Mahiru has set the countdown for the day she'll confess her feelings to Claudine...
Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.
Chapter 10. Shatter
The following day, Mahiru goes to practice on her own as per usual for a Wednesday, but to her surprise Claudine pops in for a few moments to cheer her on. Mahiru scurries over to greet her.
"Kuro-chan!"
"Bonjour. I was just on my way to go practice and figured I'd stop in. How's the ending coming along?"
"I'm getting there… I think I have something in mind. I really don't think I'll win either way, but-"
"What's this?" Claudine puts her hands on her hips. "No way you're still saying things like that! If you've already decided you aren't going to win, then you definitely won't!"
"Ah! Y-You're right."
"You're not the same Mahiru you were three months ago," Claudine reminds her. "You've made some major improvements, and your mindset is one of them. So give this everything you've got!" Claudine makes a determined fist and holds it out to her. Mahiru breaks out into a smile. She makes a fist too and lightly knocks it against hers.
"Right!"
"Good. I can't wait to watch you perform soon, Mahiru. I'll see you later." With this Claudine turns and heads off for her own practice.
Mahiru watches her go, then slowly brings the fist she'd touched her with to her lips.
Kuro-chan… I wish I could make her heart sing… I wish she'd feel the same way…
She knows having such thoughts is only going end up hurting more in the end, but she just can't help it.
Right now, the best way I can make her happy is to have an amazing performance, so that's what I'm going to do!
Telling herself as much, Mahiru whirls back around and goes to retrieve her baton to continue working.
The competition is just a little over two weeks away, one day after Claudine and the others' play will be performed. Mahiru's plan is to work her hardest until the very last moment, to show Claudine a side of herself Mahiru had never been able to show before.
And she'll confess, too.
It's exciting, and more than a little scary. But she's going to do it. She's confident she can.
She just never expected anything could ever shatter the fun and peaceful school life she'd come to love so dearly...
On Friday that week, exactly two weeks away from Seishou's next play, Junna comes to the lunch table with a packet of papers in her hands and a troubled expression on her face. Mahiru looks up curiously just as Nana addresses her partner.
"Junna-chan? Is something the matter?"
Junna puts the packet aside and sits down with a sigh.
"Some of the girls in Class B just realized they never took inventory of the storage room and they're all freaking out because it's due tomorrow. If it doesn't get done, the teachers are going to give them an earful."
"So you offered to do it for them?" Kaoruko guesses.
"I sort of had to. They're still behind on making costumes for the next play."
"That's our Class Rep for ya," Futaba says. "Always takin' on everyone else's problems."
"I wouldn't say it that way… but sort of."
"But there's a rehearsal practice for our play tonight!" Nana reminds her.
"Ah, that's right… Maybe I should go start the inventory stuff now."
"That's no good," Claudine frowns. "You should enjoy your break time, Junna."
"I agree," Maya nods. "As our Class Rep, you have plenty to do already. You cannot start sacrificing your precious personal time for such matters."
"Right!" Karen says. "You've gotta eat, Jun-Jun! And relax!"
"Thanks, you guys," Junna smiles. "It's just really bad timing that it's due tomorrow, so it has to get done today… But like Nana said, there's the rehearsal practice tonight…"
Mahiru has been listening quietly all the while, but by now she knows there's only one solution to this.
"Junna-chan, I'll do it."
"Huh?" Junna looks up at her from across the table. "Tsuyuzaki-san?"
Mahiru smiles.
"Yeah! I'm the only one of us not in the upcoming play, right? I don't need to go to the rehearsal."
"But you've got your competition."
"I just finished making my routine yesterday, and I'll still have two more weeks to practice it. That still gives me plenty of time to review it. So I can take today off from practice and do the inventory."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Yeah! You can leave it to me!" She's proud of herself for volunteering, because in the past she probably would have kept quiet and assumed someone else would be better-suited for such a task. But she isn't the same hesitant person anymore.
Across from her, Junna's eyes are shimmering with relief.
"Thank you, Tsuyuzaki-san! You're a life-saver!"
So Junna passes her the packet of papers and gives her brief instructions on what to do today after school. Mahiru just has to check off the items and furniture she finds and mark the things that she can't find with an X.
"It just might take a lot of time," Junna says regrettably. "Things might not be in the right spots. But don't go too crazy."
"It's all right," Mahiru smiles. "All of you are going to be working hard all evening at rehearsal, so I'll work hard too!"
"Mahiru-chaaan!" Karen throws her arms around her in a side hug. "You're so reliable! You're the best!"
Mahiru just smiles, glad she can help them out like this.
And so at the end of the day when classes have finished and everyone else heads to the auditorium for rehearsal. Mahiru goes with them to start and leaves her school bag there, planning to come back and watch them once she finishes with the inventory. She wishes them luck, and then heads off.
Mahiru takes the papers Junna had given her and heads to the main office to procure the key to the storage room. She's the only one in the hallway, which makes it feel a little creepy.
"It's strange not to be with everyone else…"
Once she finds the room, she jostles the key into place and opens the door.
The room is wide and dark and full of cluttered furniture, supplies, props, and set pieces. A strong, musty scent wafts out - an odd mixture of old wood, dusty plastic, and peeling paint.
Mahiru flicks on the light switch, but there are so many things piled so high the light hardly comes through at all.
"And my cell phone is in my bag… I guess I'll just have to make due."
She finds a pen on one of the shelves and gets to work on her many, many papers.
For the most part, it isn't that difficult. A lot of the things she needs to locate had been placed in some general sort of order across the shelves or in boxes on the floor. The list going alphabetically makes it easier to find things on paper once she's found them in the room. What she can't find she doesn't spend too long looking for and simply continues on to the next thing.
As Junna had said, it does take a while, though. After the first hour, Mahiru has only completed a fraction of the packet, and she's worked up a bit of a sweat. But she's determined to complete this job.
It's the least I can do.
She hums and sings softly to herself as she works to help make it a bit more enjoyable. A lot of the objects and furniture here are still very much usable, but she makes note of some that would probably be best thrown out. There are splintered chairs, several broken props, and even a few tables with rotting wood. She marks each thing on the list and continues her task.
At nearly two hours she's completed a little over half the packet and pauses for a moment.
"Who knew we had this much stuff here…?"
And then, a soft tapping from the doorway.
"Bonjour. Mahiru?"
"Ah! Kuro-chan?"
Mahiru whirls around in confused delight to see her leaning there in the doorway with a smile.
"Oui. We've finished rehearsing all the scenes with my character before she's killed off, so the teachers said I could be excused. I thought you might be able to use some help here."
Mahiru had gotten used to the gloomy, dimly-lit atmosphere of the storage room, but seeing Claudine here now makes everything feel brighter and more alive.
"Sure! Th-That is, as long as you're not too tired from practice or anything."
"Not at all. Hand me a few pages and we'll split the rest of the work."
"Okay!"
Claudine makes her way to Mahiru, who passes her a few of the pages she hadn't gotten to yet.
"Thanks, Kuro-chan."
"I should be the one saying that. You saved Junna and the others quite a bit of stress by taking this on, Mahiru."
Mahiru blushes faintly and smiles.
"I'm just glad I could help."
She and Claudine spread out to opposite sides of the room to begin on their lists. And as they work, Claudine talks about the auditions, like a few times Karen flubbed a line and caused everyone to laugh, or the time the teacher told Kaoruko she was being 'a little too bratty' for her character and to try to act sweeter, followed by Kaoruko's consequent statement that she was always sweet.
Mahiru chuckles as she listens to Claudine talk. It makes even mundane work like taking inventory a lot more fun when she has someone to do it with, and especially Claudine.
They get a good amount accomplished between them in just about half an hour, and as Mahiru flips through the remainder of her papers, she gives a triumphant statement.
"We're almost done! Just a few pages left to go!"
"All right," Claudine calls back. "Then let's do it!"
Mahiru rummages around in a few more boxes looking for things, or stands up tall and tilts her head back to peer up at the top shelves in search of others. They call back and forth to one another as well.
"Kuro-chan, have you seen the garden backdrop from The Secret Garden?"
"Ah, I think it was over on that side. Did you find the Beauty and the Beast silverware set?"
"Yes, but we're missing a few plates."
Little by little they check off their lists. Mahiru must be close to a collective three hours in when she realizes she only has a few things left.
"There should be four chairs to this set, and I could've sworn I saw the last one around here somewhere…"
"What's that?" Claudine calls out from somewhere across the room. "There are a few more chairs stacked up over here, so come take a look."
"Okay."
Mahiru scurries over. Claudine is currently standing in front of one of the tall shelves which is packed with random supplies. She directs Mahiru to search the other side of it. Mahiru can already spot several chairs there beside a few old tables. She scours the chairs for the model to match the others she'd been looking for, moving things aside as she goes.
"Let's see… ah, this is it!"
But as she moves one of the chairs aside, it scrapes against the leg of one of the old tables. The leg snaps with a loud crack and the whole table suddenly lurches to collapse.
Startled, Mahiru yelps and jumps back, colliding with the shelf behind her. Her weight unbalances it, and with a sickening feeling suddenly seizing her chest, she feels herself falling backward with it.
The whole shelf teeters, and she can hear the sounds of all sorts of things falling and crashing to the floor. A horrible panic slams over her as the shelf topples with a deafening crash, enough to make the room shudder, and Mahiru is thrust to the floor behind it.
But louder and even more terrifying than anything is the sound of a scream.
Objects continue falling and cracking and rolling and snapping for a moment longer. Mahiru feels an awful ache through her body from when she't hit the floor, and the broken table had landed on her legs. But her heart is in her throat because of that scream.
"No, n-no-"
Her voice is barely anything, and her whole body is already shaking so badly she can hardly find the strength to kick herself free from under the table and stagger to her feet, grabbing onto whatever she can hold. A crushing despair presses down on her at the sight of the disarray, so many things misplaced and broken from the fallen shelf. But she doesn't care about any of that. All she cares about is-
"K-Kuro-chan-?"
Again, her voice comes out far too meekly. She stumbles as she tries to move forward because her legs are shaking too much. She doesn't see Claudine anywhere. Mahiru feels she might throw up.
"Kuro-chan…? Kuro-chan?" Her voice rises from the fear coursing through her as she climbs over more and more things, her eyes wide and searching. "Kuro-chan-? Kuro-chan-? P-Please-"
But Mahiru cuts off with a loud, painful gasp when she finally sees her. Claudine had been pinned beneath the fallen bookshelf and so many other objects and pieces of furniture around her to prevent her from moving. All Mahiru can see of her is a tangle of hair and her upper body. And she's horrible silent.
Mahiru nearly collapses.
No… th-this isn't…
"Kuro-chan…"
It doesn't sink in. It doesn't feel real. It can't be. It just can't be…
But with every passing second, the frightening reality in front of Mahiru's eyes stays exactly the same, until she's forced to accept it. Now, her voice comes out in a wail.
"K-Kuro-chan!"
She races to her as quickly as she can, scrambling over everything in her path. The second she reaches her, Mahiru drops down to her knees with tears already in her eyes.
"Kuro-chan! Oh-"
She cups her hands over her mouth in horror. Claudine is pinned on her side, crushing her right arm with the weight of the shelf pressing down over her ribs, waist, and legs. Mahiru cries out again.
"Kuro-chan!"
What she hadn't realized until now was that Claudine was conscious. Mahiru hears her make a pained sound in the back of her throat as she tries to lift her head, but she sputters. Her fingers tremble as she tries to use them, but she can't do anything. Mahiru quickly reaches out to cover Claudine's hand with hers.
"Kuro-chan!" Mahiru already feels tears dripping down her face as Claudine tilts her head to look up at her. Her hair is all strewn across her eyes, but Mahiru can still see the pain in them. Claudine gasps out a thin breath.
"M-Ma-hiru…" Her voice is strangled and all wrong, and just saying that much makes her wince and drop her head back down to the floor. Mahiru clutches onto her hand tighter.
"Kuro-chan!" Her heart twists terribly when she realizes just how hurt Claudine really is.
It's crushing her… she can't breathe-
"Kuro-chan-" Mahiru places one hand gently onto her shoulder, combing Claudine's hair aside. Claudine's gaze trembles as she looks up at her, and her eyes are ridden with pain and fear. Mahiru swallows thickly.
"I-I'm here-" she rasps. "Kuro-chan, I'm here. J-Just breathe, okay?"
Claudine looks like she has so much she wants to say, but she heeds Mahiru's words and saves her breath as much as she can.
Mahiru doesn't know what to do. She was hoping - praying - that someone else might've heard the crash and come running, but no one has.
I-I can't do this. I can't do anything to help her! Someone, please come! I can't do anything-!
Someone else. Anyone else would be better. Someone else would know what to do. But she… Mahiru is too scared.
I can't… I can't do anything-! I can't-
But even now, when she is in such unspeakable pain, and unable to even speak, Claudine shows Mahiru her support. She turns over her aching hand beneath hers, until she can lace their fingers slightly, weak as it is.
Mahiru gasps, tears falling all down her cheeks. It must take all of Claudine's strength just to open her eyes right now, but she does it for her, and with just one glance she conveys so much.
Her pain. Her fear. Her uncertainty.
But also, her hope. Her trust. Her belief.
In Mahiru.
Mahiru can see those things even more clearly than the others. Even though Claudine can't speak, she tells her everything in that quiet moment. And Mahiru stops crying long enough to receive that message.
What… have I been doing all this time…? Kuro-chan has been helping me become more confident… to believe in myself… She's the person who supports me the most, and she's hurting so badly right now… I can't rely on anyone else. No one is coming. I'm the only one who can help her right now. Me.
It's scary. Truly terrifying. Because she knows Claudine is already hurt, and every second she stays beneath that shelf it's only getting worse.
But what's even more dreadful is knowing that Mahiru had already wasted so much time doing nothing for her, because she was too nervous.
"I'm sorry, Kuro-chan…" Mahiru returns the grip on her hand with a very different contact, one much firmer and sturdier. "I"m sorry… But it's okay now. I'm going to help you. I swear it."
She'd wasted enough time crying and being scared and hoping for someone else to come. Now she had to pick herself up and take action with her own two hands.
And with her voice.
Mahiru draws in the deepest breath she can muster, taking into account every practice Claudine had ever helped her with. She draws it up from her very core and projects her voice as if trying to shout out across an entire audience.
"Help! Someone, help!"
While she knows she may be the only one here right now and the only one able to do anything, she won't deny that having assistance from someone else would be the best outcome. But there's no guarantee anyone heard her or will come.
So Mahiru takes great care in moving herself away from Claudine before pushing herself to her feet.
She has to think clearly and logically. Although her heart is pounding, she can't let that fear consume her. She's a smart girl. She knows there are better options in such a situation other than crying and doing nothing. As a big sister, she's read up about how to handle all kinds of accidents that might happen around the house, and she was expected to be in control when her parents were away. She has to be confident in her choices, because it's for someone else's sake.
She already knows she won't be able to lift the shelf on her own.
But there's so much stuff in this room that could help me…
She scours the place, thinking quickly back to the list she'd seen and where each object had been. The closest she can find is a prop tree about three feet tall, which she wrestles out from underneath several other things. It's a bit thin, but made of real wood. She calls out for help again as she grabs it.
"Someone! Is anyone there? Please help us!"
She doesn't know when or if someone else might be passing by, so she opts to keep shouting as loudly as her voice can carry.
Once she has the tree she hurries back to Claudine. She's still wheezing terribly, her eyes squeezed shut in agony. Mahiru lowers her voice for a moment to call out to her.
"Kuro-chan? It's okay. I'm gonna try to move the shelf. If you feel you can move at any time please try to get out."
Claudine flashes her eyes open briefly and gives the tiniest nod.
Mahiru wedges the base of the prop tree beneath the bookshelf just a few inches away from Claudine's body, making sure it's secure. She calls out for help again as she gives a mighty push down on her side, trying to leverage the shelf.
But to her dismay it doesn't even budge. Mahiru pushes harder, and she can even see Claudine trying to push up with her good arm, but to no avail. Claudine slumps back down to the floor, more breathless than before. Mahiru drops down beside her, rubbing a hand gently across her shoulders.
"It's okay-" she says, making sure her voice doesn't tremble. "Don't push yourself, Kuro-chan. Just take it easy. Breathe as deeply as you can." She knows Claudine is already trying her best to do that, but Mahiru doesn't know what else to say to comfort her.
Mahiru swallows. She has to try something else.
There are several things that had fallen on top of the bookshelf, adding to its weight. She quickly grabs whatever she can and starts clearing things away. A few chairs and a table had weighed down one corner, so she shoves all of that away as hard as she can, then removes a fallen box and several other random objects. It doesn't feel like much, but she just hopes it's enough to lift the shelf.
I don't need to move the whole thing. Just lift it up enough for Kuro-chan to pull herself out.
Mahiru draws in another deep breath and screams.
"Help! Anyone, please help!"
She's the only one who can call for help, the only one who can move things, the only one who can help Claudine.
Me. No one else. I can do this. I have to.
Little by little over the months, she'd started to believe in herself as Claudine had. Now, more than ever, Mahiru needs to have faith in her own abilities.
Once she's cleared every last obstruction off the shelf, Mahiru hurries back to Claudine's side. She crouches beside her again to touch her face very, very gently.
By now Claudine can barely open her eyes, and when she does they're dizzy and foggy. Her breath is coming in shorter and thinner, and leaving her just as quickly.
Mahiru's heart sinks, but she tries not to let the dread into her tone.
"It's okay, Kuro-chan. Don't give up. Just stay with me. Please." Mahiru leans forward and leaves a kiss on top of her head, then pushes herself back up to her feet.
Though her heart is racing, her mind is rigidly clear. She doesn't have much time left and she knows it.
Crying out again for help, Mahiru grabs a chair and wedges the back of it beneath the shelf beside the prop tree. Balancing her hands on the seat of the chair, she rests her shoe on the edge of the tree, and then at the same time pushes down on both.
Now, with nothing else on top of the shelf to weigh it down, and two things beneath it to push it up, it heaves. Mahiru grits her teeth, but doesn't let up the amount of force she's using. She flashes her gaze to Claudine, where the shelf has lifted up off of her by several inches. Claudine gasps, wincing at the pain it must bring her, but her eyes flutter open as Mahiru calls for her.
"Kuro-chan! Can you move?"
Claudine grunts in response and pushes herself with all her might, panting as she drags herself across the floor. She frees her torso, then her waist and her thighs. Mahiru holds steady with all her strength, until she can't physically hold any longer. She falls, letting go of the chair and prop, and the shelf comes crashing back down. Only Claudine's shins and feet remain underneath, but the space is still enough for the shelf not to touch them.
Mahiru shoves herself back up and hurries to her side, gathering Claudine in her arms as carefully as she can before pulling her out the rest of the way. She sobs, letting loose all the tears she'd been holding back all this time.
"Oh thank goodness- Kuro-chan! Kuro-chan?" Mahiru doesn't know where she's hurt, so she tries not to touch her more than is necessary to hold her in her lap. Claudine's right arm is limp, and every breath she takes seems to cause her pain. But Mahiru is just thankful she's breathing enough on her own.
"Kuro-chan? Kuro-chan-?" More and more tears drip off her face and land on Claudine's uniform. "I'm so sorry… it's all my fault…"
Claudine can't speak, but she does manage to open her eyes just a little. She's still gasping a bit, but Mahiru can see her lips curve into a small smile as she shakes her head. Then, tears start flowing from her eyes as well, and her chest jolts with hiccups. Mahiru crumbles over her, softly holding her close.
"Kuro-chan…"
And it's weak and barely anything, but she hears a faint reply.
"Mahiru…"
And then Claudine falls limp. Mahiru chokes.
"Kuro-chan…" She hugs her shoulders gently, wishing she could take away her pain. Mahiru knows she can't move her, but she refuses to leave her alone, too. So all she can do is shout.
"Help! Someone, please!"
She yells as loud as she can, until her voice breaks, ridden with sobs.
And then, the pounding of footsteps.
"Tsuyuzaki-san-?" Maya comes skidding into the doorway, her eyes wide and frazzled. "Did something-" She gasps when she sees the wreckage inside, and Mahiru on her knees crying with Claudine unconscious in her arms. "S-Saijou-san-?"
"Tendo-san!" Mahiru wails. "Please call for help! Kuro-chan is hurt-!"
Maya doesn't need any more than that before she's already sprinting off. Mahiru sobs, relieved that help will be coming for Claudine soon, but also still shaken overall by the ordeal.
I hope it was enough… I hope Kuro-chan will be all right… oh, please…
Mahiru sobs and holds her close until the teachers arrive with news of an ambulance on the way. Mahiru lies Claudine down gently and moves away to let the professionals do their job.
But the moment all of her friends come to gather around her, she breaks down crying like never before.
A/N: Was the entire premise of creating this story based around the idea of 'Claudine gets pinned/trapped beneath fallen stage equipment and someone has to save her'? Absolutely not hahaha...
But I am glad that I decided to make this into a Mahikuro story! There's so much I wanted to explore and discuss about Mahiru in particular.
Please review!