facing her.
"We believe that you love acting because even if this is hard, you are enjoying it and will want to do it given the chance."
Sakuno's tears were still flowing but she was now smiling. She could only nod her head fervently.
Suzuhara-sensei stood up and looked at Sakuno again. "Besides, we would not just give Ayame to anyone who wants it. The Theater Club of Seigaku thinks and believes that you, Ryuzaki Sakuno,"
Sakuno looked around and saw that everyone was smiling at her, encouraging her. Tomoka, although she was biting her hanky and was trying to stop crying, smiled at Sakuno with red and swollen eyes. Hiroshi was strangely blushing and smiling at her with radiance.
"You show us who really Ayame is!", "The crying Sakuno is really cute!", "We're behind you all the way, Sakuno-chan!", "We can't wait for you to shine as Ayame, Sakuno-san!" the other members of the club shouted in chorus.
Suzuhara-sensei helped his co-coach stand up. When everyone was all standing up, Sakuno looked above her and found a crowd that was ready to accept her for who she really is.
"Only you can be our Katayama Ayame now, RyuzakiSakuno." Suzuhara-sensei seriously said.
"Will you stand up to this challenge, Ryuzaki Sakuno?" Kokuten-sensei held out her hand and waited for Sakuno to accept it.
"Y-y...Yes Sensei, I will!" the girl's lips quivered into a smile. Though her voice was not as steady as she intended to, it held determination. The young teachers nodded in agreement at each other when Sakuno reached for the hand that helped her up. Everyone was cheering, and Tomoka cried waterfalls as she hugged her best friend.
"That's my Sakuno! You see here?" Tomoka continued to wail like a child, "And I'm proud of my best friend!"
"It's not only Sakuno-chan that should do her best, but I'm also expecting everyone to do twice better than the usual. Am I understood?" Suzuhara-sensei asked.
"Ossu!" the club answered with a roar.
There was like a party with no music, no food, and no glittering clothes. Only a bunch of people who were happy and motivated all at the same time. The members surrounded Sakuno and each tried to comfort her more and boost her morale.
"Sakuno's surrounded by too many people, I was shooed off." Tomoka pretended to act disappointed but there was a very big smile on her face. Hiroshi looked at Tomoka's radiance and then at Sakuno, who was at the center of the crowd.
"Yeah."
"The time that she'll become star might not be far off."
He frowned a little. "She needs someone to hold her up while she's still not steady as she rises."
"Everyone here now is willing to get leaned on by Ayame." Tomoka inspected his expression, because she did not want the feeling she has of what Hiroshi is saying.
"I'll be. I am Tatsuya. Here in script and later, in reality."
Tomoka's eyes widened in disbelief.
-End of Flashback-
"Ryoma-kun!" Sakuno was overly excited that she nearly stumbled on the said person. She sighed happily to herself when she finally found the person of her search. Here he was as usual, alone taking a shade under the tree. She could almost imagine that Ryoma knew when he was spotted.
"You came," he stared at her for a second, and smiled at her briefly.
"Here, Ryoma-kun…your lunch." She gave him the single bento box wrapped in the usual cloth. "Uhm, actually I…"
"Again," he pretended not to listen to her when he saw the lone lunch box, "where is YOUR lunch?"
She wrung her fingers, "Well, I was trying to tell you that…"
He cocked an eyebrow and noticed that she was in her sweatshirt and jogging pants. Could she have been practicing tennis alone? He could only ask himself.
"…that?" Ryoma continued for her. She looked on the ground and stared at her practice shoes.
"It's fine if you want me to share this lunch with you. I don't mind." He smirked as he started removing the cloth from the box.
Her face flushed red and she waved her hands in front of her. "No, I mean… I have to…"
"But you only brought a pair of chopsticks."
"It's because the lunch is…" Sakuno flushed as she thought of the right words to tell him, "just for you, Ryoma-kun."
"Just tell him you have practice!" came the other voice in her head, which started berating her. But the girl with chocolate-colored hair could not help but stare. It must have been another first time for her to see him in his jersey and he looked beautiful wearing it. When was the last time I watched him during his afternoon practice?
"C'mon. You'll just feed me. I'm going to open my mouth now."
And he uncharacteristically did, much to her surprise. Ryoma heard Sakuno laughing as he opened his eyes.
"Don't make me wait. I'm hungry, you know that?"
She smiled; Sakuno thought to herself that she must be lucky that this untouchable-looking Echizen Ryoma could show this side of him to her. But then, she woke up from her trance when remembered what she was about to say.
"Sorry, Ryoma-kun. I-I can't eat lunch with you… today."
His confused and surprised look urged her to continue.
"You see, we have a production."
"You've already told me a hundred times."
She beamed a little. "And uhm… Somehow, I've become Ayame now."
"The lead role?"
She blushed and carefully nodded as she wrung her fingers again.
"So… what?"
"I'm already…late for our practice for today."
When she turned to him, there was a trifling frown that showed in his face. She, in turn, felt embarrassed with the awkward silence.
"Ryoma-kun, I am asking you a favor. That is, if you would…allow me to." She fidgeted and looked away.
"Tell me, Ryuzaki."
"Ryoma…kun?"
"What's more important to you," Ryoma started seriously, Sakuno stared at him with wide eyes.
"Your theater… or your time with me?" he finished, seriousness still evident from his features.
He wanted to slap himself hard after hearing himself say those words, but her reaction stopped him from doing so. She shook her head as her initial reaction, "It's not like that, Ryoma-kun! I mean, for the first time in my life…"
Her eyes were shining and there was something familiar in that smile… He remembered that she looked like that when she was watching him during junior high, and he was proud that he could make her look more lovely like that. But now, the passion in her eyes… Was this because of her newfound love, acting? Did she always smile like that when it came to acting?
"I want to do my best in something I love to do."
Was she this fervent when she supported him in his matches three years ago? Did the mere thought of him make her sunny and happy? His senpais always subtly told him these things, but he never believed them.
"Ryoma-kun?"
If so, she must be really simple…
And selfless…
And shallow…
To be happy just by watching the person you like (if she, indeed, liked him, he cautiously told himself) and never reaching him because he was focusing on his dream… What kind of happiness is that?
She must be a martyr, a stupid martyr. Ryoma looked down, "Is it my turn to set her free and let her chase her dream?"
Sakuno prayed in her mind that Ryoma, even for once, would take pity and let her go. But of course, she knew that her chance of going to practice was like her defeating Ryoma in a tennis match. She knew of all people how stubborn he could be-
"I'll let you go for now."
-to other people.
Sakuno blinked. She should get her ears checked. She's starting to hear things.
"P-pardon?"
"But you have to swear you'll have to make it up to me."
She stared at him with her mouth agape.
"And you have to make those cakes you usually give to those ungrateful persons."
This has to be a joke. As instinct would have told her, she unconsciously touched his forehead and neck with a swiftness Ryoma never imagined she had.
"Are you okay, Ryoma-kun? You're warmer than me and your face is red too," she peered at his blushing face. There's got to be a double amount of excess naivety in her system. He had to restrain himself from grabbing her and make the distance between them disappear. This girl should at least feel that he was attempting to completely convince himself that he decided to let her go!
"Stupid. Of course I'm fine."
Her mouth was left open, 'C'mon, you know you have to close your mouth so I won't notice your lips and…'he clenched his fist.
"Thank you, Ryoma-kun!"
She has never been so glad that she wrapped her arms around him and gave a tight squeeze. Ryoma though that if another second passed and she did not let go, he would have to teach her a lesson. Do not test Echizen Ryoma's control-
"Let go of me-"
-because in the first place, he had next to nothing of it when it came to Ryuzaki Sakuno.
Sakuno let go just as fast and stuttered an apology with her red face. He faked a cough and lowered his cap.
"Make it up to me this coming Monday and Tuesday. Don't show up tomorrow and just rest."
Behind those ill-mannered words and seemingly uncaring façade of the young Echizen, Sakuno could see his kindness most people were not able to see. She closed her eyes, clasped her hands together and placed them on her lap.
"Ryoma-kun."
He looked at her, "What?"
"Thank you."
Her smile to him has never been sweeter and infectious.
"Don't forget my dessert," he scoffed with a grin.
She nodded, her smile not unwavering. Something inside him swelled and left him perplexed as he watch her run away. When Sakuno was out of sight, he had to mutter a crisp, "Damnit."I can never be as philanthropic as her.
And as she sped away, she could feel the loud beats of her heart. She clutched her chest and asked herself how she was able to face Ryoma like nothing happened yesterday – did she just forget that they shared their first kiss yesterday? If so, she must be really happy, both because of Ryoma and her theater.
~oOo~
The lunch break of the club is about to end in a few minutes, and some enthusiastic members were already getting up on their feet to either practice some of their lines or prepare the props on stage. Saika, although with her upper right limb broken, was present to offer any help she could give. This included coaching the other actors or commenting in the props and the costumes if someone's opinion is needed for it. Still with her two sidekicks, they were keenly observing Tomoka and Hiroshi who were next to each other on the other side of the room.
"The match has not ended just yet, Osakada," Saika ran her able hand on her shiny, black hair. "I may be disabled now, but this does not mean I've accepted my defeat. Hiroshi-sama is mine!"
"That's our Saika-chan!" the two girls were mesmerized yet again with the elegant way of how Saika's hair danced momentarily in the air.
"Now then, we have to observe…"
And the three fervently watched the two persons on the other side of the room.
"What's taking Sakuno-san so long…?" Hiroshi asked himself as he leaned on a wall of the Theater Club's room. Tomoka only listened to Hiroshi and never had the intention to answer him. She looked away and hummed a made-up tune to herself.
"Do you know something, Tomoka-san?" The said girl flinched. He looked at Tomoka's twin pigtails and remembered the braids of Sakuno. He looked away.
"If someone's to answer that, it should be Sakuno." She returned to humming to herself, only this time, her singing was a little off-tune
"Girls…" he said distinctly. "I'll never fully understand them."
Tomoka inhaled a lot of air and brought her chest up. "Boys… They look like they're easy to understand, but even before I get to know a lot about them, my head starts to ache."
"Why would you hide these things from me, Tomoka-san?" Hiroshi's hand was pressed again his forehead, "I thought we are friends?"
"Well, I don't want us to be friends…" Osakada Tomoka muttered under her breath when she caught Saika's stare. The two girls looked at opposite directions. "Besides, we're under different circumstances… You can't just tell me to hand my best friend over to you, nor can I just hand you over to her if she wants you."
Hiroshi frowned at her. "I know that." She folded her arms in response.
"And so you should know how I feel. I'm not handing you over any other girl who wants you," Tomoka stared at Saika, "without a good fight."
His thoughts were in shambles after again hearing Tomoka confess to him again and decided to change the topic. "Do you think I have a chance with Sakuno-san?"
Tomoka stared at him and froze.
"Darn it, Hiroshi! I hate that guts and insensitivity of yours!" Tomoka's eyes were blazing. "Stupid! You're the most stupid person I've ever known!"
Hiroshi was not able to hold off his bad temper anymore as he was getting more and more confused of his thoughts and feelings, especially now that there was a disturbing vision in his mind that his mom was slightly similar to Tomoka.
"I was just asking for your opinion! Is it that bad?"HIroshi bawled. There was a moment of silence.
This caught the attention of everyone inside. They decided to watch the scene between the two and half-expected for a confrontation. Saika and the girls with her were fuming when they saw the apologetic look on Hiroshi's face.
"L-look Tomoka-san, I was just surprised… I-I'm…"
"But you know how it is, right?" Tomoka was also fuming, but she was holding her temper. "Anything but that! I can help you with anything but that."
He was helpless when he saw the look on Tomoka's face. "I'm…sorry."
The crowd encircling the two held their breath and waited for the answer of Osakada Tomoka, the girl known for her terrifying rage.
"Did everyone start practicing already?" Sakuno was on the door, bent on catching her breath. Not long afterwards, Coach Kokuten and Coach Suzuhara appeared behind her and were more than ready to start rehearsals.
"Lunch break's over!" Kokuten-sensei clapped her hands, and eventually everyone strode away and left the circle they have formed which surrounded Hiroshi and Tomoka. Sakuno walked fast towards Tomoka and readily asked her what was wrong. Her best friend only looked away. Hiroshi's face looked pale as he invited Sakuno to practice with the other actrons.
"We just had another misunderstanding. Don't worry; we'll fix it in no time." Hiroshi offered as an explanation when Sakuno asked him again. She did not believe him fully when he said that. She could feel that he was lying. Especially that the happiness inside her seemed to drain out of her into her two best friends, and even that amount of happiness was never enough to make them smile to her.
~oOo~
* - Pocket Monsters. Standard disclaimers apply.
+- Mail is what Japanese people use for their "text messages." It means she forgot to send him a text message.
A/N: I ought that the chapter I have is too long, so I decided to split it up into two parts so your eyes won't be strained. It will be considered as one chapter under the title, "Metamorphoses," because of reasons that will become more evident after your read the next part.
A/N,2: Thank you for the persons who have continually read, favorite, and reviewed my story. If not for you, I might have long abandoned posting the next chapters here in . And of course, this chapter is non-existent if mii-chan07 did not help me. Kudos to you. :)