Maya has been presented with an amazing opportunity - one that could actually allow her to set foot into the world of theater that her situation robbed her of. But is it a blessing, or a curse...?

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

Chapter 13. Chance Of A Lifetime

The Aspiring Playwrights don't pull any punches, so to speak, nor do they mess around.

On only Maya's first day meeting the group and her future coworkers, she is presented with a detailed schedule, full of expectations, deadlines, and all sorts of other stressful items. She understood the premise however; those who were too overwhelmed or taken aback by such a syllabus would never make it in this cut-throat industry, so her superiors' goal was to weed out the lost causes right from the start.

But Maya would not befall such a fate. She meets them head-on, with determination and the promise of whole-hearted commitment.

She believes she makes a decent first impression on the majority of the team, and by the time their first official session is over, Maya is one of only seven new members who had remained out of the ten who had been brought in today. And the following day, only four of those seven show up again.

Feeling accomplished as to having passed the first of their tests, Maya dives headfirst into the work. She refuses to be intimidated by the presence of her higher-ups. Though of course she shows them all due respect, she isn't afraid to speak up to them and ask for assistance or for their opinions. Her lack of hesitation in doing such things earns her a few respectable smiles from the older members.

By her third day, Maya feels as though she's making real progress in workshopping the new script they're all collaborating on. Being back in the theatre industry, even if it isn't exactly in the kind of role she'd always been hoping for, proves to be freeing for her. At long last, she feels as though she can finally pour her heart and soul into her work, since it is a field she is truly passionate about. Unlike the humanities and technology lectures she'd been forced to take at her university, this is the sort of thing she was born to do.

Though she couldn't sing or act or dance like the performers would, she can still envision how every movement would go, how each of her lines would be projected, how all of the emotions she was striving to convey would be interpreted…

It made her feel more fulfilled than anything she could remember doing in the past three years.

And yet… It also makes her feel incredibly sad.

Because she would never be the one acting out these scenes.

She would never be the one conveying these emotions.

She would never be the one projecting her voice in song, or astounding the audience with her performance…

It was all very bittersweet. She just hoped she could allow it to be more sweet than bitter…

Due to the intensive nature of her new work, Maya sticks to just texting and calling Claudine for the first several nights, keeping her updated on what she's been doing.

It works for Claudine as well, because she ends up staying late with her coworkers just about every night that week to rehearse.

But though they're both presently being swamped with work, it's always a nice feeling to see a text waiting for them at the end of the day.

On Thursday night, once Maya is certain that Claudine is able to answer, she calls. Claudine had just been finishing up drying her hair after her shower when she hears her phone chime.

"Bonjour," she says. "How was day 4 of being a playwright, Tomita-san~?"

Maya chuckles.

"Exhausting. But in a positive way, if that's possible."

"I understand. It's the same with practicing to have the lead role."

"Such pride," Maya teases her. "But you've earned it."

"As have you," Claudine replies. "May I inquire about the plot of this script you're working on?"

"Well, I can't reveal too much at the moment. But I can tell you the genre is romantic fantasy."

"Oh, sounds interesting! So, you like it, then?"

Maya hesitates for a moment to answer Claudine's question. Of course she liked it. It was a job in theatre after all. But… it wasn't exactly the role she wanted…

"Yes…" she offers eventually. "I do enjoy it."

Perhaps Claudine senses that hesitation. But for the sake of not digging up any more complicated feelings on the matter, she doesn't press her further.

They chat for a while about their respective work. And even though it's proven to be quite the stressful week for both of them, they still end up smiling to themselves by the end of the call.

"I'm glad for you, Maya," Claudine says in earnest. "I really am."

Maya's heart swells.

"I appreciate it, Claudine. Thank you."

A pause. Maya hears her release a tiny sigh. Then-

"Maya…?"

"Yes…?"

"...Would it be all right if I saw you tomorrow? I understand if you're busy, but-"

The conversation sounds very familiar, only with their roles reversed. Maya cuts her off with a good-natured laugh.

"Yes, of course. I have no plans tomorrow night. I would love to have you over."

Claudine sighs again. She'd been worried that they might both get so invested in their work that they might have to sacrifice their time together. Just considering it had made her chest tighten.

But now, hearing that Maya is just as eager to see her again as Claudine herself is, she breathes a sigh of relief.

"All right. Then I'll see you tomorrow."

"Right."

They chat for a while longer, then wish each other goodnight before hanging up.

Lying in bed alone that night, each of them has to admit they can't wait for tomorrow night instead.

The following day at her internship, Maya learns the importance of the more business side of script and play-writing.

Not only did the scripts they pitch need to be entertaining, engaging, and loyal to any source material, but they also needed to appeal to significant sponsors. It was crucial for a smaller, tight-knit group like Maya's to be recognized and respected by larger names and companies, because their support and sponsorships would be highly important in terms of marketing their work and ensuring future successes.

It's a part of the job she'd never really had much interest in. She would rather have been at center-stage rather than behind the scenes. But given her situation, this was as good as she was ever going to get.

Maya spends the day learning about how to politely yet firmly solicit her group's talents to prospective sponsors. She even sends out a few emails and makes a few calls herself in an effort to win someone over.

Unfortunately, by the end of the day, no one on her team had found any takers. But the plan was to just get started and comfortable with the process today, then put their full efforts into it beginning next week.

Maya is released for the day, and after bidding her superiors and coworkers goodnight, hurries home to get ready to host Claudine. Maya had offered to come pick her up, but Claudine had decided that she wouldn't mind the walk and the bus ride.

Once she's made it home, Maya checks the time. 6:00PM. She has an hour before Claudine should be here, so Maya uses her spare time to tidy the place up a bit.

As she's going about her apartment, however, the effects of the long, stressful, yet exciting week finally start to take a toll on her. She finds she can't stop yawning, and her bed is looking awfully appealing. She caves and decides to lie down for a nap, though she sets a few alarms in her phone so she won't miss Claudine's arrival.

Maya is out almost the moment her head touches the pillow. And she actually sleeps through her alarm twice. When she does finally rouse herself, she realizes just how exhausted she'd been. She feels a bit better now, but is certain she'll want to go to bed early tonight.

"I'll have to warn her," she mumbles to herself. "I probably won't last even until 10…"

Maya only has about ten minutes left until Claudine should be arriving, but she recalls she hasn't showered yet. Grabbing some clothes quickly, Maya hurries into the bathroom and starts the water…

As for Claudine, she has a lot on her mind as she takes the bus to Maya's part of town that evening. She's excited to finally see Maya again after a week; and it had been Maya's first week of real work as a playwright to boot.

Claudine is equal parts thrilled and worried for her. She knows Maya has been wanting something like this for years - any sort of involvement with theatre if she couldn't have the spotlight directly. It was clear that she'd been entirely committed.

Such was the Maya that Claudine had always known. She always put her all into the things she loved, body and soul. There's no doubt in Claudine's mind that she's been pushing herself to and beyond her limits during her first week. Which is why she's a bit worried for her.

"That woman…" she mutters as the bus comes rolling to a halt. "I've gotta keep an eye on her so she doesn't make herself sick." Claudine dips her head to the driver as she exits the bus, then begins her brief walk down the sidewalk toward Maya's apartment complex.

By the time she makes her way up the stairs, she arrives at Maya's door at 7:00 on the dot. She knocks the usual pattern of four that she always used, then waits.

Then she waits a bit more…

Claudine draws in a deep breath.

No… not now…

It had been a while since something like this had happened and caused her anxiety to flare. Claudine breathes and tries to think logically.

She probably just fell asleep or is still in the shower…

Logic. It's what she'd promised to turn to in times like this.

But… But what if something had happened…?

"Come on-" she mumbles. "Just open the door…"

Claudine knocks again, a bit more forcefully, but there's still no response. She fumbles into her bag for her phone and shakily swipes out a message:

I'm here. Please tell me you're okay.

She hates it. She hates how obsessive it makes her feel to send that message. But she just can't help it.

Claudine's heart begins to pound, until it's slamming hard enough for her to feel it in her throat.

She knocks again. And again-

"Claudine!"

It's always like this. She always overreacts and panics, and it's always for nothing. Because Maya always comes to her just a few moments later with an apologetic cry of her name.

She's standing there before her now in a fluster, with her clothes skewed as though they'd hastily been put on, and her hair still dripping wet.

"I'm sorry-" she says. "I lost track of the time."

"Bon sang…" Claudine hisses out the curse through grit teeth as she tries to get her bearings.

Maya frowns as she gathers Claudine into her arms and leads her inside. She holds her for a moment, murmuring apologies into her hair. Claudine clings onto her, but manages to hold back the tears.

After a moment, they put the mishap behind them and try to strike up conversation as usual.

"So…" Claudine says after clearing her throat. "How was your first week?"

Maya cracks a smile.

"Challenging. Wonderful. Enthralling."

"Good. I'm happy for you, Maya."

"Thank you. Truly."

The remainder of their evening continues as usual. Claudine pulls Maya into a celebratory dance, which they haven't gotten to do in over a week. They twirl around the living room together, once again following no pattern in particular. They simply move how their bodies want to move, keeping in time with one another.

When finished, they eat their supper together, which Maya had ordered and Claudine had paid for, as promised. They sit on the couch and pick at some snacks for dessert.

Claudine listens intently as Maya describes the day's work of appealing to sponsors, occasionally offering her commentary every now and again. But it's only 9 o'clock when Maya begins to yawn every other sentence. Chuckling, Claudine decides it's time for bed. She pulls Maya up to her feet.

"Come on. You need to sleep."

Maya yawns again as she attempts a protest, but follows her nonetheless.

"But… I haven't seen you all week. I want to spend more time with you…"

"I'm flattered," Claudine muses. "Really. But you're about to keel over." She brings Maya to the bed and has her lie down. "I'm quite tired myself tonight, so I don't mind."

Maya hums a little whine, but the moment Claudine is lying down beside her, she accepts the early bedtime. She pulls Claudine into her arms and lets out a dreamy sigh.

"I can't believe it…" she whispers. "With this, I can finally work in theatre again…"

Claudine curls her arms around Maya's shoulders.

"You deserve it."

"As do you," Maya murmurs. "You deserve the lead role… I can't wait to watch you next week… You'll be so radiant…"

Claudine feels her face warm up a little. She closes her eyes.

"And I can't wait for you to see me."

Maya lets out another yawn, and then she's drifting off.

Just one more week and she'll be able to see Claudine star in the lead role with her dream troupe.

And after that, Maya would summon up the courage to ask her out officially…

Next Friday couldn't come swiftly enough.

Come Monday, the countdown to one of the biggest days of their lives has begun.

For Claudine, Friday would be one of the most significant days in her career so far, to once again be carrying a performance as the leading role for Theatre du Flamme.

And for Maya, not only would she get to watch Claudine perform live again in such an outstanding role, but she would also be confessing her feelings shortly afterward.

Due to the weight of Friday's upcoming events, both Maya and Claudine dedicate their full time and attention to their work once again this week.

Claudine stays late every single night perfecting her role while the rest of the cast and crew ensure that the performance will go smoothly in terms of audio, visuals, and audience comfort.

As for Maya, she spends the next several days juggling between various meetings and workshops, while simultaneously reaching out to solicit and entice sponsors. There was one in particular she was aiming for; a sponsor for Asian food and drink here in Europe. To have him on her side when Maya herself was Japanese, and when the events of her script had been majorly inspired by her own culture, would have been a great asset and selling point.

However, her colleagues had warned Maya from the start that he was a very difficult person to get into contact with, and even then he was often far too busy to accept or attend any sort of meetings.

But even so, Maya tries. She spends two whole days, including evenings at home, writing up a pitch to send to him, and waits eagerly all day Wednesday to hear back.

But she never gets a response, not even by the end of the work day, so she has no choice but to continue and move on.

That night, she and Claudine call briefly before bed to discuss the week's events thus far.

"Are you getting enough rest?" Claudine asks her. "I know you've been obsessing over this sponsor for days now, and I hope you hear back. But it's no use if you make yourself sick in the process."

Maya chuckles, and a wave of warmth floods through her chest.

"I appreciate your concern. But it's you who should be worried about getting proper rest. You are the lead, after all."

"I know what I'm doing," Claudine huffs. "Just you wait. Come Friday, I'll show you a performance that'll knock you out of your seat."

"I know you will. I look forward to it, Claudine. Additionally, reservations for our dinner afterward have been finalized."

"Right. I still can't believe you got us a table there! Who did you have to solicit for that?"

"I have my ways."

They giggle and talk for a while longer, until both of them begin to yawn.

"Well," Claudine hums. "That's our cue."

"Indeed." Maya is already lying down in her bed. "Goodnight, Claudine. I'll talk to you again tomorrow."

"Bonne nuit, Maya."

The call ends, and Maya closes her eyes.

Two more days, and she'll finally be able to ask Claudine to be her girlfriend. She gets too excited to even think about the things they'd do after that, should Claudine accept.

Maya needs to reel herself in enough to calm down and actually fall asleep.

The following day is hectic for the both of them.

Claudine and her troupe discover a faulty outlet, which had been providing electricity for a good portion of their lighting equipment. It isn't that it's unfixable, but just an added bit of stress and pressure the day before a major performance. There's a great deal of rushing around and anxious shouting as everyone helps to move things around, clear the area, and make way for the new outlet to be installed.

Even Claudine offers to assist, but her colleagues refuse to risk anything happening to her, so they don't allow it.

Instead, Claudine runs through another full rehearsal with her co-stars, first without the faulty lighting; in case it fails tomorrow on the day of the performance, they need to be able to continue the show regardless.

But by noon, everything is fixed and working, so they run through the show a second time.

After that, there is a meeting about tomorrow, where Claudine and her entire team discuss how things will go as per usual. She was used to these sort of things, but never before with her as the star of such a major play.

By the time she is released to go home, Claudine is filled with a churning mixture of apprehension and excitement. All she'd wanted was to finish up the long stressful day and check her phone to find Maya's usual texts waiting for her.

But there aren't any today. Not in the afternoon, and not even by the time Claudine has returned to her apartment, showered, and eaten dinner.

It's fine, she tells herself. She's busy. Everything's fine…

She's sick of feeling so possessive and panicked over things like this. She knows Maya has a lot more work to handle now, and that she wouldn't always be able to call or text like Claudine might've hoped.

So as desperately as she wants to call Maya just to ensure everything is okay, Claudine refrains, hoping it will be for her own benefit when Maya undoubtedly responds to her normally and sees her at the performance tomorrow.

With great effort - and great anxiety - on her part, Claudine puts her phone down without contacting Maya, though she does leave her volume on high.

I need to focus on myself and get some rest. And then tomorrow I'll show her a performance she'll never forget.

And so, for the first time since she'd found Maya again, Claudine goes to bed that night without hearing a word from her.

All of Thursday, Maya is swamped in her work with the Playwrights.

She discovered that a script she had written and printed out for every single member of the group contained a typo long after she'd already finished preparing them. After confessing this to a trusted colleague, Maya had been advised to fix it for the sake of looking professional in front of her superiors.

But Maya knew that reprinting upwards of fifty copies of a 20-page script would have been an atrocious waste of paper and ink. If anyone found out she'd done that, she would likely be reprimanded.

Therefore, Maya gathers and goes through each and every script by hand to correct the errors, whiting-out the faulty spot and re-writing it with painstaking care and neatness. It's an arduous, time-consuming process, and she still has other work to do and emails to send on top of it all.

Once again, she feels that prickle of doubt wriggling its way into her chest. Doubt that this is the path she wanted to be on… This type of work…

She could do it. That wasn't the issue. It was a matter of if she really wanted to or not.

But again, it was the only job in this industry she could possibly accept right now - and perhaps the only one she would ever be lucky enough to be offered. If she wanted to stay in this industry that she loved so dearly, she might just have to settle for this role.

And at least in her current situation, she can overlook some of the things that have her second-guessing her career choices. Because she'd already been approved to take a half-day tomorrow so that she would be able to see Claudine's afternoon performance. Doing all of this work now felt like it was making up for the time off she'd be enjoying tomorrow.

All in all, Maya somehow manages to make it through fixing all of the scripts in time, and is even praised by one of her superiors who recognized her efforts.

As a way to apologize for her blunder, Maya stays later than usual to help clean up. She doesn't get home until about 7PM, at which point she eats, showers, and crashes into bed.

By the time she thinks to check her phone, she's worried that Claudine might have been trying to contact her in a fluster.

But to her surprise, Maya finds no missed calls or new texts waiting for her. She's relieved that there was no evidence of Claudine feeling distressed about not hearing from her today, though Maya knows she should probably still reach out to her anyway. She types out a quick message:

Today went well. I can't wait to see you tomorrow.

She clicks Send, but for whatever reason the message doesn't display as Delivered.

She waits, but even after a moment it doesn't seem to go through. This happened from time to time if the service in town was faulty, but it would typically go through within the hour.

So Maya puts her phone aside and closes her eyes, mentally preparing herself for tomorrow's events.

With any luck, 24 hours from now she would have a girlfriend.

The following morning, Maya hardly even has time to be excited about the upcoming events for this afternoon.

Because she realizes she'd missed her first alarm and slept in. It wasn't bad enough that she risked being late, but she has to hurry about her routine and skip breakfast just to be safe.

By the time she makes it to the building, Maya arrives only a few minutes shy of her usual time, and dives right into things.

She works through the morning, eager to get released early at 1PM so she can make Claudine's performance at 2. She skips lunch and works through the hour to get a few more things done.

The anticipation mounts higher and higher as 1PM draws nearer. It's all she can do to keep her childish excitement contained while she's still in a professional environment.

The final half hour truly drags on, but when it's finally almost time, Maya begins packing up her work bag at 12:55 and wishes her coworkers goodbye for the weekend.

The moment she steps out of the building and into the sunny afternoon, that feeling of freedom for a brief vacation washes over her. It was only half a day, but it meant an extended weekend for her. And of course, she is eagerly anticipating Claudine's show tonight, and the dinner reservations after.

Maya makes the drive back to her apartment to have lunch, then promptly gets in the shower. She's making good time, as when she checks her phone as she's stepping out of the bath, it reads 1:32. That gave her just enough time to get dressed and head over to the theater to claim her seat a bit early.

She dries her hair as much as she can, then starts getting dressed in the comfortable, casual clothes she'd laid out in advance.

That's when her phone rings. And she had one-hundred percent been expecting it to be Claudine calling her to remind her directly to get herself over there early and be ready to get blown away by her performance.

But to her surprise, and confusion, Maya sees the caller ID not as Claudine's name, but one of her coworker's. Puzzled, Maya swipes and answers.

"Hello?"

"Maya! Thank god!"

It's Maya's closest acquaintance in the group, a woman two years her senior named Ana. She'd always been a serious person, but she had a carefree lively side as well. But currently, she just sounds like she's on the verge of shrieking.

Maya replies much more calmly.

"Ana-san? What's the matter?"

"You did it!" Ana cries. "You actually freaking did it! You're insane!"

Maya blinks.

"I beg your pardon?"

"That sponsor!" Ana shrieks. "He called back! And he wants a meeting!"

At first, the words don't even fully register with Maya. She just stands there, staring at her own half-dressed reflection. But on the other end of the call, she can hear both Ana and multiple other people in the background muttering in excitement.

Maya is utterly flabbergasted. But as the genuine reactions of her colleagues register in her mind, her heart begins to pound.

"Do… Do you mean it…?"

"Yes!" Ana squeals. "Maya, this is huge! No one's ever managed to get him before! We have to accept!"

"O-Of course."

"Perfect! We'll confirm with him right now!"

Maya waits for a moment as the other end of the line becomes muffled with excited chatter. Maya is so dumbfounded she needs to sit down on the edge of the sink for a moment. This was exceptional news. This was her chance-

"Maya?" Ana's voice calls her back into the moment.

"Yes?"

"Okay! We're on! You'd better get on your best dress!"

At those words, Maya's eagerly-pounding heart begins to sink.

"Eh…? What do you mean?"

"I mean get on your best dress! Right now!"

"Now…?"

"Yes! We're meeting him and his team for an early dinner at 2. I'll send you the address-"

"W-Wait," Maya all but whimpers. "This meeting is today…? But I-"

"Listen, Maya," Ana says sternly. "I know you had plans, and I'm sorry about that. But this is massive. The chance of a lifetime! Do you understand? This guy's entire schedule is booked for the next three months. He's only giving us this chance right now because he had to cancel an appointment."

Maya says nothing. Her coworker must sense her hesitancy, because Ana continues.

"Maya, please. Think about this realistically. From a professional perspective. This is a significant opportunity not just for you, but for the whole team. We have to do this, and we need you there."

Maya's chest aches, but she can't deny the truth in those words.

"I understand. I will be there promptly."

"Good. And who knows, if it's over in time, maybe you can still make the end of that play you were going to."

Maya's shoulders slump.

"Right…"

"Sorry," Ana says. "We'll all owe you one for this, Maya. I'll send you the address in a sec. See you there."

With this, Ana hangs up.

Maya is left to configure the mess of emotions buzzing through her head and her heart right now. She'd been looking forward to Claudine's performance for weeks…

And now, more than ever, Maya is made to question her choices in career.

She'd been trying to ignore it for the past few weeks, but she could never fully shake that feeling that she wasn't entirely happy with where she presently was. Lucky, perhaps, and she should probably be grateful for an opportunity to work in theatre at all.

But it just… wasn't the same as what she used to know…

Was this really what she wanted to do with her life…?

Regardless of her own feelings, though, she knows her coworker has a point; this is a very rare and important opportunity. If Maya, as the lead script writer and the one who had reached out in the first place, doesn't attend, it will jeopardize and tarnish not only her reputation, but her entire team's.

She has to go.

So she quickly sheds the comfortable clothes and hurries into her bedroom to scour her closet for a more formal dress. She chooses one of a deep blue color, with a light shawl across the shoulders, before stepping into a pair of black heels.

She brushes her hair as thoroughly as she can given her time limit, then ties it into a formal bun with her ribbon, letting just a few long locks at the front hang free to frame her face. She grabs her hand bag, checking to ensure she has all of the necessary notes and paperwork for such a gathering.

When she checks the time, it reads 1:46. She frantically tries to remember where she'd put her phone so she could at the very least send Claudine a message to briefly explain why she would be late, or even absent altogether this afternoon.

But before she can even swipe to her conversation with Claudine, a new message from Ana pops up.

I called you a taxi so you'd make it to the hotel on time. It should be there now. See you soon!

Shocked, Maya hurries to her window and pulls the curtains aside to find a yellow car pulled over outside her apartment, waiting. She hurriedly gathers her things before locking her apartment and rushing down the stairs to meet the car.

The driver already knows the address and takes off before Maya has even fully buckled herself.

Now that she finally has a few moments, she knows she has to text Claudine to tell her what's going on. But when Maya pulls out her phone again, she finds it completely dead.

"Oh no…"

Her chest tightens and her heart aches. She knows how worried Claudine gets. But worst of all, Maya truly feels like she's letting her down by not coming to her performance.

"I'm sorry…" she murmurs quietly.

She'll make it up to her. At the very least, she should make it to their dinner plans tonight and be able to explain everything to her. But unfortunately, that would just have to wait.

Maya sits in uncomfortable silence the rest of the way to the restaurant, feeling a tightness festering around in her stomach. But she has to ignore it for now.

The taxi arrives and pulls over outside the hotel at 1:58. Maya thanks the driver and steps out, drawing in a deep, deep breath.

"I'm sorry, Claudine…"

She bites her lip, refusing to let it tremble or to let the tears begin to fall right as she's about to appear before a very important group of people. Her heart throbs with protest, but she steps forward regardless.

The distant chime of a clock tower rings out for 2:00.

And Maya tries to ignore the fact that she isn't where she wants to be the most…

A/N: I did my best to try and get inside Claudine's mind to write her anxious attachment tendencies. I hope you can understand her trauma and fear, and also her logical side warring with that.

Of course, everything goes right - and then wrong all at the same time for Maya... She has an amazing opportunity, but no way to contact Claudine about the change of schedule. What will this mean for Claudine...?

Please review!