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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: This chapter gets us caught up with the central characters! xD Alright, well, to be honest, I didn't like this chapter. I did want to present the story here, but since there isn't much action, it was really difficult for me to write. X-x I hope I did alright with it, but it is a bit short. Still, I suppose the excessively long one two chapters ago makes up for it. ^_^;;;
Much as the previous chapter was about the aftermath of the play as it relates to a few of the characters, this one relates to the more prominent characters and also begins a new arc that will come into effect in the following chapters.
~Strawberry Panic: The Second Year~
"Their time is almost done."
There's a plethora of activity throughout the halls of St. Miator Girl's Institute as of late. The whole lot of them are abuzz over the same topic. The time is drawing nearer. Yaya thinks about the journey they have all traveled, which has brought them here to this present. She has been lost to her own devices recently, a rather long foray through the various motions.
"Hikari… My song couldn't reach you in the end." She utters, shuddering in the chill autumn breeze, "You soared too far, too high, following the song of heaven. How could I ever reach you again?"
She continues wandering, finding herself beside the church where she had originally met the current Etoile. Her fingers gently brush the marble wall, tracing the vines that have climbed upon it. It has been three years since she found the petite blonde there, practicing the hymn by herself.
"Like the voice of an angel." Yaya says aloud, remembering what she'd been thinking when she heard her sing, "It just wasn't meant for me. Your song was directed towards the birds in the sky, glorious and free. And I am the shadows that hide from their light."
She throws her back against the wall, looking out into the grass. Her eyes follow the steps they'd run from where Hikari sang to where Yaya had caught up to her after she tried running away out of embarrassment. She realises that she always chases them. Perhaps that's why she fails.
"It's happened again, hasn't it?" She mutters, digging the tip of her shoe into the dirt, "I'm chasing after someone else who doesn't belong with me."
She goes over their similarities in her mind and, for her, they are staggering. It is a wonder she didn't notice it sooner. She takes her eyes up to the clouds above; they cast their shadows down on Yaya as a tear frees itself from her eye. However, she smiles at them as if to welcome the darkness.
Immersed as she is by it, she is not aware her movements are being watched by a pair of topaz orbs, concern evident in their expression, though unsure of how to proceed.
Winding Roads
Another pair also watches, but from an even further distance. She also doesn't share the same indecision or concern, although she does demonstrate the latter for her own reasons. She feels a soft and furry paw poke at her back, which causes her to smile.
"I think I can be sure now."
Her eyes linger for a moment longer while her body turns about. When they catch up, she lifts her hand to pat the head of what had poked her, smiling and tracing her fingers down its fuzzy cheeks and to the arm holding it. Gently, she moves her hand to the arm and crouches to match the girl's petite stature.
"I owe that to you, I suppose."
"Percival believes Kusanagi-san would have found it on her own." Kagome replies, looking down at the bear.
"Well, I'm still grateful that you lent me a helping hand." Makoto tells her, placing a kiss on the girl's forehead before standing back up.
As confident as she is in Yaya, there is the issue of time. The second term is already well under way and Yaya is as she always has been, wandering. Even if she does manage to wander into the right path and find what Makoto knows she will find, it may take a bit too long and what then. Makoto frowns as that haunting thought resurfaces. Shifting her gaze back to Kagome sitting at a nearby desk fiddling with Percival in her lap, she carefully considers her next course of action.
Noriko's hand struggles to remain steady as she guides it in line with the target several metres away. She slows her breathing to accommodate the task as her other hand keeps its firm grip on the arrow. Once she feels ready to fire, though, she glances off to the side and takes notice of the much larger group of spectators. This had been happening a lot more lately and, try as her teammates might to pretend it was due to the upcoming competition, Noriko knew they were for her. Why did they have to be in that play?
"She's never really been comfortable with people staring." Chihaya whispers with worry.
She is with their friends and next door neighbours in Nagisa and Tamao sitting on the sidelines while her roommate practices for Archery Club. There is a stir among the student body and its becoming targeted. Of course, for some, awareness of this fact had come long ago. For others, it has only now started to be recognised. The feeling is new for Chihaya and she knows that's also true for Noriko. The two had never been in the limelight and neither did they want to be. In reality, however, they were noticed and it had simply been due to timing that they could remain unaware of it. After all, as noticed as the couple was, what amount of it could match up to a transfer student who had caught the eye of the aloof and mysterious Etoile on her very first day?
"But I don't think I can help take away the stares anymore." Nagisa muses, giggling as she directs her attention to the crowd.
Tamao also grins at this, but continues to watch Noriko instead, "It will be a good experience."
"I hope so." Chihaya mutters, a furrow in her brow.
Noriko chooses to ignore her audience, concentrating on the smallest ring surrounding the centre of the round wooden target. She takes in a deep breath to settle her nerves and fixates on that single point of white, her hand making last second recalibrations before she releases the arrow. The bolt flies through the air as Noriko compares its actual path to the calculations she'd made, trying her best to record any deviations and what might have caused them. The arrow strikes the white space within the smallest ring, just as she had wanted. To the spectators, it is a perfect hit as shown by their howls of glee and celebration. However, they are wrong. Noriko smirks as she knows this, even as her roommate and friends applaud her skill. She slightly bows her head, humbled at having admirers, and walks to the target. Taking a close look at the results, she uses her fingers to estimate how off centre her arrow had struck. A teammate, senior to her in the club, arrives a moment later and they go over the shot together.
"What are they doing?" Nagisa ponders aloud, watching the two work.
"Analysing the results." Chihaya explains, "Mizushima was just figuring out how far off the shot was."
"Off?" Nagisa asks, "But it was perfect!"
Chihaya giggles at the girl's naiveté, "Maybe for us. Nagisa-chan, let me show you something."
With that, she takes out a piece of paper and draws a circle with her pencil. Just as she had for Noriko's shot, Nagisa wows at Chihaya's precision with the circle. However, Chihaya points out that this circle is far from perfect. She folds the paper in half, lining up two opposing points of circle. With the curves overlapped, it becomes clear to the redhead how far from perfect the circle actually is. Chihaya goes on to say that, from their vantage point, Noriko landed a flawless shot, but the reality is clearer to the archers.
"In competition, knowing even the smallest errors in her form can help prevent a misfire that will cost her points." She explains.
"Wow, Chihaya really knows a lot about archery!" Nagisa comments, a bit loudly at that.
Chihaya smiles warmly at her, "I only know it helps Mizushima practice because she told me the same thing before."
"We should expect nothing less from people who have known each other since kindergarten." Tamao notes.
"Or people who have known each other for little more than a year." Chihaya adds, hinting suspicion at the two, "That aside, what are we going to do about them?"
She directs their attention to the crowd that has yet to disperse, which Noriko is trying her best to ignore, asking more questions about her shot than usual that it is becoming very obvious what she's doing. Tamao only tells her that it could be a good growing experience for the couple. She and Nagisa then take their leave.
"Growing experience… Not if she shoots them to make them go away." Chihaya mumbles to herself, walking over to her roommate.
The air is filled with scattered voices with few commonalities amongst them. This is the second time Tsubomi's felt the anticipation and it seems stronger than before. It is also clear to her now as to why; it is personal for her this time. She wades through the scattered voices across Spica's grounds, losing herself to them. She was lost to them then, as well, her feelings drifting and mixing into all the other opinions since she couldn't make up her mind just which one she wanted to have. She is even more confused now and it is making her uneasy. The reason she can admit is that it is not the type of student of Spica she intends to be whose mind is so unsettled. She loathes the indecision and can't even make sense of what she really has to be so indecisive about. Eventually, this takes her to a stone fountain, a statue of Mary overlooking it. Her arms are open as if welcoming Tsubomi and her eyes look warmly down at her. Tsubomi is drawn to the fountain in spite her mind telling her how silly she's being and she find herself taking a seat, looking to Mary to untangle the mess of thoughts in her head.
"You're losing it."
An unusually tall first year is following Tsubomi's every move, accepting the reality before she can. It is truth for the both of them and, for Fushimi Asuka, it is a truth she needs to shield from the pink-haired drifter. The fact that she already seems to be lost comforts her, but she knows that it is a matter of time before Tsubomi gets herself sorted and she'll find her way down the path Asuka does not want her to follow.
"Right now, though, you've still got two destinations, eh? One of those works just fine for me." She continues saying to herself, perched on the limb of a spruce with her binoculars.
Much as she's predicted of Tsubomi, Asuka's taken to the mischievous Yaya and means to keep all other suitors a safe distance away from the girl. Her mind goes over their meeting and she has wanted more of her ever since. She'd purposefully separated Yaya from her friends at the Senkou Dance and played along with the girl when she wanted to pull that prank on that fifth year girl in the Student Council. For Asuka, it was a precaution just in case that girl had other ideas for her. It was quite on the mark, too, as Asuka remembers that she had been the one to talk Yaya into finding Tsubomi on the dance floor. Luckily, the girl was occupied then with…
"Eiko." The revelation brings a fiendish grin to Asuka's face as the gears begin to turn, "That's where I need to send you, isn't it?"
"Curious. Momomi, exactly how many people are supposed to be in this office during sessions such as this one?" Kaname asks, her eyes fixed on an empty chair while her fingers tap the desk it sits behind.
Her auburn-haired assistant can only let out a chuckle. Their third is absent yet again. The girl's attendance could be described as sporadic at best; she's practically been a ghost since the start of the second term. Due to the play held near the beginning, most of the President's attention had been afforded to it and so she hadn't considered the extent of the silver-maned girl's absences until now.
"Well, I suppose no one wants to play the supporting actress forever." Momomi answers her, inching closer to the girl until her own fingers could brush across the desk, sliding themselves to Kaname's before adding, "Eventually, she's hopes for centre stage."
Kaname's hand takes hold of Momomi's, lifting up to twirl the girl around and into an embrace, "Centre stage is a fun place to be."
"Too bad some people don't seem to think so."
"They only need to be shown the light." Kaname replies in a whisper, her lips grazing Momomi's as she speaks, "After that, they might wonder how they could ever leave it."
Amane lies beside her Etoile partner, her head facing up towards the stars slowly appearing in the evening sky above. In a few short months, it will be too cold to be outside like this. There will be a few more changes in those coming months, as well, which she is trying not to think about by setting her thoughts on the weather. However, there is one change on her mind that that can't hide.
"Twilight is coming." She mumbles, only half hoping Hikari won't hear.
Of course, she does and she not only hears the words, but the underlying meaning of them, too. "It's fine. I relished every moment with you, Amane-senpai."
She allows her words to drift off as she rolls into the girl, cuddling close to her. Amane takes in a deep breath and goes to place a kiss on the girl's forehead before drawing back to gaze into her pale green eyes.
"So, who is to follow in our wake?" She asks, taking her attention back up to the sky.
"There are whispers in the wind."
"A bit loud for whispers, wouldn't you say?"
"Whispers still since none of them are sure."
"Is she?"
"Is she ever?" Hikari giggles with her reply.
"She was about one thing, at least."
"She will be again. It will only take some time." Hikari notes, fiddling with her fellow Etoile's scarf.
"In the meantime, it seems other parties are in motion." Amane states, keeping track of each new star that appears, "There are more of them this time."
Chihaya and Noriko are also stargazing, sitting by the lake at the heart of Astraea. By the latter's request, Chihaya is patching up the girl's archery attire out here. As night falls and she is forced to stop, Noriko has her watch the stars with her, the pair pondering if they could compare. They, like the Etoile, are not alone in this. Elsewhere, the wanderer has taken notice, as well, brushing away some stray strands of bistre to have a better look at them. She pauses to take in the scene, but decides to move on after a few moments, not giving it any further mind. The stars' light also attracts the attention of a pink-haired second year, taking her away from her studies. Tsubomi is drawn by them to her window, marveling at the view. Her eyes wander across the night sky, subconsciously counting each star they see. That is, until they come across a pair of stars that are oddly close together. Tsubomi stares at them, though the reason is inexplicable to her. She is just curious about them, whatever that should mean. The starlight has also shone through another window and bathed a young girl and her toy bear in a white glow. She lifts up a hand as if to touch it and she is joined by her silver-maned companion who arrives at her side.
"The stars are brilliant tonight, aren't they, Tamao-chan?" Nagisa asks as she sits on her sill.
"Yes, they are." Her roommate replies to her, "Could this be the light of destiny?"
Author's Note: I doubt I did a good enough job skirting the subject, but I plan on being indignant about it and not mention it until it is time. x) So there! Blasted light of destiny.
After reading the chapter, you know that my two main characters are both lost without direction. Similarly, it was their not being sure about anything that I wasn't sure how to depict it in writing and it made for tiresome bouts of stepping into their shoes to feel their insecurities and indecision and then have to come up with a way to describe it while then being unsure and indecisive myself. xD It never occurred to me how difficult it would be to write about not knowing what to do and how much worse it would get to try writing about it while in such a mindset. x_X I spent quite a bit of time sitting in front of my computer trying to figure out how to get at what Tsubomi and Yaya were thinking about when all they were thinking about was not knowing what to think.
The next chapter should be better about it, though. Until then!
次回予告
Nagisa: They aren't ready.
Tamao: They will be.
Nagisa: Are you sure?
Tamao: I'm sure.
Nagisa: Even with...
Tamao: Even with.
Nagisa: It just occurred to me, this is the first time we've done this is quite a while.
Tamao: It is.
Nagisa: Then, let's make it extra long!
Shizuka: Request denied.
Nagisa: Aw… Wait, for this or…
Shizuka: Oh no, I'll help with that.
Nagisa: Phew.
Next time on Strawberry Panic, Web!
Nagisa: No, it's over already? I had mo-
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