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Disclaimer: Sakurako Kimino, the creator of Strawberry Panic and Media Factory, the company that sponsors its anime, own all copyrighted material this fanfiction may include such as characters, events, et cetera.
The rest of it is mine... ALL MINE! BWAHAHAHHA! *thunder crackles in the background* ... So no stealing! =p Well, unless you ask me nicely. ^.^;;;
Author's Note: Thank you, Nene-chan, Usagi-sama, and Guest. I hope I keep you guys interested!
Last time, we established that Kaname and Shizuka are not friends. =p If this had been a more action-based series, I'm sure Shizuka would be pulling off a finishing move on her. She does appear to have the potential, what with her stunning speed. I actually had several battle scenarios playing in my head as I wrote that scene. xD In one of them, Shizuka revealed her hanyou status and Sankou Tesshou'd Kaname into the next millennium!
I've also hinted at Makoto's plans, though there's more to it than that. Actually, I believe I started it off already at the tea party. Well now, what are we waiting for? Let's see what happens! kukuku...
~Strawberry Panic: The Second Year~
Hikari watches on as her prince rides on her white horse, having some time from their duties to relax. The discussions her friends had yesterday still play in her mind and she thinks on them. "Everything has worked out for the best. Last year during this time, I would never have thought I'd be with Amane-senpai. Last year, Nagisa-san gave us an even bigger surprise. Yes, this year has to be filled with amazing new things, too! I wonder what they'll be."
Ebb and Flow
Yaya stands outside the church, her back leaning against its white stone walls. Even though it had been just like old times the night before with all of her friends beside her, the troubles in Yaya's mind persist. She can't help herself but to draw upon them. Promises or not, there is no denying the feelings within one's own heart. Silently, Yaya apologises to Hikari. Maybe her will just isn't strong enough to let go. To that end, she finds herself wandering, almost in a stumble, to the exact spot where her precious memories had been created. She crouches, unsure of why she has done so, and witnesses her hands brushing the patches of grass. It is an odd move and Yaya doesn't understand her motives, but is also oddly unable to stop herself.
"What am I doing?" She growls, ready to punch the ground as she feels tears start to swell in her eyes.
"I'd say you're looking into a more suitable career path." A stinging voice answers her, footsteps approaching in the distance.
Yaya bolts up and turns with a glare. She knows this voice too well, "Kusanagi."
"Well, I'm glad you remember. It doesn't bode well for a person if her own rival forgets her." Makoto remarks, blowing a few strands of her silver bangs from her face, "Tell me, does Amane keep in touch with you?"
She takes a few steps forward, her emerald eyes gleaming, "Or maybe I should ask if she even knows you're alive."
Rather than acknowledge the insults, Yaya only displays a grin and, with a huff, asks, "Are you projecting on me, Kusanagi? How unbecoming. Just because your romance with Kaname failed miserably and made you run off to cold, frozen, bitter Russia, doesn't mean you should be taking it out on others."
"Kaname? Old news, my dear Yaya. You need to get with the times." Makoto returns, looking to the church wall.
"Really? I don't think I'm convinced." Yaya says, amber eyes piercing daggers into her rival, "Who, if you don't mind my asking."
"Russian girl." Comes the reply.
This would go on for a while, "What's her name?"
"Anna."
"A classmate?"
"One grade higher."
"That would mean university, wouldn't it?"
"No, in Russia, it's different."
"Oh, because I was about to correct myself. You attended as a high school first year, after all."
"It's still different."
"Curiouser and curiouser."
"Curiosity kills cats, you know."
"Are you worried about my p-"
"Seems I was wrong. You haven't changed at all." Makoto interrupts her, putting an end to the pointless trade offs.
"I have. I'm better." Her rival says anyway, fully aware and happy to fan the flames.
However, Makoto surprises her, pondering, "Which intrigues me. See, I've been keeping up to date about you. I didn't want to fall behind on my information like you have with me. I know all about what's happened with Hikari-chan."
"Not too difficult. She is only the Etoile." Yaya jabs, waving her off.
"I wasn't talking about that." She fires back, "I'm talking about a disturbing event that occurred last year, just after summer holidays."
Yaya stiffens as Makoto continues, the smirk on her lips curling ever more fiendishly, "I seem to recall that it was one of Hikari-chan's earliest dates with her prince. Remind me again, Yaya, what did you do after that date?"
Yaya lowers her head, knowing exactly what the girl was on about and shamed by her knowledge. Makoto takes the opportunity to answer for her, "It took a few days for her to get over it, didn't it? She even stopped going to choir practice. And classes, for shame. You had to have realised, Yaya, that Spica girls would take notice. What self-respecting Spica student would cut classes? That sort of degenerate behaviour is for the likes of Lulim and Miator so what could have possessed poor little Hikari-chan to ditch?"
"Shut it!" Yaya growls.
"Of course, I guess I shouldn't blame you." Makoto adds, surprising Yaya and she takes this chance to move closer, "Kaname does have a way of getting inside people's heads."
"What?" The bistre-haired girl mutters, the first time she's shown weakness before her enemy.
"What were her words exactly? 'The only thing that can defeat love is love?'" Makoto recites.
"The only thing… What do you want?" Yaya grumbles, losing her composure.
Makoto only shrugs and begins walking away, saying only, "I only wanted to know who has maintained my quick-witted rival. I should thank her. It isn't easy to reinforce a person's spirit after so much devastation. Such a person must be very special…"
"Special?" Yaya utters, left to her own devices.
Tsubomi leaves class and meets up with the girls from Lulim. They were always waiting outside for her, but then again, it isn't surprising that Spica classes are much more intensive than those of Lulim. Tsubomi smiles smugly to herself as she hears the others greet her.
"Afternoon." She greets, waving at them.
"The start of a new year is always so much fun, isn't it?" Kizuna buzzes, skipping as she and her friends walk together, "It's great to see all the new first years!"
"Kagome-chan and Tsubomi-chan were both first years last year. Did you enjoy it?" Remon asks them.
"Of course!" Tsubomi answers first, lifting her finger in her trademark pose, "To enter such a glorious school as Spica and be acquainted with none other than the current Etoile herself, I have absolutely no regrets about it."
Kagome nods and lifts her stuffed bear, "Percival also had fun."
"I bet Percival loved playing Juliet to your Romeo last year, right Kagome-chan?" Kizuna asks, patting her on the head.
"I was Juliet!" Tsubomi growls, still a bit bitter over how the young Lulim girl spent more time wooing her bear than interacting with her.
Worse still, Kagome's portrayal had received a standing ovation by all the underclassmen. Meanwhile, her portrayal of Juliet, which by her account was spot on, didn't even so much get a mention the next day. Tsubomi balls her hand into a fist at the memory, a vein revealing itself on her forehead.
"I'm only kidding, Tsubomi-chan. Of course, you were great in the play, too!" Kizuna says with a giggle, turning back to Kagome with a smile, "And meeting Nagisa-oneesama was fun, right? We even started an investigation with Chikaru-oneesama!"
"The Secrets Club is so much fun!" Remon exclaims, clasping hands with Kizuna in excitement.
Tsubomi closes her eyes, "I remember when I met Nagisa-sama, too. I think my senpai were talking about room temps at the time."
"Room temps…" Kagome mumbles, looking at Percival.
"That's right, Lulim doesn't really do that stuff either, huh?" Tsubomi asks, "If you did, you could have gotten a room temp this year."
"I guess so, Tsubomi-chan, but I've never really thought about it." Remon replies, putting a finger to her chin, "Besides, if I want to see a girl in an apron, I just have to attend Chikaru-oneesama's Henshin Club."
"It's different when you have a younger girl helping you out, though." Tsubomi suggests.
"I prefer it when I'm helping out, like when Kizuna and I are with Chikaru-oneesama." Remon says, copying Tsubomi's signature pose.
A few steps away and staring off into space, Kizuna thinks to herself, mumbling aloud, "Oh yea, we're third years now."
Her oblivious realisation dumbfounds both Tsubomi and Remon and causes them to sigh in sync as little Kagome looks on.
"Percival… I hope they are okay, too." She mutters.
Once they reach the dorms, Tsubomi decides to go on ahead, telling the others she has work to do. In reality, her motives are different, but she's kept her secretive nature. However, also as usual, her abrupt actions betray her true intentions and Kizuna and Remon giggle at her fading form.
Tsubomi turns the corridors and dashes up the stairs. As she runs, she takes notice of the door to her room, tracing its movement as it passes across her view. Rounding the next corner, she stops herself, hearing someone in the distance.
"... bara no… Um... Rei ni gotoku." The girl sings, struggling with the words.
Tsubomi continues to listen to her, "Aoba no… Nobe… Uh… Midori no gotoku"
"Ten no kisaki wa…" The girl sings, but can't come up with the remaining words.
"Uruwashiku emu!" Tsubomi finishes the line for her, revealing herself.
The girl is surprised and embarrassed, apologising before trying to run off. Tsubomi chases after her, mentally scolding herself for upsetting the girl when all she had wanted was to help her remember the words. Just before the girl could round the next corner, Tsubomi finally catches her, both girls dropping to their knees to catch their breath.
"I'm sorry! I just wanted to practice more, but I couldn't wait to get inside my room first!" The girl blurts, bowing her head.
Tsubomi takes a few breaths before helping the girl back to her feet, "It's alright. I was only trying to help you remember the words."
Reassured, the girl lifts her head up to look at Tsubomi, her topaz eyes suddenly widening as she recognises her, "Oh, you're from the Saintly Choir!"
Taken aback at first, Tsubomi smiles warmly at the girl, nodding and greeting her, "Okuwaka Tsubomi. You can just call me, Tsubomi."
"My name is Inoue Eiko! I'm a first year! It's great to meet you, Tsubomi-senpai!" The girl replies, taking Tsubomi's hands in hers.
"Eh? Senpai? Me?" Tsubomi utters, baffled at being given such a title.
"I just enrolled in Spica a few days ago and already the work is overwhelming." Eiko whines, "And I didn't get to find out about the choir at all."
"Eiko-chan wants to join the Saintly Choir?" Tsubomi asks.
The younger girl nods, "Ever since I heard them singing at my church."
"Well then, you're in luck! The Saintly Choir is always looking for more members." Tsubomi tells her.
"Really?" Eiko's eyes light up as she asks.
"Yea, plus, from what I heard, you're probably a soprano. A few of our sopranos graduated last year so I'm sure we could really use some." Tsubomi continues, patting the girl on the head, and with a wink, adds, "Just leave it to me."
"Thank you, Tsubomi-senpai!" Eiko chirps, hugging Tsubomi and again surprising her.
Later in the day, though most students have already returned to the dorms, the Etoile, Ootori Amane, and Student Council Member, Kiyashiki Momomi, work tirelessly on the documents for upcoming events. The tension between them is obvious as Amane grunts in discomfort. Momomi had finished with another series of papers and had gone to hand them to the Etoile to sign, but when she placed them, her hand accidentally brushed against Amane's. Being the less upfront of the couple, Momomi does nothing more than blush in embarrassment, quickly returning to her seat. However, as she has been doing since they started working, Momomi peeks over a few times. She is hoping to find an opening with which to apologise for both herself and Kaname, the heinous actions they had perpetrated against Amane and Hikari. Unfortunately, each time she peers over to the tall, blue-haired athlete, she shrinks back.
The incessant glances are not fooling Amane, though, and they are not well received. Some time after signing her twentieth stack of papers, the athlete snaps, calling out the brunette. Momomi doesn't respond, hoping her silence would allow the uncomfortable situation to pass, but Amane is adamant. Since the end of the previous school year, Amane'd pulled all the stories from Hikari, including how she had found herself in each situation to begin with. It wasn't difficult for Amane to understand that Momomi had been Kaname's cohort and she is rather unforgiving in those matters.
"Don't think ignoring me will let me overlook your crimes, Momomi." She states, a stern look upon her face, "Kaname might have been the mastermind, but being a conspirator is just as bad."
Still, Momomi only takes it, letting each word strike her without counteraction. Amane's biting words sting at the girl, nonetheless, but what can she do? Everything the Etoile said is true even if the reasons she assumes for Momomi's actions are incorrect. Amane doesn't go so far as to say that Momomi craved power outright, but the way she speaks to her makes it easily deciphered to be the case.
However, Momomi only helped Kaname out of love and had been hurt in similar ways when she discovered Kaname's love for Amane. That was in the past now; Kaname's love was revealed to stem from other reasons and she's since repaired the damage. Momomi is Kaname's only interest in romance and that issue has since passed. Momomi tells herself that, as long as she has that, she could face the Amane's ridicule and mistrust. She would atone for her crimes bravely.
"Remember, you're not to go near Hikari." Amane reaffirms as she finishes signing her last document of the day.
Left by herself, Momomi only nods at the door, "Yes."
At the Student Council Office, Kaname and Makoto are still at it, going full speed with their plans and hardly being coy about it. On the contrary, they almost appear to be going back and forth between who might have the better schemes afoot. As Momomi quietly sulks inside, closing the door without a sound, Makoto erupts in a fiery spectacle, arrogance blatantly displayed.
"My campaign will be the end all be all of any of Spica's future plans. It might even put your tryst with Amane to shame." She proclaims, marveling at the ideas brewing in her mind.
"Is that so? Well, then you'll just have to see what I've in store this year." Kaname fires back, scarlet eyes narrowing at the younger girl.
"Oh? You mean she actually consented?" Makoto sneers, waving her off, "I never imagined she'd be slumming it this year."
"Oh, she consented and, when I'm done with her, she'll be perfection." Kaname purrs, moving closer to the shorter girl.
"That's if she'll even fall in line. If memory serves, she's not exactly dependable." Makoto says, "My plan, on the other hand, is foolproof."
"Really? You call her undependable when you're going after-" Kaname begins to counter.
Makoto quickly interrupts, "She's persistent, at least. You should know that from what she did last year."
"That I must concede. Still, do you really think she'll still show the same passion?" Kaname ponders, recalling the events.
"Who says I need her to?" Makoto notes.
"I see your plan and raise you one of my own: Dependable or not, I only need her to see the light." The President discloses, walking over to their silent company, "Momomi? You're unusually distant."
"Hm? It's nothing. I'll tell you later, after…" She answers, having been stirred by the blonde.
"Don't bother. I'm off to see about my wagers." Makoto says, taking her leave.
Chikaru busies herself with sewing. Another day has passed and things are in motion again. Though the former sixth years have graduated and left Astraea Hill, the rest have advanced a grade. They are wiser and more experienced than they were before, though certain characteristics never change. In keeping with that, it should mean a similar progression. Still, there is a key difference now. New first years have been added to the boiling pot. New ingredients always mean a difference in flavour and Chikaru did love to try new things.
Lifting the outfit in her hands, she smiles to herself, noting that this item in particular is for a certain someone. She handles its making with greater care, running her hands over every square inch as the pleasant memories of how she had obtained the necessary measurement play for her. She thinks on the returning students and their addition to the brew. They will be causing ripples, as well. Similar to the Nagisa incidents from last year, Chikaru ponders all the deviations to the schedule this time around. It should prove to be an interesting year.
Tamao takes a deep breath before continuing her task of looking over the schedule for the current semester. There have been a few changes to it since last year. Actually, this new schedule is quite unique to any that she'd seen over her five years at the school. The new Etoiles have caused quite a stir.
Nagisa rests beside her, having decided to help with Tamao's busy workload. Even so, the late hour is too much for the girl and she succumbed to it about an hour ago. Instead, Tamao is being assisted by the now second year Chiyo. Though she isn't their room temp anymore, Chiyo still spends more time with her two oneesama. Tamao smiles warmly at the girl as she gets a fresh pot of tea ready, intent on aiding the President through the night if need be.
"Thank you, Chiyo." Tamao whispers, taking the cup of tea being offered.
"It's no trouble, oneesama. I want to do what I can. Nagisa-oneesama needs her rest." The young girl replies, rubbing the back of her head with a blush.
Tamao gazes at the sleeping form of her roommate. She never would say it, but Nagisa hasn't been herself this year. In Tamao's mind, the answer was obvious. There is a very important person in the girl's life that's just not around anymore. Unfortunately for her, the silver-maned temptress of Astraea Hill graduated and is currently attending university in the city.
"Oneesama, what are you thinking about?" Chiyo asks her.
"Oh, no, it's nothing just…" Tamao replies to her.
Chiyo closes her eyes and a slight smile appears on her features, "Oneesama is worried about Nagisa-oneesama, isn't she?"
Hesitant to admit it, Tamao eventually nods, "Yes."
"Do you think they'll come back?" The girl enquires, thinking over a scenario where that would be possible.
"I'm not sure, Chiyo-chan. Universities run in a different schedule than we do. There may not be time." Tamao replies as the two gaze upon their sleeping friend.
Author's Note: New characters! xD What did you think of little Eiko-chan? When I envisioned her, I found myself thinking about Hikari and that's when I found myself rewatching that episode when Yaya explains how she and Hikari met and decided on an encore presentation. ^_^ That relationship will be developing in the coming chapters, but hopefully not very smoothly. Ah, the drama. =3
And speaking of Yaya, I hope everyone enjoyed their one-upmanship. It always irked me that Yaya became so pitiful towards the end and tried to quit the choir and all sorts of infantile acts when she started so strong. It didn't sit right with me and so, I thought to use Makoto to force her into her tough state. However, I do like her dramatic phase, as well, so I'll be sure to include that in upcoming chapters.
I also have a mention of the anger Amane must still feel towards Kaname and Momomi for what they did to Hikari, but this will also be addressed in further detail. I can't just have Amane seething with rage when, as Etoile, she'll need to actively work with the Student Council President. Also, it would be awkward if Hikari kept hiding from them…
The end of the chapter hints at something else. Can you guess? ^_^ Until then! *poof gone*
次回予告
Tamao: We were barely in this chapter!
Nagisa: *wakes up* Huh? What did you say, Tamao-chan?
Tamao: Maybe looking at Spica was a bad idea! Their stealing all our thunder!
Nagisa: But Tsubomi-chan and Eiko-chan are so cute together!
Tamao: Let's go to Lulim!
Nagisa: Tamao-chan...
Next time on Strawberry Panic, Set in Motion!
Tamao: Wait a minute! Lulim is the school that super popular students like Mori-sama and Chikaru-sama attend! Oh no!
この番組はメディアファクトリーとご覧のスポンサーの提供でお送りいしました!
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