A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I'm so glad you liked the chapter. :)
Xxdreamergirl95xX: First of all. Are you from Romania? Cause I am too XD Anyway, I'm happy you liked the chapter and thank you for the review!
Cloud Strife final fantasy VII: I'm really sorry for the late updates (once a month, sometimes even harder) but high school is killing me -.-. I hope this is soon enough!
Blue-Inked Frost: You honestly have no idea how happy your review made me. I'm so glad I was able to make someone smile.
Guest: The two of them will surely get along a lot better, but it's kind of hard for a mother who lost her daughter, and since Tsubasa is her twin, it's even harder. And of course I'll add some MayxLeon fluffiness soon.
Now, I kind of have a question/request for you all. Why don't you write some Kaleido fanfics? I mean, there are few fanfics, and I'd really love to see some new ones. Just sayin', I don't know XD It's up to you, I just wanted to give you an idea.
Chapter 5. Wish
"Hihihi." Tsubasa vaguely heard a pervert laugh. She barely woke up, she didn't even open her eyes but something was tickling her belly.
Slowly and confused, she opened her eyes. As the blue-eyed girl blinked a few times, she recalled a light-green-haired doll looking at her bare belly. Without realizing what's going on, she rubbed her eyes and finally realized the situation. Fool, the Spirit of the Scene wasn't staring at her belly, but at her chest. To be more precise, at her bra. He had the most perverted look on his face, red cheeks colouring his pale face. It seems that Tsubasa's night blouse somehow opened and revealed now her bra.
"AAA!" The first reaction Tsubasa had, after her face got all red, was taking the tiny, floating ghost in her hand and throw him as hard as she could right on the mirror. She fast covered her body with the blanket.
"Tsubasa-chan!" in the next moment, Sora came in and opened the door fast. As she saw Tsubasa covering herself with the blanket and Fool being glued to the mirror, she realized she came too late.
"S-Sora.."
She sighed. "I guess I was too late.. "
"What-"
"It seems that this little, perverted bug here escaped from the drawer last night and came here. I even forgot to warn you last night.. but I guess you figured out he's the biggest pervert in the world." she gave a frightful look to Fool, now on the floor. He was way too happy to say anything else now. He already saw the paradise. Though it was only her bra, since Sora became able to see him, he wasn't able to see even some girl in bikini which was worse than any torture.
"S-S-Sora.." May appeared on the room too, slamming the door. She was looking angry at Sora breathing hard.
"Oh.. May, good morning!" Sora smiled cheerfully from her place next to Tsubasa on the bed.
"Don't 'good morning' me like this after you ran here and slammed all the doors from this house! Some people are sleeping at this hour!" May was angry, very angry but Sora smiled.
"Hahaha, you're right. My fault." the purple-haired woman said rubbing the back of her neck.
Tsubasa looked at the two woman. Even though May was angry, Tsubasa was happy. First, because her anger faded away fast. Two, because since her sister's death, May didn't show too many emotions. And anger was an emotion too, right?
May sighed and as Tsubasa observed, her anger faded away. "Morning Tsubasa." she smiled to her daughter, which surprised her. "I think we should let her change, come down for a coffee Sora and we'll talk about you behaviour too!"
Sora smiled. "Hai, hai!" she got up from the bed and followed May. Before closing the door, fast as light, Sora put the TV above Fool's hair, making him unable to move nor see anything.
"Hahaha Sora!" Fool laughed devilishly after Sora closed the door. "This won't stop me a second time, I've learned how to escape from this kind of situation!" He moved his head from left to right a few times and, as said, he escaped.
The next moment, Sora came back and took him in her hand. "You'd wish you wouldn't." she whispered, squeezing him.
"Sora, are you coming?" May called from downstairs.
"Coming!" she answered. "Don't fear Tsubasa-chan, I'll take care of him."
It took the black-haired girl a moment to actually wake up. She wasn't a morning person at all and this kind of morning wasn't, thank God, something normal. Tsubasa slowly walked to along the hallway to the bathroom on the same etage and did her morning routine, changing into her usual blue pair of shorts and light-blue, summer blouse adding some ankle-length, white socks. She tied her hair in the usual high pony-tail and went downstairs.
The girl went downstairs and found her mother and Sora chatting over a cup of coffee in the living room. The TV was open as well as the window, the atmosphere being very comfortable.
"Oh, Tsubasa-chan. I'm glad you changed so quickly." Sora said smiling brighter than usual, flowers blooming all over her face.
"Sora, where is it F-" the younger girl stopped, as she already figured out the answer. Fool was tied by the table's leg, almost unable to breath due to the strength Sora obviously put in the knot.
As she approached the couch and, implicitly, Fool, Tsubasa saw a begging expression on his face.
"Tsubasa, my hero! Please save me, I can't breathe!"
The blue-eyed girl looked at him suspiciously, raising an eyebrow. She was still angry by what he did earlier and how he woke her up.
"Is something wrong, Tsubasa?" May asked seeing as her daughter was looking at the table with an unusual interest.
"No mom, everything's fine. " she smiled and sat down on the armchair next to the couch. Her mother saw her putting her hands on her lap, but she actually put them under the table. As the two womans went back to their chat, Tsubasa begun writing letter in her left palm with her index, right finger.
'Ghosts don't need to breath.' Fool deciphered.
"I told you I'm not a ghost!" he shouted back.
Sora and Tsubasa wanted to burst out laughing, but instead, because of May's presence, the two of them smiled brightly at the black-haired woman.
"Ok you two. What are you hiding from me?" she asked crossing her arms. If there was one thing May hated in this world, it was secrets.
Tsubasa was caught off guard. She had no idea whether she should tell her mother about Fool, but after seeing Sora's worried expression that obviously said 'don't even think about it', she decided not to. After all, how could she tell May that she's able to see a ghost who claims to be 'The Great Spirit of the Stage' without expecting to not think her daughter went insane? Definitely, she's not going to tell her this.
"Hahaha.. there's nothing mom, what are you thinking?" Tsubasa tried to say laughing stupidly.
Lying was Tsubasa's weakest spot. She was the worst liar in the world and she knew this too well. Seeing as her mother still eyed her suspiciously, she fast thought about something to change the subject. "Is this cola? Can I take a sip? Thanks!"
"No, that's co-" May begun but Tsubasa's face already turned green from the bitter taste. "-ffee." she sighed and finished her sentence.
Tsubasa hardly swallowed the bitter coffee she hated so much. "Haha..ha.." she continued rubbing the back of her head.
"Tsubasa. If you have a problem, you know you can talk to me anytime, right?" May continued feeling guilty. She realized she kind of neglected Tsubasa since.. than.
Seeing her mother's eyes, Tsubasa decided to tell her the truth; but not the one about Fool. Also, Sora spotting her now determinate eyes, she thought she is going to tell May about their little ghost-pet, but what she said was way worse.
"Mom." she made a pause. "I want to join Kaleido Stage."
A big silence fell over the three of them.
Sora was also speechless. Thought Tsubasa didn't put it into words, the purple-haired woman figured out this thought flashed the younger girl's mind, but she didn't expect her to have already decide everything. The performer looked to her right side at Tsubasa, than to her left side at May, than back to Tsubasa and then back to May again. The silence made everything even harder.
"Hey, why don't we-" Sora wanted to break the silence, but May begun harshly.
"I won't allow something like this."
Tsubasa was surprised. She didn't think her mother would allow her so easy to drop school and go join a circus, but she didn't either expect her to say no from the start. After all, it wasn't just a circus, it was the circus May spent the most wonderful part of her life.
"Why?" Tsubasa asked, clenching on her shorts tighter.
"Because I won't allow it."
Tsubasa figured out her mother would not tell her the true reason. "But why?! I really want to join it mom!" she jumped from the armchair and looked at her mother straight. Sora was watching the scene with worry.
May stood silent for a moment. "You're too young to be thinking about something like this. I think you should focus on your studies."
Tsubasa has never been the best student. Actually, she was at the bottom of the class while her sister was always on the top. Her mother never actually paid attention to her studies, since she knew that Tsubasa and Mirai would have a brighter future than any studies could give them. But now, why did she use such an excuse?
"You don't understand anything!" she yelled and run outside the house, leaving May and Sora alone.
May lowered her head, her hair making Sora unable to see her expression.
"May.." her friend begun. "Why don't you wanna listen to what Tsubasa-chan wants to say?"
"I'm afraid.." she whispered in reply. "I.. I don't want to lose her too."
Sora looked at May confused. "What do you mean 'lose her'?" She knew that May was conscious Kaleido Stage wasn't a dangerous place, so why?
Tears falling covered May's face. "I.. " she covered her eyes with her hands. "I could never risk to lose her to.. Can you understand, Sora? I could never live without her."
Seeing and hearing her best friend, Sora couldn't do anything but gently wrap her arms around her shoulders and let May's head rest on her shoulder. She put one hand on her head and begun patting it slowly, as her friend's tears were falling over and over.
XXX
Tsubasa was running, but she had no idea where. When she got tired, she realized she was on the bridge that led to Kaleido Stage. The teenager stopped on a bench on that bridge and wiped her tears. She looked at the cloudless, morning sky. There was almost no one around, only few people running or walking here and there.
She was too angry on her mother, so she was thinking about Kaleido Stage. As she turned her sighed to her left side, where the circus was, she remembered the legendary maneuver performed by Sora and Layla. Her body begun to tremble again, this sensation never left her and neither let her sleep too well last night. Tsubasa got up, she felt like she can't stay here anymore. She had to do something, something that would satisfy her thirst.
The black-haired girl ran to Kaleido Stage, expecting to find her father. She wanted to talk with him about this.
As she arrived in front of the circus, at the big entrance, she simply entered inside. Confused, Tsubasa walked along an enormous hallway, until she found two big doors. She opened them and found herself standing in front of some enormous stairs. At the end of the stairs, she spotted it; the scene.
She slowly walked downstairs, taking every step carefully as she never looked at the stairs but at the scene. The whole place was amazingly enormous. As she finally reached that place, her heart begun to beat even faster; it wasn't a simple stage, but an ice stage. Her heart was almost running out of her chest. She wanted to get on the ice so badly, but she had no ice-skates.
Tsubasa looked around and figured out there was no one, maybe it was due to the early hour. She decided to look around for some skates. It was impossible not to find at least one pair. No that she wanted to steal them, she'll just borrow them.
Finding the perfect plan, Tsubasa walked towards a door she saw. As she walked along a narrow hallway, she saw a door. Of course, she entered inside but not before she peaked inside to see if there was someone. Luckily, the circus was all empty.
It seemed that the room Tsubasa just found was the locker room; this was indeed a good day. There was a long but not wide table in the middle of the room. On each side of the room were tables with individual mirrors. The room was a total mess; magazines all over, dresses and costumes thrown over the chairs and some of them even on the floor. In front of every mirror were a lot of make-up kits. As she carefully walked on the room, trying not to move a single thing from its place, she spotted a pair of white ice skates; God indeed fell in love with her.
She took the pair in her hand and wanted to leave, when she also saw a white, shirt dress dropped on the floor. Looking around some more, especially at the make-up, she imagined a perfect make-up and hair-style that would match the dress.
'Guess that if they were on the floor, the owner don't really mind if I borrow them a little while.'
As Tsubasa first checked the time, seeing it was almost 8 am, she decided to hurry with the make-up and hairstyle. She knew well that the program here starts at 9 am, as she often heard her father talking with her mother on the phone and complaining about the early hour.
Tsubasa put some black eye-shadow, peach-color lipstick and some blush on. She made of her hair some pig-tails and tied them in a gorgeous bun, letting a few bangs from the back of her neck falling messy over her shoulders. The hair-style was completed by a white camellia, put on the left side of the bun. She quickly changed into the very short, yet not vulgar, white dress. It was a strapless, molded one. Above the molded dress was an almost transparent, full of diamonds veil which started from where the dress also did and almost touched her ankles, but when Tsubasa moved, the veil was also floating.
As the black-haired girl took one glance in the mirror before taking the ice-skates in her hand, she was amazed by how changed she was. She looked so much like her sister whenever she went on contests. The only difference was the eye color.
Tsubasa hurried to the stage. It was already 8.15 pm, so she decided to enjoy every second. She fast put on her skates and stepped on the stage. At first, she was about to fall but she fast regained her balance.
And than, the magic started.
XXX
A tall, grey-haired man opened the door and stood still there, looking at the stage, unable to move an inch. What was he seeing; was it an illusion? a dream?
He couldn't believe.
"Mirai.." he whispered unconsciously.
A girl's silhouette was flying on the ice stage. Her body was moving so gracefully; she made a double axel, triple axel, she was spinning over here and there, she even jumped in the air, making a tumble as she hugged her legs, and landed perfectly on the ice. Her body was so thin and she was moving just like a caterpillar that just transformed into a butterfly; it was like she felt freedom for the first time. She wasn't just skating, there was something magically about her.
The man watching amazed was Alexei Kvarski; a professional ice-skater from Russia. He was invited to Kaleido Stage a few days ago due to his exceptional skills acknowledged all over Russia.
He was Mirai's secret partner. Whenever Mirai had free time, which was rarely anyway, instead of resting, she would go in the forest and meet him. They would train together, because Mirai had two dreams; to win the Olympics for her country and one that only Alexei knew about. While he watched the girl on the stage skating, his heart started to ache. He put a hand on his heart and closed his eyes for a single moment to regain consciousness, and she disappeared. He looked all over for her, but since everything seemed impossible, he decided to head back. He definitely wasn't in the best mentally state.
XXX
On the other side of the stage, far in the darkness, another person was hiding, watching the girl's performance. His eyes never left her silhouette. It was Kalos, the director of Kaleido Stage.
As the girl finished her performance with a pirouette, she got panicked and left the stage fast. Kalos was wondering who the girl was, but he was sure as hell he wasn't going to let her escape.
XXX
As Tsubasa stopped on the middle of the stage, her heart beating like crazy, she realized that time flew by in a blink of eye. She got panicked and left the stage as soon as possible. Running to the lockers, she took off the skates on the way. Tsubasa entered in the room and, luckily, there was no one. As she sighed in relief and ready to undress, she heard voices; and they were coming this way.
"And like I was saying.." a girl was talking to another one.
The two girls stopped as soon as they entered in the room. There was a moment of silence.
"This is weird, isn't it Charlotte?"
"Yea, I think so too Julie. In this place, it smells like.."
"Hair spray." Charlotte completed.
Tsubasa face-palmed slowly. How could she use hair spray in a place like this? But it was necessary for the bun. The black-haired ice-skater was now hiding under one of the tables, holding her breath as much as she could.
"Where's my pair of skates?" Julie asked.
Tsubasa fast took off the skates and threw them in front of the two girls.
"There they are!" Charlotte said. "How come you didn't see them?"
Tsubasa sighed. She slowly begun moving under the tables. Slowly, as the girl begun changing, Tsubasa managed to arrive at the last table. Now, if only she could open the door and get out without the two of them noticing. Of course she would return the dress later, but for now, she should get out of here without anyone noticing.
Right when Tsubasa was about to touch the knob, someone knocked on the door making the girls sight go right to it. She fast withdrew her hand.
"Yes?" Charlotte asked.
"It's me." Leon said coming in.
"Oh, Leon-san." Julie said smiling.
"I was wondering if you-" he couldn't finish his sentence, because he saw a scene you can only see one in a lifetime. His daughter, the clumsy one, was dressed and styled like a princess and hid under a table staying on her knees. Not to mention her priceless expression. Keeping himself from laughing, he coughed a few times and got a serious look.
"I think Ken was looking for you two." he said pointing outside.
"Really? Let's go than Charlotte." Julie said as the two of them left the room.
Tsubasa got up from the floor and stood guilty in front of her father. "How grounded am I?" she asked looking at the floor.
Seeing her fully, Leon couldn't help but admit that she looked a lot like her sister, Mirai. He though Tsubasa was never going to skate again, but seeing her in those clothes, he kind of figured out what happened.
"We'll talk about this after you tell me what were you doing here, young lady." he said with a serious tone.
Tsubasa looked at him and saw a gentle smile on his face. She couldn't help but smile back.
A/N: Yea, another author note XD Damn, I wanted to update sooner but I guess this is better than a month or two. I know Alexei's introduction was poorly, but I couldn't find any other way to present him. He'll be an important person, as he'll be Tsubasa's partner and.. I won't spoileeer !
Anyway, hope you liked it. :)