Thanks for giving Witness Protection AU a shot! I hope you'll like what we have in store...

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.


Chapter 2. Coming To Terms

That night, Claudine showers alone for the first time in months.

It feels so strange not to have Maya in the stall beside hers, singing and chatting with her.

But she knows she only has herself to blame for feeling that loneliness. Actually, she's mostly just so heated and hurt that she doesn't notice how lonely she is until after she'd gotten dressed.

It's in the changing room, when Claudine sits down on one of the stools and expectantly waits for her hair to be tended to, when it really hits her. It's almost as if she'd been ready to rant and rave to Maya about how unbelievable the situation was, only to realize that made no sense, since Maya was the one she was upset with.

Once she remembers that Maya won't be here to dry her hair for her this time, Claudine huffs as she picks up the dryer for herself and gets to work.

During her shower, she'd done a great deal of muttering and cursing in French. But only now that she's out of the water do the tears finally start to come, and she has no effective method of washing them away.

"Idiot… That stupid, thoughtless woman…"

It still hurts. The pain is still too fresh for her to even begin to hope to think clearly.

Instead, she just tries to think about her vacation ahead, seeing her parents again, what she plans to do when she returns home, where she wants to go…

Without her fully realizing it, those thoughts soon begin to include Maya.

The two of them touring France together, seeing the famous sites and monuments, the beautiful cities, the humble forestry…

Claudine had hoped that could become a reality as early as the following year, if Maya could come to visit her…

But she'd made it very clear tonight that that wasn't going to happen.

As her thoughts redirect her to the fight, Claudine ends up burning herself slightly with the dryer. She quickly turns it off, rubbing the sore spot on the back of her neck. Maya had never once burned her, or even came close. She was always so careful, so gentle…

Claudine sniffles as she picks up her hair brush and starts combing through her locks. The more she tries not to think of Maya, the more she keeps appearing in Claudine's mind.

Claudine eventually leaves the changing room and heads back to her dorm, hurrying past Maya's door particularly quickly. She rechecks her bags for tomorrow morning, sets her alarm, then crawls into bed. She subconsciously moves to one side of the bed rather than laying in the middle, as she'd gotten so used to having someone else in bed with her.

She can't even remember the last night she'd slept without Maya beside her.

And she doesn't really end up sleeping tonight, either.

Claudine is at-odds with herself. She's still angry at Maya, but the guilt for yelling at her in front of everyone is already starting to eat away at her, too. She regrets the timing of it all, how it had completely ruined their plans to spend this last night together before Maya would come with her to catch her flight.

Now, Claudine wakes cold and alone at 4AM, wordlessly getting ready instead of whispering to Maya or leaning against her. After getting her coat on and stepping into her boots, Claudine takes her suitcase and leaves her room by herself.

As she passes by Maya's door, her heart throbs painfully.

She wants to knock. She wants to apologize.

But with the way she'd acted last night, she assumes Maya probably doesn't want to see her right now. It would probably be best for Claudine to just go and for them to spend some time apart as planned.

She debates at least sending Maya a goodbye text - a promise that they'd talk properly once she returned.

But she's scared. She'd never done anything like this before - never faced the unknown future of graduation, spending most of their years apart, all while struggling to understand their feelings for one another. She doesn't know the right answer, or if there is one at all.

So she simply does what's easiest, and does nothing.

Claudine exits Starlight Hall in the early hours of the morning, presenting her papers of permission to leave campus to the woman at the front desk before heading toward the bus stop.

The town is quiet and cold and dark. Even on the bus no one is speaking, and the voice announcing each stop sounds far too loud and jarring. She imagines what it would've been like if Maya had been there beside her, holding her hand or pulling her close to keep her warm.

When the bus arrives at the airport, the world comes to life a bit more. There are more people here bustling about to get their tickets and catch their flights. It's not as chaotic as it would've been in the daytime, but there's still just an odd feeling about everything at this hour.

Claudine goes through the motions on autopilot, waiting on the lines, paying for her ticket, gathering her luggage, then sitting and waiting outside a cafe before heading to her terminal. Had Maya been there with her, all of it would've felt so much more adventurous and thrilling. But doing it all alone is just a chore.

When her flight begins to board, Claudine has no one to say goodbye to, no one to hug, and no one to wish her well.

She has one last chance to send a text.

But when she pulls out her phone, Claudine recoils. She doesn't even open it before putting it right back into her pocket. After how she'd behaved last night, and after what she'd said to Maya, she'd be the worst kind of hypocrite to be the one to reach out to her first now.

So she sniffles in a hard breath to keep the tears at bay, then boards her flight.


Claudine only sleeps for a little while in the air.

Where she should be filled with excitement and glee to see her parents again, she's now weighed down by anxiety and remorse. Not even seeing her birthplace country again sparks quite the same joy within her soul.

When she steps off her plane to find her parents waiting there for her, she cries more from her regrets about her strained relationship with Maya than from the joy of seeing them again. Though, when she starts talking to her parents and hearing just how proud of her they are for her college aspirations, she does start to feel a little better.

They take her home, where the three of them have lunch and relax together. Claudine makes herself comfortable in her old childhood bedroom, and tries to enjoy her trip.

It's still hard to sleep at night, but she does start to enjoy herself during the daytime as she and her parents travel about and spend time together, going shopping in town, visiting some refurbished museums, and dining at some new restaurants.

But it's the same everywhere she goes; Claudine can't help but picture herself doing all of these things with Maya at her side. She wants to do all of these things with Maya, and more. Spending the week apart from her, after having parted on such sour terms, makes Claudine realize as much.

And even more importantly, she understands and admits why she wants to do all of these things with Maya...

Perhaps she'd admitted it to herself a long time ago. But now she feels she should admit it out loud to Maya as well.

Even if it meant they'd only be starting something a few months before they'd need to part ways for college, she hoped it would benefit them to establish and solidify these feelings now, before their futures could interfere too much. It's her hope that confessing their feelings now will allow them to work through the barrier of distance that would come, and permit them to continue communicating and finding ways to see one another with the motivation of being lovers rather than just friends.

It's a few days before her return flight to Japan when Claudine decides what she's going to do.

First and foremost, she's going to apologize to Maya, deeply and sincerely, for how she'd acted so selfishly, blinded by her own biases. She'd been unable to see the merit in Maya's explanation at the time. Until she could get a scholarship to come through, Maya was just another broke college student who was relying on her famous family's finances for support, since Maya herself was not working and wouldn't likely have the time to get a job so soon after starting university. Of course her strict parents wouldn't condone the expenses of her flying off to France multiple times a year.

Now that she's had the time to cool off and think it all over, Claudine realizes how she'd been in the wrong to be so accusatory and so harsh with Maya.

So as soon as she gets home, she's going to apologize.

And if she knows Tendo Maya like she believes she does, she knows Maya will forgive her.

Judging by the atmosphere between them from that point on, Claudine would find the right time and place to confess her honest feelings for Maya. Then, hopefully they could enjoy the remainder of their time at Seishou Academy together as a couple, and then have their relationship persist after graduation as well.

After all, they'd been kindling this flame for close to three years now, on and off the stage, after school in their private studio practices, and while fighting for their lives on the giraffe's stage. After all they'd been through, they deserved an honest, open, happy future together.

And so, Claudine steels herself.

When she finally says farewell to her parents and boards her flight back to Japan, she is nervous, but determined, to see this through.

She makes sure to sleep plenty on her flight. She should be arriving in Japan in the afternoon, so she wants to be fully rested when she sees Maya again and has this important conversation with her.

Tendo Maya… Just wait for me a little longer…


When her plane lands, Claudine doesn't even take out her phone to text her friends to let them know she'd returned. She just hurries out of the airport and takes the first bus she can catch back toward Seishou. It's an overcast day, but the clouds are still holding off on the rain for now.

When Claudine exits the bus, she makes it all the way back to Starlight Hall before it starts to drizzle.

Their spring recess would still be going on for about three more days. She'd specifically wanted to come back and have a few days to recover from jet lag. Maya had also mentioned that she would only be going home to visit her parents for two or three days, so she would be back by now as well.

Claudine hurries the remainder of the way to the dorms through the rain, reaching the main entrance just in time before it really starts to come down. As she makes it in through the doors and into the main lobby, she lets out an accomplished sigh.

"Phew! Just in time!" She runs a hand back through her slightly-damp hair, smiling as she turns to face the kiosk to check back into campus.

But to her surprise, the woman who's usually sitting at the desk is nowhere to be found.

Claudine waits for a few moments, wondering if she'd gone to the restroom. During the time she's waiting, Claudine doesn't hear or see any other people. She chalks it up to it being spring break, so the majority of girls probably weren't back yet, and the ones that had stayed had likely remained in their dorms due to the weather.

But even after waiting close to ten minutes, the woman never appears at her desk.

Too anxious to wait any longer, Claudine simply digs out her paperwork, slips it under the glass, and leaves it there. She grabs her suitcase and hurries on into the dorms.

It's almost eerie going through the halls with most of the residents currently away. But Claudine knows for a fact there's a good amount of girls who hadn't left for the break.

And as she walks the halls, she doesn't see a single one of them. She doesn't even hear any voices giggling behind closed doors or chatting in the lounges.

Claudine tries not to think too much into it. But with each passing moment that she doesn't hear or see a single other soul, Claudine's heart begins to pound with unease.

And then she sees the flowers.

White flowers.

Some in little vases outside some of the doors.

Some left on the tables and counters in the lounges.

Some littered on the carpets with their petals strewn.

And deep, deep in the pit of her stomach, Claudine knows what those flowers mean. But she won't let herself believe it.

She drops her suitcase and runs.

Still, she sees and hears no one. Not until she rounds the corner and nears the lounge where she and her friends usually convene.

It's then when she hears the distant murmur of low, sorrowful voices.

Claudine races to the threshold and stumbles to a stop, rapidly counting the number of people in the room where the lights have been left off, lit only by several candles.

Eight.

Either other people are gathered in that room, and Claudine makes the ninth.

Karen.

Hikari.

Mahiru.

Futaba.

Kaoruko.

Junna.

Nana.

The eighth person is Professor Sakuragi; the stern, respectable instructor who had taught the 99th cohort diligently over the past 3 years, and helped shaped them into the successful young women they were today.

They're all dressed in dark, solemn colors. All silent.

They're so lost in dreadful sadness that they don't even notice Claudine's arrival right away. Not until she stumbles her way in, eyes wide in horror, heart trembling, voice pleading.

"Where is she…?"

Her words are small. Thin. Scared.

When the others look up and notice her, they all burst into tears at once. None of them can even find the strength to get up and go to her.

Claudine looks helplessly from each of them to the next, heart hammering throughout her chest. Only Professor Sakuragi is able to compose herself enough to stand and address her student.

"Saijou-san… Please, come sit down."

"Where is she-?" Claudine chokes again.

Her friends cry harder.

Her teacher lets out a long, sorrowful sigh.

It's already enough for Claudine to know the answer.

She staggers back, clutching at the wall with both hands, her lungs constricting and insides wrenching. Her teacher slowly approaches her, with that devastating calmness adults sometimes have, the impossible quietness in contrast to the absolute tumult of emotions crashing through Claudine's body in that instant.

"Saijou-san…" she says far too levelly. "I'm so sorry."

Claudine shakes her head.

She closes her eyes.

She covers her ears.

But her heart still hears the words.

"Tendo-san… Tendo Maya is dead."


A/N: Coming to terms... with her feelings, and the truth of a cruel reality...

Please review!