Chapter 28: A Fool For Love
"Time-out!" May bellowed, making a T-shape with her hands.
From their spot in the middle of the rink, where they were about to attempt a throw triple axel, Yume and Mikhail skidded to a stop. The other skaters paused as well, all eyes focused on the couple who had earned the coach's ire.
"What is going on here?" she demanded to know. "Yesterday, you two were amazing, but today…" She threw her hands in the air, momentarily lost for words for how bad they were skating. "Mikhail, where's the love, the passion? In this number, Frost is supposed to be falling in love with Seraphina, but you're just going through the motions. I've seen robots that are more romantic! And, Yume, I've yet to see you land a single jump cleanly, throw or side-by-side, and that last footwork sequence was atrocious. Have you forgotten everything you've ever learned?"
"Sorry," Yume said, unable to hold back a yawn. She had been fighting them back all practice, having tossed and turned for most of the night. "I didn't get much sleep."
May frowned, none too pleased with that excuse, and turned her attention to Mikhail. "And you? Are you tired, too?"
"Yeah, I couldn't really sleep either," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Glancing over at Mikhail, who she had been avoiding looking at unless it was absolutely necessary, Yume noticed for the first time the faint dark circles under his eyes.
May sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Oh, for the love of - I get what it's like to be young, horny, and in love, but that's no excuse not to get the proper amount of rest."
Yume's cheeks burned when she realized what May was implying, and she began waving her hands in front of herself, protesting, "No, that's not what -"
"Spare me the details. I'm not interested," May said, looking down at her watch. "Look, this is going nowhere. I have better things to be doing with my time. Let's just call it a day for you two. Go take a nap before your Lovers' Maneuver training…separately."
Without a word, the two of them exited the ice and started taking off their skates. They had barely spoken to each other since arriving at practice, other than a polite "Good morning." Yume had been stunned to see him at all at rehearsal, assuming that Mikhail no longer wanted to skate with her after everything that had happened. At first, she took it as a good sign, a possible light of hope that they could work things out, but it seemed like he really was just "going through the motions," as their coach had so aptly put it, only fulfilling his obligation to perform in the show.
Mikhail was the first to leave. Yume, wanting to know if he planned to attend their training, quickly slipped on her sneakers, not bothering to tie them, and chased after him. "Misha, wait!" she called out as she burst through the doors.
To her surprise, Mikhail was leaning against the wall next to the entrance, almost as if he had expected her to come after him.
"Um…have you seen Fool lately?" she asked.
"No. He was staying in your room, wasn't he?"
Yume's shoulders slumped. It had been a long shot, of course, but she had hoped that Fool had simply decided to spend the night in Mikhail's dorm instead of hers. "So he's gone, after all…"
"Fool has disappeared?"
"We've lost the ability to see him. We're no longer qualified to attempt the Lovers' Maneuver."
"Maybe it's for the best." Sighing, he shifted his skate bag over to his other shoulder. "Let's just forget about it. The show will be fine without it. I'm sure Mia can think of something else for the climax."
She had expected him to say as much, although it was still difficult to accept. "You're giving up, just like that?"
"What is the point of continuing the training when we can no longer see Fool? It would just be a waste of time. We don't even know what the Lovers' Maneuver is."
"But he might come back. I'm not sure why he's disappeared, but if we keep working at it -"
He held up a hand, silencing her. "Yume, stop. It's no use. He's gone. It's over."
We're over.
He didn't say the words aloud, but the meaning couldn't have been clear. Mikhail didn't even want to try to fix the problems in their relationship. Yume's eyes stung as she held back her tears, but she refused to cry in front of him, pivoting around on her heel and swiping the sleeve of her sweatshirt across her face.
"So you won't come to training today?" she asked, hoping she sounded more composed than she felt.
"I wasn't planning on it."
"Fine." Nothing she could say would convince him to change his mind, anyway. "So what should I tell Merle and Sam?"
"It doesn't matter. Tell them whatever you want," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand before leaving.
Yume, in her haste to catch up with Mikhail, had left her skates behind, so she went back to the rink and gathered the rest of her things. May had the other skaters working on a group number that neither she nor Mikhail were featured in. She watched them practice for a few seconds before heading back out, wondering what she should do with her unexpected free time. May had suggested that she try to get some more sleep, but Yume had a feeling that she would get no more rest than she had the night before, so she decided to visit Sora instead. Maybe some cuddle-time with her new nephew would help cheer her up.
When she arrived at the Robbins' household, Sora was the one to answer the door, looking very much like a harried new mother, with messy, uncombed hair and bleary eyes. She was still dressed in her pajamas, even though it was already close to noon, and she let out a huge yawn as she motioned for Yume to come inside.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sora asked, squinting at the wall clock on the wall. "Shouldn't you be at practice?"
Yume plastered on a fake smile, trying to seem cheerful and upbeat. "Coach Wong decided to give us a break today, so I thought I would drop by and see my favorite niece and nephew. This isn't a bad time, is it? I can come back later if you want…"
"No, of course not! You know you're always welcome here. I'm afraid I just put Ren down for a nap, though."
"That's okay. I'll just play with Hana, then." Yume glanced around, expecting her niece to come racing over to give her a hug like she usually did. "Where is she?"
"Ken took her to the store to pick up a few things. They should be back soon."
"Oh. Is she adjusting well to being a big sister?"
Sora chuckled, running a hand through her hair in an attempt to put it in some semblance of order. "Yes, she loves it, although I think she's starting to get a little jealous of all the attention we need to give Ren at the moment. That's why I told Ken to take her along with him. Some solo father-daughter time should make her happy." She pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "Tea? I just put a kettle on right before you arrived."
"That sounds good. Thanks."
Yume followed Sora to the kitchen and took a seat at the table while her sister prepared the refreshments. "So, what's really going on with you?" Sora asked, grabbing a couple of glasses from the cupboard and placing them on a small tray next to the tea kettle and a plate of cookies.
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, I know May Wong, and May would never cut a practice early for no reason, especially this close to opening day." She brought the tray over to the table and began serving the tea. "Did you have a fight with Mikhail?"
"Is it that obvious?" Yume asked with a weary sigh, resting her head down on the table.
"Well, it's obvious that you didn't get much sleep, and it's not like you had a crying baby to keep you up all night as an excuse. What happened?"
"We broke up, I think. I'm not entirely sure. Everything went wrong so fast…"
Sora listened patiently as Yume told her the entire story about what happened with Sergei and Ekaterina, only making the occasional sympathetic sound as appropriate. It felt good to finally get the chance to talk to somebody about what had happened. She missed breakfast due to trying to get some last minute rest before practice, so she hadn't been able to tell Pilar and the others what had happened - not that she really wanted to discuss it with them, anyway. It was already bad enough that she and Mikhail were barely speaking when the show was so close to opening; she didn't want to cause any problems with Mikhail and the rest of the cast.
"…and when I went back to my room, Fool was gone!"
"What?" Sora set down her glass, interrupting for the first time since Yume began. "You can no longer see Fool?"
"I haven't seen him since yesterday morning," Yume admitted. "Neither has Misha. Have you?" Her eyes darted around the kitchen, half-hoping to see Fool pop out of one of the cabinets. She never considered that he might have just gone to visit Sora for a change of pace, but maybe…
"No, he's not here," Sora said, bursting her bubble. "To be honest, though, I haven't seen him for a while." Wistfully, she traced a finger around the rim of her glass. "That's not so surprising, perhaps…"
"What do you mean? You can't see him either?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "I can't be certain, but it's possible I've lost the ability to see him. After all, I'm no longer a Kaleido Star."
"Of course you are!" Yume practically shouted, jumping up from her seat. "Yes, you're on maternity leave at the moment, but once you come back…" Her voice drifted off, and she sat back down in shock, realizing the meaning behind Sora's words. "You're not coming back, are you?"
"I haven't made my final decision yet, but, yes, it's true. I don't think I'm going to return to the stage."
"B-But why?" Yume couldn't understand. Sora loved performing more than anything in the world; why would she voluntarily choose to give it up? "You can't just leave Kaleido Stage."
"Yume, I'm not as young as I used to be," Sora reminded her. "I'll be thirty-five next November, which is quite old for a trapeze artist. I've had the most amazing career, but I think it's time that I move on to the next chapter in my life and give somebody else the chance to become a Kaleido Star, don't you think?"
Yume didn't quite know how to answer that, still trying to recover from her sister's bombshell news.
"Besides," she continued after taking a sip of tea, "we have two wonderful children to raise, and I don't want them to end up like poor Marion, who lost her own mother so young due to a trampoline accident. That would just break my heart."
Unspoken was Sora's own experience with losing her biological parents when she was a child, but Yume knew that also had to weigh heavily on her mind. "But you've never had any major accidents on the trapeze," she still protested.
"Luck, pure luck. I told you that before." Smiling, she reached across the table and placed her hand over Yume's. "Believe me, I've given this decision a lot of thought these last few weeks, and I know this is for the best. I have no regrets. I've accomplished everything I ever wanted and more on stage, so now I want to help others achieve their dreams as well. I'm not planning to leave Kaleido Stage for good; I'll just be a trainer, instead of a performer." She reached for a cookie, breaking it in half and handing one of the pieces over to Yume. "But enough about me. I thought we were supposed to be talking about your problems."
"Oh, right…" Yume had almost forgotten her own troubles, distracted by Sora's unexpected announcement. "There's not much more to discuss, though," she said after eating her half of the cookie and wiping away the crumbs. "Misha showed up for practice this morning, but neither of us had gotten much sleep, so Coach Wong got fed up with how terrible we were skating and told us to leave. Afterwards, I asked him if he planned to continue our training for the Lovers' Manuever. He said it would just be a waste of time since neither of us can see Fool now." Yume slumped back in her chair and let out a loud sigh. "Maybe he's right. Maybe we should just cut our losses and forget about the whole thing…"
"Is that what you really want to do?"
"No, but what other choice do I have? I don't know what the Lovers' Maneuver is, but I'm certain I need a partner to do it."
Sora frowned, shaking her head in obvious disappointment. "I'm starting to see why you can no longer see Fool."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Yume demanded to know, sitting back up. She wasn't used to Sora scolding her.
"You're giving up hope. Even worse, you're giving up without a fight. That's not the Yume Naegino I know."
"But there's nothing I can do about it, Sora. I can't make Misha want to get back together and start training again."
"You still love Mikhail, don't you?"
"W-What does that have to do with anything?" she asked, her cheeks burning. Why did everybody keep asking her that? "That's none of your business!"
Sora chuckled. "I'll take that as a 'yes', then," she said. "If you do love him, then fight for him. Show him that he can trust you and that you trust him. Don't just give up over something like this. What happened wasn't your fault, and if you just give him some time, I think Mikhail will be able to work through whatever issues he has. After all, he hasn't officially broken up with you yet, right? That means there still may be hope for a reconciliation."
"Do you really think that will happen?"
Her sister shrugged her shoulders. "I don't have Fool's ability to predict the future, but it's worth a shot, isn't it? It's better than moping around, feeling sorry for yourself. Continue with your training for now. You never know what may happen."
At that moment, a piercing wail emanated from the baby monitor sitting on the kitchen counter. "Sounds like somebody decided to wake up from his nap," Sora said with a good-natured laugh, standing back up. "He's probably hungry. It's about that time again. Want to come see him?"
Yume started to say "yes", but upon catching sight of the time on the stove clock, she shook her head. "Actually, I should probably get going," she said. "Merle is expecting me."
"Merle? Does that mean what I think it means?"
Yume smiled - really smiled - for the first time in what felt like days. "You're right, Sora. I can't just give up now. I'm going to keep trying and win Misha back!"
Encouraged after her talk with Sora, Yume arrived at the rink in good spirits for her Lovers' Maneuver training with Merle. She got straight to work on the exercise for the day, which consisted of simple chin-ups at the bar, and soon fell into a meditative rhythm that emptied her mind of all thoughts of Mikhail and Fool until a knock on the door interrupted her concentration.
"Merle, it's me."
"Come in," Merle said, motioning for Yume to continue what she was doing.
The door swung open, and Merle's husband entered the training area, his eyes widening slightly in surprise when he saw Yume. "Oh, Yume, I didn't realize you were here already," Sam said. "In that case, you're just the person I wanted to see. Do you know where Mikhail is? I've been waiting for him at the rink for over twenty minutes now, but he hasn't shown up yet."
Though she already knew that Mikhail had planned to stop his part of the training, Yume still felt a pang of disappointment upon hearing he hadn't come. Perhaps a small part of her hoped that he would change his mind about his decision. "Oh…" Slowing down her chin-ups, Yume's mind went into overdrive as she tried to come up with a believable excuse for his absence. If they knew the real reason why he had failed to show, Merle would probably tell her to throw in the towel as well. "Misha wasn't feeling very well today, so he decided not to come. Sorry, I should have told you as soon as I arrived."
"That's alright. Well, tell him I hope he feels better soon, but he'll have to work overtime next time to make up for missing practice."
"I will," Yume promised, hoping that there would be a "next time".
After Sam left, however, Merle turned to face Yume, right eyebrow arched and her arms crossed over her chest. "Okay, what's the real story?"
"W-What do you mean?"
"Mikhail isn't sick. He's skipping, isn't he?"
"No, no, he feels awful," Yume insisted. "He's on the edge of dying, really…can barely stand. Chills, fever, vomiting…" Her voice trailed off as it became clear that Merle wasn't believing a word she was saying, and she sighed, knowing it was impossible to hide the truth from her. "Yeah, he's skipping," she finally admitted, letting go of the bar and landing on her feet so they could have a proper conversation.
"And why is he skipping?"
"Because we might have broken up?"
"Might?" Merle frowned. "You're not sure?"
Yume shook her head, hugging herself. "Not exactly… It's complicated, but right now, he has no interest in training for the Lovers' Maneuver."
"Yet you still came to practice."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, starting to gather her things to leave. "I'm wasting your time, aren't I?"
"Wait, Yume, I didn't mean it like that."
"But it's true. Without Misha, there's no point in continuing this. I can't even see Fool anymore!" Unexpectedly, a sob escaped her throat, and Yume turned away, embarrassed to cry in front of a coach. "I don't know why I even came here today…" she said, wishing Sora hadn't talked her into it.
"Because you want to believe that he will come back," Merle said, placing a comforting hand on Yume's shoulder. "You still haven't given up hope."
"I'm such a fool."
"Well, love does tend to make people stupid at times…" Merle reached into her pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which she handed to Yume. "Sometimes I wish I had been that stupid, too."
Yume glanced back at the older woman, incredulous. That was the last thing she expected Merle to say.
"I've never told you the reason my partner and I were never able to perform the Lovers' Maneuver, have I?"
Yume shook her head, dabbing the tears away from her eyes with the handkerchief. "No, I assumed it was something you didn't want to discuss."
"You're right. It's not a pleasant memory, but maybe hearing what happened to me will help you in your situation."
Merle motioned Yume to take a seat in the metal folding chair that stood in the corner the room, then pulled out another nearby chair for herself. Closing her eyes, she took a moment to gather her thoughts before beginning with her tale.
"Like I mentioned before, Fool first appeared to me when I was still a competitive skater," she said. "I was seventeen years old, with dreams of winning a gold medal in the upcoming Olympic Games with my partner, Patrick, on whom I had developed a huge crush. He was my first love, and I was ecstatic when he finally confessed that he felt the same way. That was when Fool told us about the Lovers' Manuever. We decided we would attempt it in our Olympic long program. If we managed to pull it off, then we would be practically guaranteed the gold medal.
"However, about five months before the Olympics, Patrick was injured in a motorcycle crash. He broke his leg and was told that it would probably take about four months for it to heal completely, maybe even more. It was the worst thing that could have happened in an Olympic season, and I was devastated. Though he promised he would do everything he could to get back on the ice as soon as possible, I knew it would be impossible for us to seriously compete with just a few weeks of practice, so I broke off our pairs partnership and decided to focus my attention solely on my singles skating. As horrible as it sounds, I blamed Patrick for his accident. I was always telling him that motorcycles were too dangerous, but he had this 'devil-may-care' personality and lived for performing death-defying stunts.
"Around that time, I stopped being able to see Fool as well. All I cared about was winning the Olympic gold. I threw myself completely into my training, pretty much ignoring Patrick as he underwent his rehab. True to his word, he was back on the ice in only three months, but I still wouldn't agree to train with him again. Even though he had recovered, I knew he still wasn't in peak condition. My best chance of winning gold was on my own.
"I easily won the ladies' title at the national championships and was named to the Olympic team. Though Patrick tried to be happy and supportive of me, I knew it was hard for him to see me living out our Olympic dreams without him. I told him we could always try again for the next Olympics, but he still acted as if we had lost our one and only chance. Later, I learned why. His parents were insisting that he go to college and told him that they would no longer pay his expenses if he continued skating after the Olympic season. Unless he found some other way to get the money he needed, it really was his only chance of being an Olympian.
"Anyway, right before I left, we got into a stupid fight. Patrick had seen me talking with another guy who skated at our rink and accused me of cheating on him. I wasn't, but that didn't seem to matter to him. We didn't part on the best of terms. That… That was the last time I ever saw him."
Merle fell silent, her gaze looking past Yume as if she wasn't even there.
"Coach? Are you okay?" Yume hesitantly asked, touching her arm and startling Merle from the trance she had fallen in.
"Sorry. I'm fine, I'm fine." Since she had given her handkerchief to Yume earlier, Merle pushed up her glasses and used a hand to wipe away a couple of wayward tears before going on with her story. "It was a few hours before the free program when I heard the news. The night before, Patrick had gotten drunk with a couple of his buddies and went for a joyride in his father's car. He crashed into a tree. The guys who were with him managed to escape with only minor injuries, but Patrick…"
Her voice trailed off, but there was no need for her to finish the sentence. Another silence fell over them, one that Yume was reluctant to break. She had no idea what to say, anyway. She'd been curious about the reason why Merle never performed the Lovers' Manuever, but she never imagined the story would be so heart-breaking.
"Well, you can imagine how well I skated that night," Merle finally continued upon regaining her composure. "I was skating to a happy, upbeat piece of music, but I was in tears the entire time, wishing that Patrick was with me on the ice. It felt wrong competing in the Olympics without him, and I blamed myself for his death, thinking if only I hadn't given up on him, we might have made it to the Olympics together. I don't think I landed a single jump in my free program. I went from third place after the short, with a good chance of making the podium - maybe even winning the gold - to nineteenth place overall. It was, without a doubt, the worst day of my entire life. My Olympic dream became a nightmare."
"I'm sorry," Yume said, her voice in a near whisper as she struggled to hold back her own tears. "I never realized…"
Merle shook her head. "It was a long time ago. I've made my peace with what happened, although, to be honest, I still have my regrets, even after all these years." She reached for Yume's hand, giving it a light squeeze. "That's why I think it's okay for you to be a little stupid. Who cares if people think you are foolish for believing in love? I'd rather be a fool than give up on something I really want. If you still want to perform the Lovers' Maneuver with Mikhail, then keep believing in that dream and trust that he will come back."
Upon returning to the dormitory at Kaleido Stage after finishing her training with Merle, Yume ran into the one person she didn't want to see at the moment: Mikhail. It appeared that he had just arrived back as well, although from where, Yume had no idea. Though tempted to ignore him, she knew avoiding Mikhail was hardly the way to fix their relationship, so she jogged to catch up with him just before he reached the stairs up to his room.
"Um, hi," she said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear and wishing she had taken more time to make herself presentable before leaving the rink. She hadn't even showered, planning to soak in a nice, hot bath when she got home. The one good thing about Fool disappearing was that she no longer had to worry about him trying to peek on her.
Mikhail, on the other hand, looked great, dressed up in a nice pair of jeans and a T-shirt, topped with a black blazer that made the color of his ice-blue eyes pop. Is he coming back from a date? Yume couldn't help but wonder with a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. He wouldn't be that cruel, though, would he? They weren't even officially broken up yet.
"Oh, hello," he said. His tone was polite, but distant, as if he was speaking to a mere acquaintance. Looking down at her skate bag, he frowned, then asked, "Did you just come back from training with Merle?"
Yume nodded. "I told them you were sick, but Merle didn't -"
"You shouldn't have gone," he interrupted, sounding almost angry. "I told you, it's a waste of time."
"I'll be the judge of what is and what isn't worth my time," she said sharply, switching her bag to her other shoulder. Things weren't going as well as she hoped they would. Maybe it would have been better to ignore him, if all they were going to do was argue.
"Yume…"
She hated the way he was looking at her, like she was somebody deserving pity. In his eyes, Mikhail probably saw her as pathetic, chasing after a goal she would never reach.
In an attempt to change the subject, she decided to turn the focus on him. "Well, what about you? Where have you been? I thought you would be resting in your room."
It sounded more like an accusation than she meant it to be, but Mikhail didn't even flinch, answering her question without pause. "I went to see Katia before she went back to Russia."
"Oh." She breathed a sigh of relief. So he hadn't been out on a date, after all, although she was surprised to hear that he had gone to see Ekaterina when he had been so furious with her the day before. "You've forgiven her?"
"She's my little sister," he said, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring down at the ground. Yume sensed that he was avoiding her gaze. "What she did was wrong, but her heart was in the right place…"
"Yet you can't forgive me?"
"Yume, I don't blame you for what happened. I told you that yesterday," he reminded her. "It wasn't your fault, so there's nothing to forgive."
"Then why doesn't it feel like that?" she demanded to know, her hand tightening around the strap of her bag. She didn't understand. How could he forgive Ekaterina so easily, but continue to push her away? "Why do I feel like the bad guy in this situation?"
"I-I'm sorry," was all he could say in response before pivoting around and climbing up the stairs.
"Misha, wait!" Yume followed after him. "Please, just tell me what I need to do to make you trust me again," she pleaded. "Please!"
He acted as if he didn't hear her, continuing to look straight ahead as he made his way up to his dorm room, which was on the second floor. It wasn't until they had reached the door to 201 that he finally turned back around to face her.
"Can I ask you something? Why are you continuing with the Lovers' Maneuver training?"
Yume blinked, not expecting that question. "Why?"
"Yes, why. Why waste your time when neither of us can even see Fool anymore? It doesn't make sense. I don't understand."
"Well, um, because…because…"
She bit down on her bottom lip, clenching her free hand into a fist at her side. Come on, Yume, just tell him already, she lectured herself. There's no point in denying it any longer. Tell him the truth. Tell him how you really feel about him! Nothing will change unless you do.
Having built up her courage, she closed her eyes and blurted out, "Because I love you, that's why!"
Upon finally saying the words aloud, it felt as if her heart had been unlocked, letting loose a wave of powerful emotion that almost overwhelmed Yume with its strength. She loved Mikhail… She loved him! Why had it taken her so long to admit that when it was so obvious how she felt?
Her eyes fluttered opened, sensing Mikhail's fingers hesitantly brush against her cheek. He had yet to say anything in response to her declaration, but the look on his face had softened, no longer showing anger, pity, or feigned indifference. Yume placed her hand over his, holding it against her cheek, and stared straight into his ice blue eyes, silently begging him to believe her.
"I love you, Misha," she repeated. "I love you so, so much."
Yume stepped forward, and taking the fact that he had yet to pull away from her as permission, lightly pressed her lips against his. Unlike the last time she attempted to kiss him, Mikhail was much more responsive to her advances, his arms wrapping around her waist as he pulled her closer toward him.
Their kisses started out soft, but grew in intensity the longer they continued. A pleasant warmth spread throughout Yume's body, Mikhail's touches electrifying her to her very core. The rest of the world disappeared, the two of them locked away in their own little bubble until Mikhail's lips abruptly pulled away.
"Misha?"
He was staring at something - or someone - over her shoulder. Thinking it might be Fool, Yume pivoted around, only to see Sergei exiting from his dorm two doors down.
"Uh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," Sergei said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I didn't realize… Oh, but, hey, you've made up! That's great. Fantastic!"
Mikhail's hands, which had been resting on Yume's hips, dropped to his side, and he took a step back toward the door. "No," he mumbled to himself in a low voice that only Yume could hear. "I shouldn't have done that. I forgot… I got caught up in the moment…"
"What are you saying, Misha?" Yume asked, craning her neck to look back at him. "I thought -"
"I-I'm sorry, Yume. I'm really sorry."
He escaped into his dorm, closing and locking the door before Yume could stop him. Confused by what had just happened, she knocked several times, pleading with him to let her in so they could talk things over, but it soon became obvious that Mikhail had no intention of doing so. She let out a huge sigh, resting her forehead against the door in defeat.
Why did Misha run off like that? she asked herself. I thought we were in the middle of reconciling. She pressed two fingers to her lips, which still burned in memory of the kiss they shared. He wouldn't have kissed me like that if he didn't still have feelings for me, would he? I just don't understand…
Someone's hand on her shoulder startled Yume from her thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Yume," Sergei said. "I just seem to cause you problems every time we see each other lately. If I had known…"
Turning around, Yume shook her head. "This isn't your fault, Sergei. Just bad timing."
"The worst," he agreed. "But, seriously, what is Misha's problem? I don't understand why he's taking this out on you. I was the one who tried to trick you into kissing me. He should know that you're blameless in this whole situation."
"I don't know," she said, wrapping her arms around herself, "but I'm not giving up on him - or the Lovers' Maneuver."
She was more certain of that than ever. She loved Mikhail Vladimirov, and no matter how of a fool it made her, she would continue to believe in him. She would not make the same mistake Merle made.
"In that case, I'm rooting for you two. Good luck!"
Yume smiled, grateful for the support - even if it was from the guy who had started the mess in the first place. "Thanks."
DISCLAIMER: Kaleido Star doesn't belong to me.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gah, I'm so sorry it has been so long since I've posted a new chapter! There's been a lot of big changes in my life lately. and I haven't had much time to work on fanfics. Not to mention I had the biggest case of Writer's Block I've ever experienced while trying to write this chapter. Mikhail's being such a jerk, isn't he? But there's a reason for that, which should be revealed next chapter! Hopefully, you won't have to wait almost another year… I'm still determined to finish this story, so don't give up on it. Thanks for reading!