Welcome to Library Island! Thise is the site where I will post all of my FAVORITE and FINISHED fan fiction! (Just emphasizing, because in my konosetsu world, I sometimes post unfinished ones. ^^
So please, everybody, read them. This is my fiction world, but it may also contain some videos, and or pictuers. Sometimes.
set-chan
"Every time I look at you, I'm glad I chose both my sword and happiness. Because in doing so, I got to keep what was most precious to me, along with the means to protect it."
Title: Time of Happiness
Author: ChibiSecchan
Rating: PG-13
Category: AU, Crossover, Shoujo ai, romance (I guess)
Pairings: 95% Konoka + Setsuna (duh), 5% Asuna + Nodoka (don't ask)
Series Involved: Negima, Vandread
Warning: Bad grammar.
Remark: Response to my own Konosetsu Crossover Challenge
Note: The Vandread universe was just perfect for BL/GL pairings...If I've written one Gundam Wing (Heero + Duo) fic with this idea, why not make a Negima GL Version of it too?
Thanks OkashiraShinomori for beta-reading!
Crash Course on Vandread Universe ((Slight spoiler))
Basically, the story was set far away in the future, where human moved out of the no-longer-inhabitable Earth and settled down on different planets in the universe. In one particular galaxy, there were two planets which were in conflict with each other for over a century: Talark, a planet that was solely occupied by men, and Mejale, a planet that was solely occupied by women. By some accident, 3 Talark men got stranded onto the mothership of a group of Mejale pirates. And they discovered a new common enemy, blah blah blah...
Mejale is a beautiful planet. It may not be the most beautiful one in the entire universe, but no one can deny the flashiness and beauty of it.
Lights, buildings and its inhabitants. Everything was artfully designed.
But wherever there is light, there must be shadows along.
***************
Time of Happiness
Just a Random Konosetsu Fanfic
By Chou Nuriko/ChibiSecchan
***************
"They've done it again!"
"Look around! The rats must be nearby!"
Other pedestrians all looked at the angry restaurant owners, but none of them inquired what had happened to them or their shops.
After all, everyone knows what was happening to their society.
"It was the orphans again?"
"What else could it be? Poor kids, not only having their living quarters closed down, but also being separated from their parents and no one is willing to take care of them..."
The vanity of women leads to unnecessary flashiness. The very same flashiness led to the overuse of energy resources. And to save the limited resources they had, the government closed down the low-class living quarters at the city fringe. However, the government did nothing to help the inhabitants in re-settlement. On the contrary, they keep arresting those who demanded better treatment so that they would not be attacked by the public. Not that they had anyone fooled.
While the adults were locked away, their children were often left on the streets. These street children did not have any other choice except to steal for survival. The dark alleys of the streets and the slums became their home. They became outcasts of the society, yet they were still continuously being pursued by the government.
"Hehe, that was a close call. But this should be enough for a few days, shouldn't it?" A long-haired little girl--around 8 or 9 at most--looked at the simple food stuff in her arms and asked her companion cheerfully.
"It was really too close. That's why next time, Kono-chan you're not coming." The other girl, who had pulled her hair into a left-sided ponytail, replied.
"But we've pulled it off safely this time! I can handle it!" The long-haired girl protested with a cute pout. "Also...the others always said the adults would do bad things to us if we got caught...That makes me so worried whenever Secchan was out..."
Not knowing how to respond, she only gently led her friend through the complicated alleys without a word. Soon, they arrived at a very old abandoned building--so old that it seemed like a gentle breeze can knock the whole establishment off. Nothing much was inside except an equally old sofa and several sheets on the floor. On the sofa, another girl with twin ponytails was cleaning some fruits.
"Konoka, Setsuna! Is anything wrong? You two came back much later than usual! I thought the adults had..." The girl asked anxiously.
"Sorry about that, Asuna. But we got chased around three whole blocks." Konoka, the long-haired one, answered.
"The adults are getting more familiar with the alleys. We won't be able to stay here for long." Setsuna added.
The three girls were all solemn at that thought. The last time they escaped from the other squatter area, most of their friends were caught by the government.
"I heard from the other kids that another living unit is going to be closed down soon. We should leave here fast."
Just when Konoka and Setsuna were about to agree, they all saw a strange flash of light from the streets. They quickly hid themselves in the shadows, hoping no one would near their shelter. But their hopes were crushed when they heard footsteps from outside the door and a large figure entered, accompanied by another adult.
******
Gascogne and Rebecca surveyed the old building they were trespassing and they could not help but frown at the surrounding.
"Are you telling me someone's actually living in here? You're totally pulling my leg there, Rebecca." The taller woman of the two, Gascogne, glanced at her companion.
"Those kids we've taken in told us that there should be other street kids hiding in buildings like this. It's worth a look." Rebecca replied with an annoyed expression, as this conversation had repeated for the umpteenth time already. "I would say someone is definitely living in here, there is still fresh food around."
"Seems like it is." Gascogne agreed as she put down a paper bag. "But where would the occupants be?"
The Registry System Head turned around and saw Rebecca get knocked down by a small child.
******
"They came much faster than we'd expected. We need to sneak out." Setsuna stated in a very serious tone.
"But there are two of them! And there must be somebody else outside!" Asuna protested.
"I'll distract those two. Asuna, please get away with Kono-chan. If you two keep to the alleys, they shouldn't be able to catch you two."
"No way!"
"I'm not leaving Secchan here!"
Setsuna had not expected such protests from her best friends, but she tried to steel her mind and argued back. "There's no other way! If we don't do so, all of us could end up getting caught!"
"I don't want that!" Konoka exclaimed and lunged herself at Setsuna. "We've always been together...In the living units and also when we got separated from the others...I'm not...I'm not leaving...Secchan here..."
"Konoka..." Asuna looked from the side. She had not known them for a long time, but she was pretty sure that Konoka could never be her old self without her best friend at her side.
Setsuna looked at the long-haired girl quietly. Their memories together slowly surfaced in her mind. Setsuna had very little recollection about her own parents, but Konoka was always in her memories, always...with her...together...
"Kono-chan...I'm sorry." Setsuna said quietly and gently pushed Konoka away. Without waiting for the other two to say a word, she tackled the smaller of the two women to the ground.
Asuna clamped down her emotions and pulled Konoka towards the door. She wanted to get Setsuna away too. But there must be inevitable sacrifices...
No matter how much she hated them...she could only except them and keep on surviving.
******
"I would say you're really too infatuated with Ezra. Since when have you let your guard down to the extent that you get knocked down by a kid?" Gascogne commented nonchalantly and easily picked up Setsuna, who was a bit dizzy by the sudden change of momentum.
Rebecca stood up while mumbling about unsympathetic people, but her eyes widened when she saw two other kids trying to sneak towards the door.
"Don't go out!" She yelled and sprinted to the entrance. She mentally sighed in relief when the kids froze at her words. "The Slum Clearance Team is outside. If you go out now, you'll get caught."
Asuna and Konoka paled at the words and they carefully looked outside the windows. True to her words, there were masked women with stun guns walking up and down of the streets.
"You don't have to worry about us." Gascogne said casually and put Setsuna down to the floor. "Once they're gone, we'll take you back to our home base."
Asuna and Konoka quickly got to Setsuna's side, relieved that she was not hurt. "What home base?" Asuna asked cautiously, her blue and green eyes staring directly at the two adults.
"Our asteroid home base of the Magno Pirates."
The three young children looked at each other in surprise. They could not believe that the urban legend of the Magno Pirates was actually true.
******
Within the shadows, there was Magno Vivan, a former nun who was also a victim of the poorly planned society. She gathered women who had lost their home and hope and formed them into a group of pirates. With their own advanced weapons, they attacked spaceships that transported resources and food, regardless of their origin. Their actions had been so secretive that no Mejale or Talark army could eliminate them.
The Magno Pirates had their own base located in the strategic area of the asteroid belt which separated the two planets. Most of the new recruits would be put into different units of the crew. Some of them would be working in the residential area, some may become the medical staff. But those who had the talent would be trained to become "Dread Pilots", who were responsible for the job of attacking spaceships and taking resources to support their population.
******
"Target, confirmed! It's the resource ship of Talark! Distance: 2000 meters!"
Asuna, Setsuna and their fellow Dread-Team teammates listened carefully to the coordinators' report in their respective battle spacecrafts, which were also known as the "Dreads". They were usually good for speedy guerilla tactics that was largely dependant on good teamwork. They get onto the ships, take whatever they need, and leave. No delay was allowed.
It's hard to believe that the three former street kids had stayed with the pirates for a decade already. When they were twelve, the Dread Team leader Varoa recruited Asuna and Setsuna into the Dread Team. Upon their completion of the training, the two often need to participate in various missions to ensure the group would have enough resources to survive as well as safe from the armies of Mejale and Talark.
"Target distance: 900 meters!" Konoka's voice reported from bridge of their mothership "Eden". She was trained to be an operator since around the same time as her friends became Dread Pilots.
"Mission, commence!" The vice-leader of the crew, Buzam A. Calessa, ordered.
All the Dreads flew towards the resource ship and started to attack it. Each Dread was perfectly coordinated so that the men of the Talark ship were not able to put up a defense. Just when they thought it would be an easy catch, some Dreads were hit by laser beams from behind.
"Reinforcement...huh?" Varoa whispered to herself with a smirk. "Team A, follow me! We'll be attacking the ship in Delta Formation! Meia, you take care of Team B and cover us, get it?"
"Roger." Meia Gisborn, the leader cadet of the second Dread Team, replied coldly.
At the same time, Asuna was busy shooting down the Talark's small battle crafts. "Arrgg...How come the men are so stubborn?!"
"Asuna! Watch out!"
Asuna barely had time to steer her Dread away so that she would not collide with the Talark ship, which was trying for a suicidal lunge. On the other hand, Setsuna's Dread was shot by s stray laser beam.
"Setsuna!" Asuna cried into her intercom.
"Secchan!" At the same moment, Konoka immediately started detecting the communication link from Eden to her Dread.
The two sighed in relief as they heard Setsuna's voice from the intercom, albeit with a lot of static noises. Asuna quickly put herself together and began to attack the Talark men with renewed vengeance.
Konoka also began to focus on the mission instead of her thoughts. During all these years being together, Konoka's feeling towards her best friend was growing. Recently, it became so strong she found it difficult to suppress it.
She remembered what Nodoka, a friend of hers from the medical crew, had told her, "when you finally notice you're in love with someone, you'll probably find yourself have fallen so deeply that you can't get her out of your mind anymore."
If that was true...Does that mean I'm really...
The thought of her in love with Setsuna brought a wave of warmness to her heart. It was like the feeling has been there all along. But then why she could not recognize it until this moment?
"Konoka! What's with that blank look? Meia and Varoa had already sent in their 'Mission Completed' signal! We need to help the Registry to load whatever they've got!" Another operator, Haruna, yelled across from her control panel.
That's it! Somehow, someday, I will tell her about it...
******
However, the disciplined and somewhat routine life of the pirates didn't last long. A battle with the newest battleship of the Talark men, Ikazuchi, had brought unbelievable and irreversible changes to them. The mysterious Pexis Pragma that slept in the main hull of Ikazuchi swallowed the two spaceships and jumped to another galaxy faraway from their home universe. On top of that, the pirates were constantly being harassed by an unknown enemy. It had become a long journey of survival and of returning to the place they belong.
******
"Are you afraid?" Asuna asked quietly after their wounds were treated.
Setsuna only answered with a raise of her eyebrows in a sarcastic manner.
It was supposed to be simple. The pirates took everything they could from the men's ship and left. But the unexpected happening had left them no choice but to fight. There were disagreements, conflicts, and prices. But they managed to fend off the enemy so far.
Now it became a difficult battle. The enemy had sent out a large fleet that intended to wipe out the pirates completely. Even some of their best were injured badly in the battle. Many of their comrades had already lost their hope.
The Dread Team leader was injured. Nirvana was being dragged to a planet with a heavy magnetic field that disabled the system from functioning properly. The enemy fleet was still big and strong outside of the planet, waiting for their prey. From all aspects, it was a losing battle.
"Afraid of what? Of losing? Of death? Or something else?"
"How about all of the above?"
"Then yes, I'm afraid." The raven-haired Dread Pilot whispered. "Afraid that I won't be able to go back. Afraid that I will break my promise with her."
Yes, it was just before we got blasted off to the other side of the galaxy...
...Secchan?
Kono-chan? I thought you hated it here in the hangar. Is there something wrong?
Nothing really. But the Dread Team needs to be out so often now we seldom have time to relax anymore... I seldom have time to see Secchan now.
...I, I wish we could have more time together too.
Secchan!
Wa-watch it Kono-chan!
Eep! Grease! Now I remember why I hate the hangars...And, Secchan? I have something I wanted to tell you...It's...I...
And there came the badly-timed mission call. I thought I was going to have a heart attack...
Ah...
I'm sorry, Kono-chan. But...
It's okay. I know how stubborn the Mejale and Talark armies can be...But after the mission, I will say it again...So you have to come back safely, okay?
...I will. I will come back to you no matter what. I promise.
"It is a promise that I don't want to break...one that I can't afford to break."
It was difficult.
Ever since I found out what my heart feels for her,
I don't want to leave her side.
Knowing there might be a chance that I can't go back to her,
I become desperate.
For her, I can give up my life.
But Kono-chan...is someone that I never want to give up on.
And I've promised this special person that I will return to her...
"That's why...I'll fight."
******
Their enemy was known as the "Harvesters", a group of Earthlings with the twisted ideology that they were superior to all other colonists in the universe. Losing the ability to evolve on their home planet, they sent out a colonist fleet a century ago. Now, they were back for "Harvest"--they took away the organs of people from different planets for themselves so they can live on forever. Talark and Mejale were also two of their many targets.
Upon discovering the enemy's operation, the Pirates sent messages about the Harvester to the leaders of the two planets. Until they return to their home galaxy, however, they could only depend on themselves.
******
As the Nirvana crew was hurrying back to the Mejale Galaxy, the pirates that were left on the asteroid base continued their lives while gradually upgrading their systems and war materials. That was partly because of the rumors about the Harvesters, but mostly because Mejale had stepped up their harassments and attacks.
Rebecca sighed tiredly as she saw the empty Mejale resource ship exploded. After hearing the brief reports from Varoa's Dread Team, Rebecca left to organize the delivery of the resources.
"Another day without any news." Rebecca thought. To her, bad news is better than no news. No news only brings infinite anxiety to the young vice-leader of the pirates.
"Rebecca?" A familiar voiced called out timidly. The owner of the name was not really surprised to see Konoka standing behind her when she turned around. In this highly disciplined society of the pirates, and Rebecca's reputation of being strict, not many people dared to call her directly by her name.
Looking more carefully, Rebecca noticed the younger girl had faint dark circles near her chocolate-brown eyes. She looked a little fatigued too--a mirror of her current state.
"You don't look good." Rebecca commented. Normally, she would seldom ask about the health of the individual personnel within their society, but Konoka and her friends were some of the earliest members that she had recruited and had been watching them grow up.
"Pardon my bluntness, but you look worse." Konoka gave her a bitter smile. "Is it because of Ezra-san?"
"I should have believed Setsuna when she said you're empathic." Rebecca admitted.
"It's not just because they are now untraceable?"
"She's pregnant."
That was not the statement Konoka had expected. "And you're the Ohma[1]?"
Rebecca just sighed. The piling up stress, anxiety and exhaustion made her feels older than she really was. The two separated their way when they reached the residential area. Konoka was deep in thoughts while she was on her way to her assigned room.
And here I thought my feelings were unbearable...
She was mercilessly attacked by the memories, regardless of time. They had explored the residential area when they first arrived at the base. They stayed up all night to study what their tutors had taught them. They bugged Parfet, the resident computer wiz, to re-write their palm-print recognition program so that they could have free access to each other's rooms...
Memories about Setsuna were even more painful. Regrets of not telling Setsuna about how she felt often washed over her when she was alone. Before everything happened, she used to rant it all to Asuna. While the twin-ponytail girl could do little to help with her situation, it still felt good to have someone listening to you.
It was the moment Konoka noticed that she had had a relatively easy, sheltered life. She always had friends beside her, helping her.
Now seeing Rebecca, who was in the same situation as her, could still put herself together, Konoka become more determined to stop herself from being swallowed by self-pity.
Secchan always panics when she saw the slightest sign that I was unhappy...she won't like me if I continue to mope.
But whoever had said "absence makes the heart grows fonder" had really no idea...
******
Sadly, the leaders of the planets ignored the message. They even told their people that the Pirates were trying to start a coup with these "stories". The Pirates were arrested by the Mejale government soon after they returned. It was only because of the reinforcement led by Rebecca, the vice-leader of the Pirates who had stayed at the asteroid base, and the fact that the two governments had realized they could not control the people, who want to fight for their own future, the Pirates can continue the war.
******
Everyone was wearing joyful expressions as they stepped out of the prison cells. While this only meant freedom to many of those who had been here for years or even decades, to the pirates, it held an entirely different meaning. There was nothing the government could do to stop these pirates from fighting for what they believed in now.
"I thought we were going to stay here forever!" Asuna yelled as she threw the handcuffs across the cell.
"You did? You mean the Kagurazaka Asuna is capable of having such pessimistic thoughts?" Barnette commented cheekily after she got out from the World Class Jura Glomp. Asuna stuck out her tongue out at her as Setsuna walked up beside her friend.
"That was mature." Setsuna said with a small grin.
"Like you're the one to talk. Don't you dare telling me you’ve never thought about your beloved Kono-chan before Rebecca came."
Setsuna blushed at that, but didn't say anything to deny it. In a situation like this where everyone was losing their hope, Setsuna found that she had to constantly think about the reason for her to fight. She believed the others were doing the same thing too. They had been struggling alone for so long, they would not allow the ignorant government to stop them from reaching their goal, and more importantly, their home.
Without further delay, they were on their way back to Nirvana. Once they arrived, the Dread Team was already discussing battle plans and formation. Parfet, the head mechanic, was busy yelling orders to the others in the Dread hangar. The medic crew was trying to keep things in order as there was bound to be a high figure of injuries in the battle. The bridge coordinators were at their highest alert as they were the ones who were monitoring the enemies' moves.
"There are responses from the markers. Multiple giant ships are approaching!"
"The Harvest Fleet has passed through the electromagnetic storm!"
Thus, the battle began.
******
It was certainly a war to remember, for this war was not just fought by the Pirates. People who did not want to accept their "fate" passively had come with their own army. There were people the pirates had met on their journey, people they had helped and even their past enemies because of misunderstanding. Even the odds were bad for the Earth, however, this did not mean that the pirates were fighting an easy battle...
******
It was a rather frightening sight.
The dark space was filled with Cube-type robots, the Cube Gateways and two large Harvest Fleets can be seen not far away. Fake Vandreads and Nirvanas were also attacking the Pirates fiercely. While they were not totally overwhelmed by them, they were still outnumbered.
"Arg!" Setsuna grunted. She had finished the umpteenth Cube Gateway, but she had barely been able to avoid a Fake Speed Vandread from crashing into her Dread. Just when she was about to attack the fake, which was charging at her again, a laser beam shot its side, causing it to change its course.
"Setsuna on the defense? That's so unlike you." A deep voice came over from her intercom.
"Mind your own business, Tatsumiya! These are not merely cameos. Don't curse at me if your favorite laser beam cannon got blown up."
"That you don't have to worry about, Setsuna." Another familiar voice said. "I think you should worry about Kuu instead, she's about to riot again."
"That's impolite of you, Kaede!" The third childish voice chirped. "But these look fun! It's even faster than Leader's Dread! Come along Setsuna! We're leaving you here!"
"The quicker you clean them up, the quicker you can go home to your Konoka, isn't it?" Tatsumiya teased again.
"Y-you're saying that, but it's just that you want to see YOUR Tsukuyomi, isn't it?!"
"Are they really fighting the Harvester?" Nearby, Asuna could only listen to their bickering with a huge sweat drop. "Well, I guess there're still some butts left for me to kick!"
From Nirvana, the leader and the vice-leader of the Pirates, Magno and BC, were watching the battle.
"It's almost looks as if they're enjoying it." Magno commented.
"Something has changed." BC said. "Something vastly different from before has appeared in the hearts of the crew. It seems like it will be a future that is worth looking forward to."
But, the worst had yet to come.
"We've detected another large ship coming out of the electromagnetic storm!"
"What?!" Almost everyone on the battlefield exclaimed.
Saying it was a "large ship" was an understatement. The "ship" was much larger than the Harvest Ships of a dull gray color, a monster that was to destroy what was unnecessary to them. The pilots were so startled that they almost missed Meia's order of evacuation and barely had the time to avoid the large red beams from the ship that would have killed them easily.
"What was that?! Even the Harvest Ships aren't this bad!" Asuna yelled as she steadied her Dread.
"Calm down Asuna! Barnette is now taking the command, we're to go back and protect Nirvana from any further attack now!" Setsuna reported. Then she added quietly, "this will be the last hurdle. We will survive this and return to where we belong...to where we want to belong."
I want to protect the lives that are important to me
It is as simple as that.
Fighting...Battling...All of these are something that will end
Once they end, it is a must for me to return to those
Whom we've gone through so much to protect.
Because...I have carried their lives along with me,
My life isn't only my own anymore.
After the third--and the last--Harvest Ship exploded. All of those present saw a great flash from Nirvana. And the next thing they knew, the last of the Earthling Fleet disappeared. Then, uproars could be heard all over the space after a short moment of stunned silence.
The uproar of victory.
"We did it!!" was all Setsuna could hear from her intercom. Everyone was excited. But to the young Dread Pilot, she felt calmness more than the excitement of defeating the enemies or the joy of returning home.
Now speaking of "returning"...
"Could somebody give me a hand here? My engine's dead after the explosion." Setsuna spoke to the intercom, hoping someone could hear her.
"Ouch, mine too." Asuna's voice followed.
"Here, here." Sooner than the two had expected, Gascogne's cheerful voice came through the speaker and her delivery ship came into view. Wires were extended from the semi-sphere spacecraft and the Dreads were dragged away from the battlefield.
To her surprise, however, Gascogne was heading towards their asteroid base rather than Nirvana.
"Gascogne-san?" Setsuna asked the older woman, puzzled by her action.
Gascogne only replied with a raise of her eyebrows.
Soon, they arrived at the docking bay of the Mejale Pirates' asteroid base. The two pilots got off their battle spacecrafts and Gascogne also got off her delivery ship. Seeing Setsuna was still standing by her Dread, Asuna went over. "What are you waiting for?"
Setsuna had finally realized what Gascogne was trying to do, but suddenly, hesitation set in.
"I heard from a certain nosy woman that You-Know-Who is still in the control area..." Gascogne said nonchalantly to a wall, a communicator in her hand. Asuna can faintly hear Rebecca's voice from the communicator, yelling "who are you calling nosy?!".
Fortunately, Setsuna's instinct had taken over. She quickly left the docking bay, nearly knocking over Nodoka on the way. Smirking, Gascogne also left, leaving Asuna and Nodoka in the docking bay.
"It's great to have you back, Asuna-san." Nodoka said in her gentle, quiet voice.
"It's great to be able to stand on solid ground again too. I've been missing this place. Not as much as Setsuna missing 'You-Know-Who' though." Asuna smiled while making quotation marks with her fingers.
"I can understand that. After all, they have been inseparable since the time we're on the streets. It must be heartbreaking for them to be separated for so long..." The raven-haired girl said somewhat wistfully.
"H-how did you know we're living on the streets before we got picked up by the pirates?! And what do you mean, 'we'...?" Asuna asked rapidly. No one, except themselves, Rebecca, Gascogne and Magno, knew they were street kids.
"Had you really forgotten about me, Asuna?" Nodoka stared into Asuna's multicolored eyes. She slowly saw the confusion in her eyes slowly changed into realization. Asuna's hand slowly reached for the rubber band that hold Nodoka's hair together, and released the bangs that had been tied up.
"Hon'ya-chan..." Asuna whispered the nickname, slowly remembering the best friend she had in the residential unit. The shy little girl who could sit all day in the bookstore reading...
Her favorite person who got lost in the crowd when a slum area they stayed in got swallowed by a huge fire.
"I'm glad that...I've never lost hope."
---
Setsuna ran through the familiar establishment, only the thought of seeing her most important person left in her brain.
Before Nirvana returned to the Mejale Galaxy, she had been worrying.
Would Konoka still be her friend, after losing contact for nearly a year?
Would she have moved on already?
Now, none of these uncertainties were in her mind. She could worry about that later.
Finally, she stood in front of the doors to the control room.
---
Every bridge crew turned around as the opened door with a guilty look, afraid it was Rebecca who caught them taking an "overtime break".
When they realized it was a slightly ruffled and panting Setsuna, their gazes immediately went to Konoka, who got frozen in her seat.
A thousand conflicting thoughts ran around Konoka's brain. One part of her was overjoyed at seeing Setsuna back, safe and alive. But the rest of her was worrying.
Could they still be the same before they were separated?
Was Secchan bearing the same feeling as her?
Before Konoka could effectively sort out her thoughts, another bridge operator put down her "Coffee Soda" and went over to Konoka's seat. She quietly saved the data and switched off Konoka's control unit.
"It is not the time to be overwhelmed by your own thoughts, Konoka-san." She said in a plain but supportive voice and pushed the long-haired girl slightly on the back, causing her to stumble a few step forward.
At the same time, Setsuna took a deep breath and started to walk towards the unit. Before she reached it, Konoka rushed forward and wrapped her arms around the taller girl. Setsuna caught the girl without both of them falling over and returned the hug equally fiercely.
The suppressed loneliness and feelings were finally released as the two half of the soul reunited. Konoka realized that, things could not be the same before everything happened... For it was going to become better.
Secchan...You're back, you're finally back...
Yes, Kono-chan. I've returned to you...Just like I've promised.
******
With the same determination of survival, the Harvesters were defeated by those who wanted to protect their own future from all over the universe. The people of Mejale and Talark also realized that it was time to end their conflicts, which had lasted for three generations. At this moment, the galaxy was truly at peace.
******
Setsuna heard a familiar lighthearted voice as she entered Nirvana's artificial, 24-hour nighttime garden. "Hi, kid. Feeling sentimental again?"
The raven-haired Dread Pilot turned around at the source of the teasing voice and to find Gascogne leaning against a lamp post. As the Mejale Pirates and Nirvana were to be used as the testing ground for male/female co-existence, Magno, Rebecca, BC and Gascogne had worked out a plan of shifts. Now some of the crew would need to stay abroad Nirvana so that the small asteroid would not be overcrowded. With their advanced war technology, they were also responsible for part of the national defense in case the Earthlings decided for a revenge.
"If you want to put it that way, Gascogne-san." Setsuna answered with a small smile.
The "shopkeeper" only snorted.
The two sat in comfortable silence for a short while before Setsuna spoke again. "Isn't life like an unsolvable puzzle?"
Gascogne turned her head slightly so that she was glancing at the young pilot instead of the space outside of the large glass window, a signal that she was interested in Setsuna's statement.
"One's life was made up of little bits and pieces of different experiences and people. With a slight turn of these pieces, the final picture could be totally different. Yet, we could not predict how the picture would be like, since the future is unpredictable and always changing, creating an unsolvable, complicated but interesting puzzle."
"I supposed you can say that. After all, if we've learned anything from Nirvana, it would be 'there's no such thing as destined fate', right? If we believe in that, we would have been harvested long time ago. We made a choice, and it changes our future. But we are the ones who made those decisions. That's why life is full of little surprises, isn't it?" At this moment, Gascogne glanced at the door for a moment. "Philosophy's never my thing. But I will say, be prepared for a surprised glomp."
Milliseconds after the word "glomp" left her mouth, Konoka latched herself onto Setsuna's arm. "Secchan! You didn't wait too long right?"
"I've just arrived not long ago." Setsuna said and patted on Konoka's head lightly, a rare affectionate gesture from the rather introversive girl.
"See you later then, Gasco-san!" Konoka chirped cheerfully and Setsuna gave a small polite nod before she was dragged away willingly.
Just when Gascogne was about to give her famous "It's GascoGNE" line, she noticed there was a faint curve over Konoka's stomach and smirked. "Guess I will have to let you go this time." She whispered to the couple's retreating silhouettes.
Peace had more or less returned. They were not "wanted criminals" anymore. And the couples were going to live happily ever after.
"Well, after all these ruckuses, they do deserve a little time of happiness." She whispered again.
******
The angel alighted to me
During this long, long journey
Holding up my hands to the clear night sky
I will continue to protect you
The angel alighted to me
Together, we face the marvelous sun
The courage that resides in your clear eyes
It will turn into an invincible power
The angel alighted to me
The wind is now surrounding us
We'll become even more radiant than before
And step forward to the magnificent future
--Kagayaku Kimi E (By Asuna, Konoka, Setsuna and Nodoka)
An angel. Those were the two words she called me. The two words she described what I resembled to her when she first saw my cursed, white wings. In the bird tribe, white wings were a symbol of great misfortune. The second I was conceived, I became an outcast. I was someone no one wanted to have around because I was cursed; even my own parents disowned me. I was chased out of the tribe forever marked as an ugly, cursed child that the thought of being accepted and loved was impossible. A man, who took me in, later discovered me that was when everything changed for the better.
When I first saw you, I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought I’d never find
Angel of mine
I look at you, looking at me
Now I know why they say the best things are free
I’m going to love you until the end of time
Angel of mine
As I sit next to the World Tree, looking up at the sky, my thoughts keep going back to that day, the day when I first met her. I was a student of the Shinmeiryuu. I was to help aid in securing the young princess’s safety. We were very young, but she was the first person to ever smile at me. She did not know nor will she ever understand how happy that made me. For the first time in my life, I found myself smiling and laughing. We played together all the time until that one fateful day.
We were playing near the river and she suddenly slipped and fell into its rushing currents. I jumped in to save her only to find myself completely helpless. Later, we were rescued by the adults but instead of relief I felt ashamed and angry. The one time I could help her, to repay what little I could back from everything she has done for me and I failed. Ever since that day, I swore I would become stronger so I can protect her completely without any weaknesses so I devoted my entire life and time to my training.
I missed her but every time I thought about her, my failure resurfaced causing my determination to come back full force. I used that image every time I felt like giving up. Never again will I find myself so helpless to save her. When I learned she was attending Mahou Middle School, I asked to be stationed there to be close to her, I know it was for selfish reasons, but I wanted to be with her no matter what.
What you mean to me you’ll never know
Deep inside, I need to show
You came into my life sent from above
Better than a dream, such a perfect love
And I’ll adore you until the end of time
Angel of mine
Hidden within the shadows, I have kept watched over her for two years. She never once suspected until the trip to Kyoto. We received a new teacher, a ten-year-old kid, who was training to be a magician. By his request, Kyoto was the destination for our field trip. I feared of what would happen once we reached there for there was another clan who knew of her powers. Let’s just say, the trip was anything but relaxing. The trip was both frustrating but also a miracle.
Nothing means more to me than what we share
No one in this world can ever compare
Last night the way you moved is still on my mind
Angel of mine
I never knew I could feel each moment
As if it were new
Every breath I take or vow that I make
I want to share it with you
It brought us back together. I used to believe that staying away and protecting her from the shadows would be for the best. My reasons was my heart. I cannot control myself whenever I am with her. My mind and body seems to turn off and I cannot think straight, but I gave into selfish desires.
I could not walk away now that I have once again tasted the joy of being with the one you treasure most. The hurricane of emotions I feel whenever I am with or away from her. I still find myself in awe at the multiple emotions she can make me experience with just a touch or parting.
When I first saw you, I already knew
There was something inside of you
Something I thought I’d never find
Angel of mine
You came into my life, sent from above
Better than a dream, such a perfect love
And I’ll adore you until the end of time
Angel of mine
She does not know how much she means to me. She is my inspiration, my hope, and my heart. I know that sounds corny, but she is the one and only person who can make me feel both strong and weak at the same time. She is the real angel.
I look down to find her napping on my lap. A small smile finds its way to my lips as strong emotions swarm around me, so strong it feels as if my heart will break. So afraid to hold her or touch her in case my emotions completely get out of control, and I might frighten or hurt her. I carefully touch her face so not to disturb her. After a long, tiring day of hanging out, she is recuperating all that lost energy she used. I am still amazed how she can have so much energy. The sun is setting and a light breeze continues to flow. Looking down at her once more, I study her face freely for a few precious seconds before gently shaking her awake.
What you mean to me, you’ll never know
Deep inside, I need to show
I look at you, looking at me
Now, I know why they say the best things are free
I’m going to love you until the end of time
Her eyes slowly open and glazed over by sleep, I watch as they focus on me and a smile lights her face. I feel my face growing warm from the usual blush, but I did not shy away from her smile. She will never know how much I treasure her. She says that I look like an angel, but she is mine.
And together we move forward, one step at a time. Step by step.
…
ONE -- look over here
Setsuna feels Konoka stare at her back, feels the intensity of her gaze, feels her desire to rekindle the ties of friendship Setsuna had carefully cut away years ago.
Setsuna hears Konoka’s silent plea for her to turn around, to step out of the shadows and help her regain the cheerfulness she could only experience with her childhood friend. But Setsuna is afraid.
She knows the moment she gives in, the harder it will be for her to maintain her calm façade and keep hidden the secret that can never be revealed. She knows the moment she gives in will be the moment her fragile mask of denial will finally break.
Behind the excuse that she wants nothing more than this – a lifetime of perpetual sacrifice and devotion for her ojou-sama – Setsuna feels secure. Chances, after all, are not for her to take.
…
TWO -- letter
When a letter arrived asking for a swordsman from the Shinmeiryuu to help guard Konoka in her new school, Setsuna volunteered immediately. Little did she know that Eishun had drafted the letter with her in mind. Setsuna was strong and powerful, but above all, beneath the icy exterior that had formed over the years, Eishun saw and remembered the genuine will to protect Konoka, even with her life. A will that managed to strengthen over time, despite the years spent away from each other.
And that was one attribute more important than rank or status or level, because true strength could only come from a pure desire to protect that one person dearest to you. In Setsuna’s hands, Eishun knows Konoka will be safe.
…
THREE -- jolt!
The rays of sunlight shine through the curtains and onto Konoka’s waking face. She hears Asuna return from her newspaper rounds followed by “Get you paws off my underwear… NOW!”, accompanied with the sound of Chamo being forcefully thrown against the wall, and the dull thud of gravity pulling him back onto the floor. Stretching, Konoka smiles, gets out of bed, and gets ready for school. This is routine.
The smell of breakfast, the friendly teasing over the morning’s incident, the rush to school, the stampede of students making their way through the hallways. This is routine as well. This is what she knows, what she is sure of. A constant in her everyday life.
But this is also routine: Konoka accidentally runs into Setsuna. Before Konoka can recover, before words of apology can be given, Setsuna is already gone. No words, no acknowledgement that Konoka was even there at all. And Konoka can’t help but look at her back, at her indifferent expression as she looks out the window, and wonder why there is a dull ache in her heart every time she looks Setsuna’s way.
…
FOUR -- our distance and that person
Within the confines of the shadows, Setsuna can freely observe Konoka. She can see the joy on her face when she is surrounded by her friends. She can hear the laughter as it floats merrily in the air. She can smell the sweet smell of Konoka’s newly washed laundry, the smell of her hair, and the slight smell of breakfast that sticks to your clothing no matter how careful you are.
She is but ten steps away, and Konoka’s presence is almost too much for her to bear. It takes all her self-control to remain in the shadows, away from that person who means the most to her, to convince herself that this is what she really wants; that it is enough.
She hears Konoka’s footsteps draw near and silently counts to herself. Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three steps… is too close, so she retreats further into the shadows, hiding herself from Konoka’s view.
Yes she thinks to herself, this is enough.
Somewhere in her heart she knows that some distances can never be crossed.
…
FIVE -- “hey, you know…”
The bell rings and Konoka quickly searches the crowd for Setsuna.
“Hey, you know…”
She looks left, then right and sees Setsuna leaving the room. She is about to follow in case she can still catch up to Setsuna’s hasty departure when she sees a hand right in front of her face.
“Hey, you know…”
Startled, Konoka turns to face Asuna.
“You know, I’ve been calling you for some time now. Are you feeling alright?”
Konoka spares a short glance to the hallway only to find that it is already too late. The hallway is almost empty and Setsuna is nowhere to be found.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she finally says, but under the scrutiny of Asuna’s concerned gaze, she begins to doubt the truth of her words.
…
SIX -- the space between dream and reality
When Setsuna dreams, she dreams of Konoka. She dreams of being able to talk to her, to go back to those precious days when they were younger. In her dreams, she is flying.
She sees a ribbon unfurl and twirl itself around them, clasping their hands together. But then chains form around her wings. She sees blood pour through the white feathers, staining them a deep crimson, pulling her down, pulling Konoka down, and she realizes that it’s now or never. She pulls out her katana and with one sharp flick of her wrist, the ribbon is cut, and she watches as Konoka floats upwards – safe.
She wakes up. This is her anchor, keeping her in reality before she drifts too far into her dreams.
When Konoka dreams, she dreams of many things, but mostly of Setsuna. Of the day they first met, of the day they fell into the river, of the day she left, of the day they met again. When she wakes, she continues to dream. She dreams of a day when she and Setsuna go back to the friends they once were.
Her grandfather once told her that some dreams are bound to be forever unrealized; that no matter how much you want something, it may never happen. But Konoka has faith in Setsuna, and her hope cannot be easily estinguished. To her, Setsuna is more that just another memory; she is not willing to let her fade away. And so she continues to pray in the hopes that their someday will come.
And it does.
…
SEVEN -- superstar
Konoka chuckles as she shuts down the computer, silently thanking Negi for teaching her how to browse the wonder that is the internet. After all, without it, she would never have discovered the wonderful site aptly named “The Princess and Her Samurai”, a fanlisting dedicated to that one picture she took with Setsuna in Kyoto. Reaching into her pocket, she takes out said picture and runs her fingers over Setsuna’s face, feeling the familiar texture of the photograph on her skin.
Sensing the object of her musings enter the room, she puts it back into her pocket and thinks that maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to order more prints… or maybe even a poster. Grinning to herself, she stands up and catches Setsuna’s attention with a wave.
…
EIGHT -- our own world
It’s raining hard and Setsuna is wet. Very wet. Cursing herself, she hides under the shelter of a tree. Sitting down, she realizes that this is the first time she has forgotten her umbrella, and absent-mindedly begins to wring the bottom of her shirt in an attempt to dry it.
In her mind’s eye, Setsuna recalls a day just like this, years ago, when she and Konoka were younger, when lightning was scary and thunder was worse. She recalls cutting across the muddy lawn, desperate to reach Konoka who was hiding underneath a bush as soon as possible. She recalls reaching out her umbrella to cover Konoka’s shivering form and wrapping a towel around her to shield her from the cold before guiding her home.
A flash of lightning suddenly illuminates the sky, and her eyes are drawn to a lone female figure running towards her, an umbrella in hand and a worried look on her face. Without a word, Konoka reaches her hand to Setsuna’s own and pulls her under the umbrella. She looks up and smiles.
When Setsuna finally gets over her shock, she offers one in return amongst bumbling words of gratitude, and together they make their way back. Just the two of them, just as before. Roles reversed.
…
NINE -- dash
Good atmospheres are so easy to destroy, Asuna thinks. Moments ago, everything was fine. Negi and Konoka were laughing, and even Setsuna was trying to suppress a grin. But then it all went wrong.
Asuna places her fork back onto the plate and wonders if maybe she was the reason for the tense aura in the room. Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t have gagged when she put that delicious looking piece of cake into her mouth only to discover that that one little piece in all probability had enough iodine to last her two lifetimes and beyond. Or maybe more.
Konoka coughs, and watches as everyone’s eyes turn to her.
“Secchan… how much salt did you put in?”
Swallowing, Setsuna wipes a bead of sweat that threatens to drip from the side of her face. She knew she shouldn’t have volunteered to help in the kitchen. She knew something bad would have come out of it. She just didn’t know it would be this bad.
“A… a dash… just like you said…?”
“And how much is a dash of salt?”
“Ah, well, um, you see, ah, ojou-sama… when you said ‘dash’ I thought 100 meter dash so when you gave me the tablespoon I thought you wanted 100 tablespoons of salt… for each person…?”
Silence. Setsuna sees everyone else stand and look her way with strange, murderous expressions – oh my goodness, is there a red gleam in their eyes – and thinks that now would be a good time to run.
…
TEN -- #10
Setsuna wipes the sweat from her brow. Training with Evangeline is always hard, but Setsuna is grateful for the faith Evangeline has in her abilities and the extra push she gives because of it. Without it, she is afraid she might not be able to protect Konoka from all harm.
“You love her, don’t you? Konoka, I mean.”
Shocked, Setsuna stops her movements and turns around to face Evangeline. Just when Setsuna is about to reply, Chachamaru opens the front door of Evangeline’s home and comes out with a tray of tea. Sighing, Evangeline reaches for a cup and motions lazily with her hand for Setsuna to join her. A few moments pass by before Setsuna ventures to speak again.
“I don’t—” She starts, but is cut off by Evangeline who has just finished her tea and is putting the cup down.
“There’s no need to hide it from me,” her eyes narrow. “It’s obvious to someone as old as I am.” Setsuna makes a move to interject, but stops when she sees her raise her hand.
“You are half-demon, Setsuna. How long do you think you and Konoka could be happy together? Your happiness with Konoka, your love... it may never be accepted...”
Evangeline lowers her gaze. The conversation is bringing too many memories back to the surface of her mind.
“Are you okay with that, Setsuna?”
The question is left hanging in the air. Setsuna opens her mouth a few times, attempting to voice out an answer, but she knows that it is futile because the brutal truth is: she doesn’t know.
Smiling sadly to herself, Evangeline dismisses Setsuna and walks back into her house, Chachamaru following closely behind. And with Evangeline’s retreat, Setsuna is left alone in the silence of the garden with a question she has no answer to.
…
ELEVEN -- gardenia
The sun is shining brightly in the sky but despite the warmth and cheerfulness of birds singing in the trees above, her mood is dampened slightly when she sneaks a glance at the person beside her. After all her efforts to get them back together again, she wonders if she has done something to make Setsuna sad, or worse, if Setsuna doesn’t want to be her friend anymore.
When she asks what’s wrong, Setsuna always avoids her eye and mumbles that it’s nothing and that she shouldn’t worry, but all that does is make her do just that.
So wrapped up in her thoughts of Setsuna, she does not realize that they are going the wrong way. In fact, she is so wrapped up in her thoughts of Setsuna that she does not notice where she is walking until she walks right into a tree.
Startled out of her reverie by Konoka’s yelp, Setsuna hurries over to help her up, only to trip over a tree root and fall flat on her face. Laughing, Konoka squats down next to her and uses her left hand to pick out a flower that had somehow attached itself to Setsuna’s uniform after the fall.
“Secchan, do you know what flower this is?”
“It’s a gardenia, Ojou-sama. I heard it can be used to treat diabetes and…”
She stops talking when she feels Konoka’s warm hand on her face. Immediately, a blush appears on her cheeks and the only thing she manages to stammer out is a feeble “O-o-ojou-sama!”
“You know, Secchan, gardenias mean ‘joy and good luck’. Even if you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, I want you to be happy, okay?” Konoka cocks her head to the side and continues, “The gardenia looks pretty on you.”
Laughing again, Konoka removes her hand from Setsuna’s cheek and walks off. It is only when Setsuna feels the loss of warmth that she registers the fact that Konoka had put that flower in her hair. Gardenias smell nice, she decides, and starts following Konoka, desperately trying to hide the ever-growing blush.
Konoka’s eyes dart back and twinkle at the sight of a red tinge on Setsuna’s cheeks. Gardenias also mean secret love.
Whistling, Konoka continues walking away.
…
TWELVE -- in a good mood
“I FEEL PRETTY! SO, SO PRETTY! I FEEL PRETTYYYYY AND WITTYYYY AND GAYYYYYY!”
Negi gulps, trying to block out Konoka’s singing in the background.
“Konoka-san is just… in a really good mood today,” he says while stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him. “She’s not drunk at all.”
However, when he sees the bright red hue of Setsuna’s face and her twitching eyebrows, he realizes that he wasn’t quite quick enough to stop Setsuna from catching a glimpse of Konoka singing and dancing on the table… in nothing but her white panties and a bra.
Scratching his head sheepishly, he resigns himself to the fact that he probably has some explaining to do.
…
THIRTEEN -- excessive chain
When Setsuna dreams, she dreams of Konoka. She dreams of her newfound joy of being able to talk to her, of going back to those precious days when they were younger. In her dreams, she is still flying.
She sees a ribbon unfurl and twirl itself around them, clasping their hands together. But now, no chains form around her wings. Now, they wrap themselves around the two girls’ bodies. There are no more wounds for blood to pour from. No white stained crimson.
Now, they are weightless, and Setsuna’s wings are able to soar and carry them above the clouds. Together. Safe.
…
FOURTEEN -- radio-cassette player
It’s like a nightmare, Setsuna thinks. Of all the activities that could have been chosen as a unit in gym class, it just had to be dance. Although Konoka was selected to be her dance partner and although being able to be near her is nice, the close proximity is almost enough to make Setsuna implode especially now that she is practicing with Konoka in the confines of her room.
The person who chose dance is going to pay.
Unfortunately, before she can exact bloody murder on whoever made said decision, she is knocked out of her thoughts by Konoka tripping over her feet and falling face forward into Setsuna’s breasts who, after all the accidents, is now redder than a tomato.
Not bothering to hide her completely red face, Setsuna jumps back and apologizes for her misconduct, completely oblivious to the hidden smirk on Konoka’s face.
“Maybe,” Konoka says, while pulling out a radio-cassette player from her bag, “We should try this with music.”
At Setsuna’s questioning gaze, Konoka continues, “Kaede lent it to me when I said I was going to practice dancing with you. She was practicing with Mana so she just left the tape in.”
Setsuna watches as Konoka presses play, and rushes over to her, placing her left hand at the small of Setsuna’s back and the other in Setsuna’s hand. And then they wait for the music to begin. After a few moments of silence, sound comes out of the radio-cassette player, but to say that it isn’t what they expected would be an immense understatement.
“Unh… guh… yesss… right there… yessssss… guh…”
Dashing to turn it off, Konoka puts a finger to her lips in a show of thinking.
“You know, Secchan, I think I’d better return this to Kaede.”
Setsuna can’t agree more.
…
FIFTEEN -- perfect blue
Most days are spent in the classroom followed by a short walk together before Setsuna goes off on her rounds. But today, Setsuna has no rounds to go to and for the first time in a long while, they can be together with no obligations or duties shadowing their every move, reminding them that their time is limited.
On days like these, they would usually look for Asuna and Negi and find something to do together. Sometimes the four of them would go watch a movie, sometimes they would play a game, or sometimes they would flop themselves on the floor lazily and sleep. But today, Asuna and Negi can’t be found leaving just the two of them to find something to do on their own.
Wiping the stone with a piece of cloth, Setsuna offers Konoka a seat next to the fountain, light sprays of water blowing into her hair. A glance at Setsuna’s face and Konoka recognizes the lost look in her eyes – the same look Setsuna had the day she discreetly admitted her love for Setsuna with the gardenia.
This will not do, she decides. Grinning mischievously, she slips her feet out of her shoes and falls backward into the fountain. Expectantly, Konoka lies in the fountain waiting for Setsuna to reach out her hand and when it comes, she tugs at it and laughs when she hears the splash of Setsuna falling into the fountain with her. Hearing Setsuna eventually laugh with her, however, comes as a pleasant surprise.
Despite being utterly wet, Konoka thinks that somehow, looking at the blue sky above and listening to the sound of Setsuna’s laughter, there is something about the situation that is simply absolutely perfect. Smiling, she turns and splashes Setsuna with a handful of water.
Perfect indeed.
…
SIXTEEN -- invincible
Konoka sees the carefree Setsuna, feels the softness of her skin, but it is times like these when she hears her soothing voice underlaced with an ongoing current of pain that Konoka can’t help but think that Setsuna isn’t as invincible as she thinks she is, and that someday, it might be her who has to protect Setsuna instead. With that thought in mind Konoka strides purposely to her grandfather’s office. Earlier, he had asked Konoka if she would be willing to spend more of her time training her healing capabilities, even if it means that she would be able to spend less time with her friends, with Setsuna.
Recalling Setsuna’s lost expression, Konoka gives him the answer that had been in her heart the moment her grandfather asked her. There had never been any answer but this:
“Yes,” she says, and although startled, Konoemon smiles and nods. It is all as planned.
…
SEVENTEEN -- kHz – kilohertz
She isn’t sure when the glimpses became tinged with longing and desire; she isn’t sure when she first discovered that her eyes lingered longer and longer on Setsuna’s lean arms, on her athletic legs, on her dark, flowing hair when they showered; nor does she remember when she began to watch the drops of water slide down Setsuna’s neck, slowing making their way under the towel wrapped around her breasts. She does not remember when she first wanted to take their place.
But she knows this: When she is with Setsuna, her feet spring up a little more from the ground, her stomach does little flip-flops every now and then, and her smile shines a little brighter, but most of all, her heart beats a little faster. And she realizes that this is love, because only love can make you this hurt and this happy at the same time.
Placing a hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat, accelerated by thoughts of Setsuna, she wonders if Setsuna feels the same way.
…
EIGHTEEN -- “say ahh…”
This looks vaguely familiar, Asuna thinks, flipping over the piece of something (cake, perhaps?) on her plate. The special “Setsuna Iodine Cake” was ingrained in everyone’s mind, and it was with utmost reluctance that Asuna allowed Setsuna to help Konoka cook dessert again. Leaning on her arm, she ponders whether it would be a good idea to put that dubious morsel into her mouth. Sensing shifty gazes being sent her way, Asuna sighs, lowers her fork and brings the piece of cake in question to her lips. After all, it couldn’t be as bad as last time, right?
Gulping, Setsuna waits for the verdict, Konoka’s death grip on her arm being the only thing keeping her from rushing out the door that instant. Nervous, she watches as Asuna slowly chews, prolonging the tense silence at the dining table. And then she stops. Whimpering softly, Setsuna closes her eyes. I thank the heavens for allowing someone as unworthy as I to be able to stay nea—
“Hey, this tastes pretty nice.”
Wait, what?
Chuckling at Chamo’s dash to the cake and Setsuna’s shocked expression, Konoka picks up her fork and reaches over the table.
“Ne, Secchan, say ahh ”
“… ahhh?”
Kill me now.
…
NINETEEN -- red
When Setsuna thinks of the color red, she thinks of Konoka’s favorite sweater, the color of sun as it sets in the horizon, how Konoka looks when her uniform catches its rays, and the color of her own cheeks when she realizes that she’s staring a bit too long. Red is the color of love, fire, romance, power. Red is passion. It’s the color of a mind clouded by anger – it is the color of the world through Setsuna’s eyes when Chigusa holds Konoka hostage, cold knife edge pressed against the side of her neck.
Konoka sees Setsuna rush forward, sees the underlings taunt and slash and draw blood. It is an unfair exchange, she thinks. There is only one Setsuna and the underlings never seem to stop appearing. And that is when she hears it, a muffled cry of pain. She is almost afraid to look, but it is Setsuna and she can’t not look.
Her eyes dart to Setsuna’s figure, at the blood trickling down Setsuna’s face, arms, legs, at Setsuna’s hands covered in dry, caked blood. She watches as Setsuna rises and falls and rises again to somehow beat the monsters blocking her path and when she is finally free, she runs to Setsuna’s side, crying, healing, hoping that Setsuna will be alright. And her wounds heal, but the blood is still there, dry, clinging onto the fabric of her shirt, pooling around them.
Red, after all, is also life, death, and everything in between.
…
TWENTY -- the road home
The trip back is spent in silence, everyone occupied with their own thoughts. Konoka runs her hand through the sleeping Setsuna’s hair, frowning at the specks of blood that weren’t completely washed away.
Sighing, she shifts her gaze to Negi and Asuna. They both must have felt her stare, because they both turn around at the same time, and when their eyes meet, all they can do is look at each other with expressionless eyes because there is nothing they can say to comfort each other in the face of the new truth. No matter how many times they wash their clothes, even if the stain and metallic smell disappears, they cannot hide the fact that the situation has changed; the enemies are stronger, and now it is them who are too weak.
Once they arrive, Negi turns to her and offers his hand to help her down but, in the light of all that has happened, all she can manage is a weak smile in return.
…
TWENTY-ONE -- violence
“We’ll face them together.”
Looking at the carnage surrounding him, Negi is reminded of the words that passed through Setsuna’s mouth before she grabbed Yuunagi’s hilt and rushed forward into the fray. Faintly, he smells the putrid smell of blood drift towards him, spreading around the battlefield underneath the unnaturally bright sun. The weather shouldn’t be this pleasant, he thinks, but a part of him knows that those who died would have rather seen the glare of the sun’s rays, and felt that tiny bit of warmth on their cold bodies.
Hearing Asuna call out to him, he turns around and is met with the sight of her leaning against a tree, Konoka following closely behind. Sighing, Negi covers the body next to him with a black sheet of cloth.
This isn’t the way things were supposed to be. No one was supposed to die. Not even Chigusa. They were supposed to stop Chigusa’s plans and leave with everyone intact. In the end, they were able to defeat her and her army of demons, but…
It is what they wanted, yet at the same time, it is not.
He doesn’t know whether he should be happy or sad, but at the relieved look on Konoka’s face when she sees Setsuna limp towards them from behind the trees, all that comes to mind is that it’s good to be alive. And for now, it has to be enough.
…
TWENTY-TWO -- cradle
It’s one of those days where Konoka doesn’t feel like doing anything except for lying on the freshly cut grass, cool wind in her hair, hand reaching up towards the endless sky. She doesn’t know why, all she knows is that it just is, so she grasps Setsuna’s hand tightly in her own and bounds down the stairs as soon as class is over.
The sky is clear, and the few clouds in the sky drift lazily across the vast sea of blue. Smiling, Konoka releases Setsuna’s hand and lies down on the hill, soft soil cradling her small frame. When she doesn’t hear Setsuna shuffling down to join her, she turns her head sideways and pats the ground next to her with her left hand.
“The weather’s very nice today, isn’t it?” she asks as Setsuna sets herself down beside her. A few moments pass by, and Konoka is tempted to say something to break the uncomfortable silence, but out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Setsuna smile, nodding slightly. With that one move, the air around her is suddenly less apprehensive, less constricting, so she lets the next few minutes pass by in silence, tracing the paths of the clouds up above with her eyes.
When she next turns to Setsuna, she finds that Setsuna is already asleep, the faintest trace of a smile gracing her lips, and Konoka feels free, as if in that moment, she could fall asleep and dream only sweet dreams for the rest of her days.
It’s because it’s so peaceful, she realizes, and wistfully, reaching over to trace her hand over the sleeping Setsuna’s cheek, she wishes they could stay like this, side by side, forever.
…
TWENTY-THREE -- candy
Konoka watches as Setsuna wipes a bead of sweat from her brow. She didn’t expect the temperature to be this warm, but on the bright side, she thinks, this was a good excuse for her to get some ice cream, which is why she is standing in front of the ice cream vendor holding two cones of ice cream in her hands. Quickly, she walks over to where Setsuna is standing and hands her the chocolate ice cream cone before it begins to melt and drip onto her hands.
Giggling at the red shade of Setsuna’s cheek, Konoka licks her vanilla ice cream, savoring the refreshing sweet taste. Although she may not look it, Konoka is a very fast eater, and when she pops the last bit of the cone into her mouth, she finds that Setsuna is desperately trying to lick the melted ice cream off the sides of the cone to prevent it from sticking to her hands. Konoka decides to watch.
It is one of the rare chances where she can look, really look, at Setsuna without worrying about being caught, because Setsuna’s mind is only focused on her losing battle with the ice cream. She watches as Setsuna’s tongue wraps itself around the side of the cone, watches Setsuna’s eyebrows furrow, watches as the determined glint in her eye grows stronger, and she knows that if Setsuna turns around now, she won’t be able to hide the immense longing in her eyes.
Setsuna doesn’t glance upwards until much later, after Konoka has already hidden the flash of desire from her view. Laughing, Konoka takes a piece of tissue out of her bag and wipes the remains of the ice cream on the edge of Setsuna’s lips. She doesn’t know what comes over her then; maybe it was the way Setsuna’s mouth was slightly agape, or how her face seemed to glow with the fading light of the sun, or maybe it was how it just seemed so right, but the next thing she knows, her lips are pressed lightly against Setsuna’s own.
Setsuna pulls away, shock on her face, and it is only then that the magnitude of what she did comes crashing down on Konoka’s consciousness, and it hurts when the fact that Setsuna recoiled from her kiss sets itself into her mind. It hurts even more when she sees the scared expression on Setsuna’s face because all that comes to mind is that Setsuna is scared of her, scared of her affection, and before she knows what she’s doing, she’s already running. Away from Setsuna, away from the shock, away from everything.
And it is only when her legs give way under her that she finally stops and allows herself to cry.
…
TWENTY-FOUR -- goodnight
The stars have already surfaced against the darkness of the sky when Setsuna makes her way back to the dorm. She doesn’t understand, she decides. Konoka kissed her, she should be happy; what she had only ever dared to dream had become reality, but she doesn’t know why her body retracted from Konoka’s at that crucial moment when their lips met. The question plagues her mind, knots itself into her stomach, reminding her of Konoka’s face when she tried to stop her tears from falling.
Somehow, her feet carry her outside Konoka’s room, and it takes her a few minutes before she can gather up the courage to place her hand on the rough wood. Leaning her forehead against the door, Setsuna takes a deep breath and knocks.
She is not surprised when she sees that it is Asuna who opens the door. Shifting nervously, Setsuna makes a move to speak, but is stopped by Asuna shaking her head sadly and motioning for her to step to the side.
“Konoka,” Asuna pauses, unsure of how to continue after seeing the helpless expression on Setsuna’s face.
“She doesn’t want to see you right now.”
She expects Setsuna to nod curtly and walk away like she always does, but this time, this time Setsuna is just standing there, head bowed, shoulders slumped, radiating an aura of sadness that shakes Asuna to the core. It pains her to see Setsuna like this, but Konoka is her friend too and although Konoka wouldn’t tell her what happened, she knows that it has to do with Setsuna, so all she can do is offer an apology she isn’t sure she is entitled to make.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, and closes the door behind her.
Placing her hand against the doorframe, she feels it shake slightly when Setsuna slides herself down, back against the door. She feels the vibration when Setsuna leans her head back, and although she isn’t sure, she swears she can hear Setsuna cry.
…
TWENTY-FIVE -- fence
It only takes a short while for the rest of the class to notice that something is terribly, terribly wrong between Konoka and Setsuna. There is no more teasing, and Konoka rushes out of the room too quickly for them to ask her why, and they would ask Setsuna too, but she doesn’t want to answer their questions either, so they leave her to stare after Konoka’s back as it disappears around the corner, wondering why, despite Setsuna’s speed, Konoka can’t be caught.
They can’t help but think that, in this twisted game of cat and mouse, the cat is now the one being chased and, like Asuna, there is nothing they can do but watch.
…
TWENTY-SIX -- if only I could make you mine
The scene replays itself in Konoka’s mind over and over and over again. She relives the moment every time she sneaks a glance in Setsuna’s direction, every time she opens the door to the empty apartment, every time she is alone. And every time, it becomes harder for her to stop the tears from falling.
Slumping forward onto her bed, the thin cloth of her blanket catches the edge of her lips and she is reminded of the feel of Setsuna’s lips against hers. Even if it was for but a moment, Konoka knows that those are the only lips she could ever want to kiss, and she hates herself for not being able to stop the wanting, the longing, the needing before it consumes her whole.
By the time Asuna returns, Konoka is already fast asleep, hair spread haphazardly on her pillow, mouth shaped into a frown. Sighing, Asuna walks over to Konoka’s bed pulling up the blanket from the floor, laying it over Konoka’s shivering body. This isn’t the way things are supposed to be either, she thinks, and moves to turn off the lights. It’s not supposed to be like this at all.
…
TWENTY-SEVEN -- overflow
She once hoped that someday the chance would come for her to express her love for her ojou-sama, that someday, she could admit to the love she had kept hidden for so long, because it is hope, despite being concealed under the subconscious, that keeps you alive when nothing else will. She wants to talk to Konoka again, to apologize, to tell her the secret she can no longer keep as her own, and that the overflow of emotions makes it harder for her to face each new day Konoka chooses to spend away from her.
Images from her dreams pass through the vestiges of her mind; the red thread, the wings, the flight – her. With that thought, Setsuna rolls off the bed and strides purposely towards Konoka’s room. She has to save it from falling apart before it even has a chance to begin, before it’s too late.
…
TWENTY-EIGHT -- wada calcium CD3
Asuna doesn’t know how she knows, but she knows. She opens the door before Setsuna has a chance to knock, quickly stepping outside to confront her before she does what Asuna, what everyone, has been waiting for her to do. Taking a deep breath, Asuna looks Setsuna in the eye, searches them, and finds a sense of purpose she didn’t see the last time Setsuna stood outside that same door. Smiling, Asuna pulls Setsuna after her into the room.
“Oi, Konoka! I’m going to stay over at Ayaka’s tonight. She seems to have kidnapped that little brat again. See you tomorrow for lunch, okay?”
Grinning mischievously, Asuna pulls Setsuna in for a brief hug and quickly leaves, slamming the door shut behind her. Wincing at the harsh sound, Setsuna slowly makes her way deeper into the room, fingers brushing against the bottle of calcium on the tabletop before resting on the doorway to the bedroom. Gulping, Setsuna puts her hand on the doorknob and twists it open.
…
TWENTY-NINE -- the sound of waves
Konoka is lying on the bed when she hears Asuna call out to her, but Asuna’s words are unable to penetrate the haziness of her mind. Stumbling, Konoka gets out of bed and walks over to the bedroom door hoping to see Asuna before she leaves. Before she even makes it halfway there, however, the door opens and she comes face to face with Setsuna, and all the emotions she had carefully, carefully pocketed away come flooding back. She wants to kiss her again, to feel those lips on hers, to be embraced in those arms; most of all, she wants to say that she’s sorry, but despite all that, the words that come out of her mouth reflect nothing, show nothing, reveal nothing. They aren’t the words she had in mind.
“Why are you here?”
And she barely recognizes the voice as her own.
When she hears no answer, she ventures looking upwards, away from the spot on the ground she had been staring at before, gasping when she suddenly feels Setsuna’s arms around her. She feels her heart beat faster, she feels that familiar tingle run throughout her entire body, and she knows that if she stays any longer in Setsuna’s embrace, she won’t be able to stop needing her.
Slowly, Konoka’s slides her hands through the space between Setsuna’s arms and her body and pushes her arms away, pushes Setsuna away.
“Don’t touch me,” she says, so softly Setsuna almost doesn’t hear. “Please, just… don’t touch me.”
Looking up, Konoka sees the pain in Setsuna’s eyes, and feels a twinge of regret settling itself in her stomach. She quickly quashes it down before it stops her from doing what has to be done. Pushing Setsuna out of the way, Konoka makes her way towards the door, fully intent on getting away from Setsuna before her defenses crumble again.
Setsuna isn’t one to take chances. She has always known this, but when Konoka pulls her arms off of her, the sharp jolt of something that runs through every part of Setsuna’s body removes all her inhibitions, and when she sees Konoka walk past her out of the corner of her eye, she decides to take that chance, no matter the outcome, because this is one chance she isn’t willing to let drift out of her grasp.
She grips Konoka’s hand tightly in her own and pulls Konoka towards her, leaning her head onto Konoka’s back, wrapping her arms around her tight enough to keep Konoka at bay.
“Please don’t go,” she finally says, her voice a bare whisper. “I’m sorry… I…”
And Konoka realizes that the wetness on her back is from Setsuna’s tears.
Not trusting her voice, Setsuna slowly turns Konoka around to face her. In between her tears, she wipes the side of Konoka’s cheek and, with her right hand behind Konoka’s head, she brings her up for a kiss.
Self restraint out the window, Setsuna kisses her with all abandon. It is slow and sensual and passionate, and in it is all of Setsuna’s desire, the feelings that accumulated over the years poured out into that one kiss to prove to the one person who mattered that she loved and was loved in return.
And when she feels Konoka kiss her back amidst tears of her own, their hearts beating as one, she knows that somehow, everything will be okay.
…
THIRTY -- kiss
Between the truths and non-truths, the lies and non-lies, it is easy to fabricate an illusion of happiness, telling yourself that you are happy, believing that you are truly happy even if you know deep in your heart that it isn’t real. Setsuna knows this. It was her life; it was the small sliver of falsehood that kept her going.
But here, in Konoka’s arms, she feels the happiest she has ever been; here, in Konoka’s arms, is where she had always wanted to be, and although she knows she may still be living decades after Konoka is gone, she is sure that these moments will be enough to last her a lifetime. Beside her, Konoka rubs her eyes, and grins when she notices that Setsuna is still lying next to her.
“Ne, Kono-chan…”
Overjoyed at Setsuna’s use of her name, Konoka leans over and catches Setsuna’s lips gently with her own, drawing her in for another kiss, and Setsuna can’t help but smile at the thought of the kiss that shouldn’t be hers… but is.
And she realizes that this… this is happiness. And it is more than she could have ever dared to hope for.
And together we move forward, one step at a time. Step by step.
…
ONE -- look over here
Setsuna feels Konoka stare at her back, feels the intensity of her gaze, feels her desire to rekindle the ties of friendship Setsuna had carefully cut away years ago.
Setsuna hears Konoka’s silent plea for her to turn around, to step out of the shadows and help her regain the cheerfulness she could only experience with her childhood friend. But Setsuna is afraid.
She knows the moment she gives in, the harder it will be for her to maintain her calm façade and keep hidden the secret that can never be revealed. She knows the moment she gives in will be the moment her fragile mask of denial will finally break.
Behind the excuse that she wants nothing more than this – a lifetime of perpetual sacrifice and devotion for her ojou-sama – Setsuna feels secure. Chances, after all, are not for her to take.
…
TWO -- letter
When a letter arrived asking for a swordsman from the Shinmeiryuu to help guard Konoka in her new school, Setsuna volunteered immediately. Little did she know that Eishun had drafted the letter with her in mind. Setsuna was strong and powerful, but above all, beneath the icy exterior that had formed over the years, Eishun saw and remembered the genuine will to protect Konoka, even with her life. A will that managed to strengthen over time, despite the years spent away from each other.
And that was one attribute more important than rank or status or level, because true strength could only come from a pure desire to protect that one person dearest to you. In Setsuna’s hands, Eishun knows Konoka will be safe.
…
THREE -- jolt!
The rays of sunlight shine through the curtains and onto Konoka’s waking face. She hears Asuna return from her newspaper rounds followed by “Get you paws off my underwear… NOW!”, accompanied with the sound of Chamo being forcefully thrown against the wall, and the dull thud of gravity pulling him back onto the floor. Stretching, Konoka smiles, gets out of bed, and gets ready for school. This is routine.
The smell of breakfast, the friendly teasing over the morning’s incident, the rush to school, the stampede of students making their way through the hallways. This is routine as well. This is what she knows, what she is sure of. A constant in her everyday life.
But this is also routine: Konoka accidentally runs into Setsuna. Before Konoka can recover, before words of apology can be given, Setsuna is already gone. No words, no acknowledgement that Konoka was even there at all. And Konoka can’t help but look at her back, at her indifferent expression as she looks out the window, and wonder why there is a dull ache in her heart every time she looks Setsuna’s way.
…
FOUR -- our distance and that person
Within the confines of the shadows, Setsuna can freely observe Konoka. She can see the joy on her face when she is surrounded by her friends. She can hear the laughter as it floats merrily in the air. She can smell the sweet smell of Konoka’s newly washed laundry, the smell of her hair, and the slight smell of breakfast that sticks to your clothing no matter how careful you are.
She is but ten steps away, and Konoka’s presence is almost too much for her to bear. It takes all her self-control to remain in the shadows, away from that person who means the most to her, to convince herself that this is what she really wants; that it is enough.
She hears Konoka’s footsteps draw near and silently counts to herself. Ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three steps… is too close, so she retreats further into the shadows, hiding herself from Konoka’s view.
Yes she thinks to herself, this is enough.
Somewhere in her heart she knows that some distances can never be crossed.
…
FIVE -- “hey, you know…”
The bell rings and Konoka quickly searches the crowd for Setsuna.
“Hey, you know…”
She looks left, then right and sees Setsuna leaving the room. She is about to follow in case she can still catch up to Setsuna’s hasty departure when she sees a hand right in front of her face.
“Hey, you know…”
Startled, Konoka turns to face Asuna.
“You know, I’ve been calling you for some time now. Are you feeling alright?”
Konoka spares a short glance to the hallway only to find that it is already too late. The hallway is almost empty and Setsuna is nowhere to be found.
“Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she finally says, but under the scrutiny of Asuna’s concerned gaze, she begins to doubt the truth of her words.
…
SIX -- the space between dream and reality
When Setsuna dreams, she dreams of Konoka. She dreams of being able to talk to her, to go back to those precious days when they were younger. In her dreams, she is flying.
She sees a ribbon unfurl and twirl itself around them, clasping their hands together. But then chains form around her wings. She sees blood pour through the white feathers, staining them a deep crimson, pulling her down, pulling Konoka down, and she realizes that it’s now or never. She pulls out her katana and with one sharp flick of her wrist, the ribbon is cut, and she watches as Konoka floats upwards – safe.
She wakes up. This is her anchor, keeping her in reality before she drifts too far into her dreams.
When Konoka dreams, she dreams of many things, but mostly of Setsuna. Of the day they first met, of the day they fell into the river, of the day she left, of the day they met again. When she wakes, she continues to dream. She dreams of a day when she and Setsuna go back to the friends they once were.
Her grandfather once told her that some dreams are bound to be forever unrealized; that no matter how much you want something, it may never happen. But Konoka has faith in Setsuna, and her hope cannot be easily estinguished. To her, Setsuna is more that just another memory; she is not willing to let her fade away. And so she continues to pray in the hopes that their someday will come.
And it does.
…
SEVEN -- superstar
Konoka chuckles as she shuts down the computer, silently thanking Negi for teaching her how to browse the wonder that is the internet. After all, without it, she would never have discovered the wonderful site aptly named “The Princess and Her Samurai”, a fanlisting dedicated to that one picture she took with Setsuna in Kyoto. Reaching into her pocket, she takes out said picture and runs her fingers over Setsuna’s face, feeling the familiar texture of the photograph on her skin.
Sensing the object of her musings enter the room, she puts it back into her pocket and thinks that maybe, it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to order more prints… or maybe even a poster. Grinning to herself, she stands up and catches Setsuna’s attention with a wave.
…
EIGHT -- our own world
It’s raining hard and Setsuna is wet. Very wet. Cursing herself, she hides under the shelter of a tree. Sitting down, she realizes that this is the first time she has forgotten her umbrella, and absent-mindedly begins to wring the bottom of her shirt in an attempt to dry it.
In her mind’s eye, Setsuna recalls a day just like this, years ago, when she and Konoka were younger, when lightning was scary and thunder was worse. She recalls cutting across the muddy lawn, desperate to reach Konoka who was hiding underneath a bush as soon as possible. She recalls reaching out her umbrella to cover Konoka’s shivering form and wrapping a towel around her to shield her from the cold before guiding her home.
A flash of lightning suddenly illuminates the sky, and her eyes are drawn to a lone female figure running towards her, an umbrella in hand and a worried look on her face. Without a word, Konoka reaches her hand to Setsuna’s own and pulls her under the umbrella. She looks up and smiles.
When Setsuna finally gets over her shock, she offers one in return amongst bumbling words of gratitude, and together they make their way back. Just the two of them, just as before. Roles reversed.
…
NINE -- dash
Good atmospheres are so easy to destroy, Asuna thinks. Moments ago, everything was fine. Negi and Konoka were laughing, and even Setsuna was trying to suppress a grin. But then it all went wrong.
Asuna places her fork back onto the plate and wonders if maybe she was the reason for the tense aura in the room. Maybe, just maybe, she shouldn’t have gagged when she put that delicious looking piece of cake into her mouth only to discover that that one little piece in all probability had enough iodine to last her two lifetimes and beyond. Or maybe more.
Konoka coughs, and watches as everyone’s eyes turn to her.
“Secchan… how much salt did you put in?”
Swallowing, Setsuna wipes a bead of sweat that threatens to drip from the side of her face. She knew she shouldn’t have volunteered to help in the kitchen. She knew something bad would have come out of it. She just didn’t know it would be this bad.
“A… a dash… just like you said…?”
“And how much is a dash of salt?”
“Ah, well, um, you see, ah, ojou-sama… when you said ‘dash’ I thought 100 meter dash so when you gave me the tablespoon I thought you wanted 100 tablespoons of salt… for each person…?”
Silence. Setsuna sees everyone else stand and look her way with strange, murderous expressions – oh my goodness, is there a red gleam in their eyes – and thinks that now would be a good time to run.
…
TEN -- #10
Setsuna wipes the sweat from her brow. Training with Evangeline is always hard, but Setsuna is grateful for the faith Evangeline has in her abilities and the extra push she gives because of it. Without it, she is afraid she might not be able to protect Konoka from all harm.
“You love her, don’t you? Konoka, I mean.”
Shocked, Setsuna stops her movements and turns around to face Evangeline. Just when Setsuna is about to reply, Chachamaru opens the front door of Evangeline’s home and comes out with a tray of tea. Sighing, Evangeline reaches for a cup and motions lazily with her hand for Setsuna to join her. A few moments pass by before Setsuna ventures to speak again.
“I don’t—” She starts, but is cut off by Evangeline who has just finished her tea and is putting the cup down.
“There’s no need to hide it from me,” her eyes narrow. “It’s obvious to someone as old as I am.” Setsuna makes a move to interject, but stops when she sees her raise her hand.
“You are half-demon, Setsuna. How long do you think you and Konoka could be happy together? Your happiness with Konoka, your love... it may never be accepted...”
Evangeline lowers her gaze. The conversation is bringing too many memories back to the surface of her mind.
“Are you okay with that, Setsuna?”
The question is left hanging in the air. Setsuna opens her mouth a few times, attempting to voice out an answer, but she knows that it is futile because the brutal truth is: she doesn’t know.
Smiling sadly to herself, Evangeline dismisses Setsuna and walks back into her house, Chachamaru following closely behind. And with Evangeline’s retreat, Setsuna is left alone in the silence of the garden with a question she has no answer to.
…
ELEVEN -- gardenia
The sun is shining brightly in the sky but despite the warmth and cheerfulness of birds singing in the trees above, her mood is dampened slightly when she sneaks a glance at the person beside her. After all her efforts to get them back together again, she wonders if she has done something to make Setsuna sad, or worse, if Setsuna doesn’t want to be her friend anymore.
When she asks what’s wrong, Setsuna always avoids her eye and mumbles that it’s nothing and that she shouldn’t worry, but all that does is make her do just that.
So wrapped up in her thoughts of Setsuna, she does not realize that they are going the wrong way. In fact, she is so wrapped up in her thoughts of Setsuna that she does not notice where she is walking until she walks right into a tree.
Startled out of her reverie by Konoka’s yelp, Setsuna hurries over to help her up, only to trip over a tree root and fall flat on her face. Laughing, Konoka squats down next to her and uses her left hand to pick out a flower that had somehow attached itself to Setsuna’s uniform after the fall.
“Secchan, do you know what flower this is?”
“It’s a gardenia, Ojou-sama. I heard it can be used to treat diabetes and…”
She stops talking when she feels Konoka’s warm hand on her face. Immediately, a blush appears on her cheeks and the only thing she manages to stammer out is a feeble “O-o-ojou-sama!”
“You know, Secchan, gardenias mean ‘joy and good luck’. Even if you don’t want to tell me what’s wrong, I want you to be happy, okay?” Konoka cocks her head to the side and continues, “The gardenia looks pretty on you.”
Laughing again, Konoka removes her hand from Setsuna’s cheek and walks off. It is only when Setsuna feels the loss of warmth that she registers the fact that Konoka had put that flower in her hair. Gardenias smell nice, she decides, and starts following Konoka, desperately trying to hide the ever-growing blush.
Konoka’s eyes dart back and twinkle at the sight of a red tinge on Setsuna’s cheeks. Gardenias also mean secret love.
Whistling, Konoka continues walking away.
…
TWELVE -- in a good mood
“I FEEL PRETTY! SO, SO PRETTY! I FEEL PRETTYYYYY AND WITTYYYY AND GAYYYYYY!”
Negi gulps, trying to block out Konoka’s singing in the background.
“Konoka-san is just… in a really good mood today,” he says while stepping out of the room, closing the door behind him. “She’s not drunk at all.”
However, when he sees the bright red hue of Setsuna’s face and her twitching eyebrows, he realizes that he wasn’t quite quick enough to stop Setsuna from catching a glimpse of Konoka singing and dancing on the table… in nothing but her white panties and a bra.
Scratching his head sheepishly, he resigns himself to the fact that he probably has some explaining to do.
…
THIRTEEN -- excessive chain
When Setsuna dreams, she dreams of Konoka. She dreams of her newfound joy of being able to talk to her, of going back to those precious days when they were younger. In her dreams, she is still flying.
She sees a ribbon unfurl and twirl itself around them, clasping their hands together. But now, no chains form around her wings. Now, they wrap themselves around the two girls’ bodies. There are no more wounds for blood to pour from. No white stained crimson.
Now, they are weightless, and Setsuna’s wings are able to soar and carry them above the clouds. Together. Safe.
…
FOURTEEN -- radio-cassette player
It’s like a nightmare, Setsuna thinks. Of all the activities that could have been chosen as a unit in gym class, it just had to be dance. Although Konoka was selected to be her dance partner and although being able to be near her is nice, the close proximity is almost enough to make Setsuna implode especially now that she is practicing with Konoka in the confines of her room.
The person who chose dance is going to pay.
Unfortunately, before she can exact bloody murder on whoever made said decision, she is knocked out of her thoughts by Konoka tripping over her feet and falling face forward into Setsuna’s breasts who, after all the accidents, is now redder than a tomato.
Not bothering to hide her completely red face, Setsuna jumps back and apologizes for her misconduct, completely oblivious to the hidden smirk on Konoka’s face.
“Maybe,” Konoka says, while pulling out a radio-cassette player from her bag, “We should try this with music.”
At Setsuna’s questioning gaze, Konoka continues, “Kaede lent it to me when I said I was going to practice dancing with you. She was practicing with Mana so she just left the tape in.”
Setsuna watches as Konoka presses play, and rushes over to her, placing her left hand at the small of Setsuna’s back and the other in Setsuna’s hand. And then they wait for the music to begin. After a few moments of silence, sound comes out of the radio-cassette player, but to say that it isn’t what they expected would be an immense understatement.
“Unh… guh… yesss… right there… yessssss… guh…”
Dashing to turn it off, Konoka puts a finger to her lips in a show of thinking.
“You know, Secchan, I think I’d better return this to Kaede.”
Setsuna can’t agree more.
…
FIFTEEN -- perfect blue
Most days are spent in the classroom followed by a short walk together before Setsuna goes off on her rounds. But today, Setsuna has no rounds to go to and for the first time in a long while, they can be together with no obligations or duties shadowing their every move, reminding them that their time is limited.
On days like these, they would usually look for Asuna and Negi and find something to do together. Sometimes the four of them would go watch a movie, sometimes they would play a game, or sometimes they would flop themselves on the floor lazily and sleep. But today, Asuna and Negi can’t be found leaving just the two of them to find something to do on their own.
Wiping the stone with a piece of cloth, Setsuna offers Konoka a seat next to the fountain, light sprays of water blowing into her hair. A glance at Setsuna’s face and Konoka recognizes the lost look in her eyes – the same look Setsuna had the day she discreetly admitted her love for Setsuna with the gardenia.
This will not do, she decides. Grinning mischievously, she slips her feet out of her shoes and falls backward into the fountain. Expectantly, Konoka lies in the fountain waiting for Setsuna to reach out her hand and when it comes, she tugs at it and laughs when she hears the splash of Setsuna falling into the fountain with her. Hearing Setsuna eventually laugh with her, however, comes as a pleasant surprise.
Despite being utterly wet, Konoka thinks that somehow, looking at the blue sky above and listening to the sound of Setsuna’s laughter, there is something about the situation that is simply absolutely perfect. Smiling, she turns and splashes Setsuna with a handful of water.
Perfect indeed.
…
SIXTEEN -- invincible
Konoka sees the carefree Setsuna, feels the softness of her skin, but it is times like these when she hears her soothing voice underlaced with an ongoing current of pain that Konoka can’t help but think that Setsuna isn’t as invincible as she thinks she is, and that someday, it might be her who has to protect Setsuna instead. With that thought in mind Konoka strides purposely to her grandfather’s office. Earlier, he had asked Konoka if she would be willing to spend more of her time training her healing capabilities, even if it means that she would be able to spend less time with her friends, with Setsuna.
Recalling Setsuna’s lost expression, Konoka gives him the answer that had been in her heart the moment her grandfather asked her. There had never been any answer but this:
“Yes,” she says, and although startled, Konoemon smiles and nods. It is all as planned.
…
SEVENTEEN -- kHz – kilohertz
She isn’t sure when the glimpses became tinged with longing and desire; she isn’t sure when she first discovered that her eyes lingered longer and longer on Setsuna’s lean arms, on her athletic legs, on her dark, flowing hair when they showered; nor does she remember when she began to watch the drops of water slide down Setsuna’s neck, slowing making their way under the towel wrapped around her breasts. She does not remember when she first wanted to take their place.
But she knows this: When she is with Setsuna, her feet spring up a little more from the ground, her stomach does little flip-flops every now and then, and her smile shines a little brighter, but most of all, her heart beats a little faster. And she realizes that this is love, because only love can make you this hurt and this happy at the same time.
Placing a hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat, accelerated by thoughts of Setsuna, she wonders if Setsuna feels the same way.
…
EIGHTEEN -- “say ahh…”
This looks vaguely familiar, Asuna thinks, flipping over the piece of something (cake, perhaps?) on her plate. The special “Setsuna Iodine Cake” was ingrained in everyone’s mind, and it was with utmost reluctance that Asuna allowed Setsuna to help Konoka cook dessert again. Leaning on her arm, she ponders whether it would be a good idea to put that dubious morsel into her mouth. Sensing shifty gazes being sent her way, Asuna sighs, lowers her fork and brings the piece of cake in question to her lips. After all, it couldn’t be as bad as last time, right?
Gulping, Setsuna waits for the verdict, Konoka’s death grip on her arm being the only thing keeping her from rushing out the door that instant. Nervous, she watches as Asuna slowly chews, prolonging the tense silence at the dining table. And then she stops. Whimpering softly, Setsuna closes her eyes. I thank the heavens for allowing someone as unworthy as I to be able to stay nea—
“Hey, this tastes pretty nice.”
Wait, what?
Chuckling at Chamo’s dash to the cake and Setsuna’s shocked expression, Konoka picks up her fork and reaches over the table.
“Ne, Secchan, say ahh ”
“… ahhh?”
Kill me now.
…
NINETEEN -- red
When Setsuna thinks of the color red, she thinks of Konoka’s favorite sweater, the color of sun as it sets in the horizon, how Konoka looks when her uniform catches its rays, and the color of her own cheeks when she realizes that she’s staring a bit too long. Red is the color of love, fire, romance, power. Red is passion. It’s the color of a mind clouded by anger – it is the color of the world through Setsuna’s eyes when Chigusa holds Konoka hostage, cold knife edge pressed against the side of her neck.
Konoka sees Setsuna rush forward, sees the underlings taunt and slash and draw blood. It is an unfair exchange, she thinks. There is only one Setsuna and the underlings never seem to stop appearing. And that is when she hears it, a muffled cry of pain. She is almost afraid to look, but it is Setsuna and she can’t not look.
Her eyes dart to Setsuna’s figure, at the blood trickling down Setsuna’s face, arms, legs, at Setsuna’s hands covered in dry, caked blood. She watches as Setsuna rises and falls and rises again to somehow beat the monsters blocking her path and when she is finally free, she runs to Setsuna’s side, crying, healing, hoping that Setsuna will be alright. And her wounds heal, but the blood is still there, dry, clinging onto the fabric of her shirt, pooling around them.
Red, after all, is also life, death, and everything in between.
…
TWENTY -- the road home
The trip back is spent in silence, everyone occupied with their own thoughts. Konoka runs her hand through the sleeping Setsuna’s hair, frowning at the specks of blood that weren’t completely washed away.
Sighing, she shifts her gaze to Negi and Asuna. They both must have felt her stare, because they both turn around at the same time, and when their eyes meet, all they can do is look at each other with expressionless eyes because there is nothing they can say to comfort each other in the face of the new truth. No matter how many times they wash their clothes, even if the stain and metallic smell disappears, they cannot hide the fact that the situation has changed; the enemies are stronger, and now it is them who are too weak.
Once they arrive, Negi turns to her and offers his hand to help her down but, in the light of all that has happened, all she can manage is a weak smile in return.
…
TWENTY-ONE -- violence
“We’ll face them together.”
Looking at the carnage surrounding him, Negi is reminded of the words that passed through Setsuna’s mouth before she grabbed Yuunagi’s hilt and rushed forward into the fray. Faintly, he smells the putrid smell of blood drift towards him, spreading around the battlefield underneath the unnaturally bright sun. The weather shouldn’t be this pleasant, he thinks, but a part of him knows that those who died would have rather seen the glare of the sun’s rays, and felt that tiny bit of warmth on their cold bodies.
Hearing Asuna call out to him, he turns around and is met with the sight of her leaning against a tree, Konoka following closely behind. Sighing, Negi covers the body next to him with a black sheet of cloth.
This isn’t the way things were supposed to be. No one was supposed to die. Not even Chigusa. They were supposed to stop Chigusa’s plans and leave with everyone intact. In the end, they were able to defeat her and her army of demons, but…
It is what they wanted, yet at the same time, it is not.
He doesn’t know whether he should be happy or sad, but at the relieved look on Konoka’s face when she sees Setsuna limp towards them from behind the trees, all that comes to mind is that it’s good to be alive. And for now, it has to be enough.
…
TWENTY-TWO -- cradle
It’s one of those days where Konoka doesn’t feel like doing anything except for lying on the freshly cut grass, cool wind in her hair, hand reaching up towards the endless sky. She doesn’t know why, all she knows is that it just is, so she grasps Setsuna’s hand tightly in her own and bounds down the stairs as soon as class is over.
The sky is clear, and the few clouds in the sky drift lazily across the vast sea of blue. Smiling, Konoka releases Setsuna’s hand and lies down on the hill, soft soil cradling her small frame. When she doesn’t hear Setsuna shuffling down to join her, she turns her head sideways and pats the ground next to her with her left hand.
“The weather’s very nice today, isn’t it?” she asks as Setsuna sets herself down beside her. A few moments pass by, and Konoka is tempted to say something to break the uncomfortable silence, but out of the corner of her eyes, she sees Setsuna smile, nodding slightly. With that one move, the air around her is suddenly less apprehensive, less constricting, so she lets the next few minutes pass by in silence, tracing the paths of the clouds up above with her eyes.
When she next turns to Setsuna, she finds that Setsuna is already asleep, the faintest trace of a smile gracing her lips, and Konoka feels free, as if in that moment, she could fall asleep and dream only sweet dreams for the rest of her days.
It’s because it’s so peaceful, she realizes, and wistfully, reaching over to trace her hand over the sleeping Setsuna’s cheek, she wishes they could stay like this, side by side, forever.
…
TWENTY-THREE -- candy
Konoka watches as Setsuna wipes a bead of sweat from her brow. She didn’t expect the temperature to be this warm, but on the bright side, she thinks, this was a good excuse for her to get some ice cream, which is why she is standing in front of the ice cream vendor holding two cones of ice cream in her hands. Quickly, she walks over to where Setsuna is standing and hands her the chocolate ice cream cone before it begins to melt and drip onto her hands.
Giggling at the red shade of Setsuna’s cheek, Konoka licks her vanilla ice cream, savoring the refreshing sweet taste. Although she may not look it, Konoka is a very fast eater, and when she pops the last bit of the cone into her mouth, she finds that Setsuna is desperately trying to lick the melted ice cream off the sides of the cone to prevent it from sticking to her hands. Konoka decides to watch.
It is one of the rare chances where she can look, really look, at Setsuna without worrying about being caught, because Setsuna’s mind is only focused on her losing battle with the ice cream. She watches as Setsuna’s tongue wraps itself around the side of the cone, watches Setsuna’s eyebrows furrow, watches as the determined glint in her eye grows stronger, and she knows that if Setsuna turns around now, she won’t be able to hide the immense longing in her eyes.
Setsuna doesn’t glance upwards until much later, after Konoka has already hidden the flash of desire from her view. Laughing, Konoka takes a piece of tissue out of her bag and wipes the remains of the ice cream on the edge of Setsuna’s lips. She doesn’t know what comes over her then; maybe it was the way Setsuna’s mouth was slightly agape, or how her face seemed to glow with the fading light of the sun, or maybe it was how it just seemed so right, but the next thing she knows, her lips are pressed lightly against Setsuna’s own.
Setsuna pulls away, shock on her face, and it is only then that the magnitude of what she did comes crashing down on Konoka’s consciousness, and it hurts when the fact that Setsuna recoiled from her kiss sets itself into her mind. It hurts even more when she sees the scared expression on Setsuna’s face because all that comes to mind is that Setsuna is scared of her, scared of her affection, and before she knows what she’s doing, she’s already running. Away from Setsuna, away from the shock, away from everything.
And it is only when her legs give way under her that she finally stops and allows herself to cry.
…
TWENTY-FOUR -- goodnight
The stars have already surfaced against the darkness of the sky when Setsuna makes her way back to the dorm. She doesn’t understand, she decides. Konoka kissed her, she should be happy; what she had only ever dared to dream had become reality, but she doesn’t know why her body retracted from Konoka’s at that crucial moment when their lips met. The question plagues her mind, knots itself into her stomach, reminding her of Konoka’s face when she tried to stop her tears from falling.
Somehow, her feet carry her outside Konoka’s room, and it takes her a few minutes before she can gather up the courage to place her hand on the rough wood. Leaning her forehead against the door, Setsuna takes a deep breath and knocks.
She is not surprised when she sees that it is Asuna who opens the door. Shifting nervously, Setsuna makes a move to speak, but is stopped by Asuna shaking her head sadly and motioning for her to step to the side.
“Konoka,” Asuna pauses, unsure of how to continue after seeing the helpless expression on Setsuna’s face.
“She doesn’t want to see you right now.”
She expects Setsuna to nod curtly and walk away like she always does, but this time, this time Setsuna is just standing there, head bowed, shoulders slumped, radiating an aura of sadness that shakes Asuna to the core. It pains her to see Setsuna like this, but Konoka is her friend too and although Konoka wouldn’t tell her what happened, she knows that it has to do with Setsuna, so all she can do is offer an apology she isn’t sure she is entitled to make.
“I’m sorry,” she murmurs, and closes the door behind her.
Placing her hand against the doorframe, she feels it shake slightly when Setsuna slides herself down, back against the door. She feels the vibration when Setsuna leans her head back, and although she isn’t sure, she swears she can hear Setsuna cry.
…
TWENTY-FIVE -- fence
It only takes a short while for the rest of the class to notice that something is terribly, terribly wrong between Konoka and Setsuna. There is no more teasing, and Konoka rushes out of the room too quickly for them to ask her why, and they would ask Setsuna too, but she doesn’t want to answer their questions either, so they leave her to stare after Konoka’s back as it disappears around the corner, wondering why, despite Setsuna’s speed, Konoka can’t be caught.
They can’t help but think that, in this twisted game of cat and mouse, the cat is now the one being chased and, like Asuna, there is nothing they can do but watch.
…
TWENTY-SIX -- if only I could make you mine
The scene replays itself in Konoka’s mind over and over and over again. She relives the moment every time she sneaks a glance in Setsuna’s direction, every time she opens the door to the empty apartment, every time she is alone. And every time, it becomes harder for her to stop the tears from falling.
Slumping forward onto her bed, the thin cloth of her blanket catches the edge of her lips and she is reminded of the feel of Setsuna’s lips against hers. Even if it was for but a moment, Konoka knows that those are the only lips she could ever want to kiss, and she hates herself for not being able to stop the wanting, the longing, the needing before it consumes her whole.
By the time Asuna returns, Konoka is already fast asleep, hair spread haphazardly on her pillow, mouth shaped into a frown. Sighing, Asuna walks over to Konoka’s bed pulling up the blanket from the floor, laying it over Konoka’s shivering body. This isn’t the way things are supposed to be either, she thinks, and moves to turn off the lights. It’s not supposed to be like this at all.
…
TWENTY-SEVEN -- overflow
She once hoped that someday the chance would come for her to express her love for her ojou-sama, that someday, she could admit to the love she had kept hidden for so long, because it is hope, despite being concealed under the subconscious, that keeps you alive when nothing else will. She wants to talk to Konoka again, to apologize, to tell her the secret she can no longer keep as her own, and that the overflow of emotions makes it harder for her to face each new day Konoka chooses to spend away from her.
Images from her dreams pass through the vestiges of her mind; the red thread, the wings, the flight – her. With that thought, Setsuna rolls off the bed and strides purposely towards Konoka’s room. She has to save it from falling apart before it even has a chance to begin, before it’s too late.
…
TWENTY-EIGHT -- wada calcium CD3
Asuna doesn’t know how she knows, but she knows. She opens the door before Setsuna has a chance to knock, quickly stepping outside to confront her before she does what Asuna, what everyone, has been waiting for her to do. Taking a deep breath, Asuna looks Setsuna in the eye, searches them, and finds a sense of purpose she didn’t see the last time Setsuna stood outside that same door. Smiling, Asuna pulls Setsuna after her into the room.
“Oi, Konoka! I’m going to stay over at Ayaka’s tonight. She seems to have kidnapped that little brat again. See you tomorrow for lunch, okay?”
Grinning mischievously, Asuna pulls Setsuna in for a brief hug and quickly leaves, slamming the door shut behind her. Wincing at the harsh sound, Setsuna slowly makes her way deeper into the room, fingers brushing against the bottle of calcium on the tabletop before resting on the doorway to the bedroom. Gulping, Setsuna puts her hand on the doorknob and twists it open.
…
TWENTY-NINE -- the sound of waves
Konoka is lying on the bed when she hears Asuna call out to her, but Asuna’s words are unable to penetrate the haziness of her mind. Stumbling, Konoka gets out of bed and walks over to the bedroom door hoping to see Asuna before she leaves. Before she even makes it halfway there, however, the door opens and she comes face to face with Setsuna, and all the emotions she had carefully, carefully pocketed away come flooding back. She wants to kiss her again, to feel those lips on hers, to be embraced in those arms; most of all, she wants to say that she’s sorry, but despite all that, the words that come out of her mouth reflect nothing, show nothing, reveal nothing. They aren’t the words she had in mind.
“Why are you here?”
And she barely recognizes the voice as her own.
When she hears no answer, she ventures looking upwards, away from the spot on the ground she had been staring at before, gasping when she suddenly feels Setsuna’s arms around her. She feels her heart beat faster, she feels that familiar tingle run throughout her entire body, and she knows that if she stays any longer in Setsuna’s embrace, she won’t be able to stop needing her.
Slowly, Konoka’s slides her hands through the space between Setsuna’s arms and her body and pushes her arms away, pushes Setsuna away.
“Don’t touch me,” she says, so softly Setsuna almost doesn’t hear. “Please, just… don’t touch me.”
Looking up, Konoka sees the pain in Setsuna’s eyes, and feels a twinge of regret settling itself in her stomach. She quickly quashes it down before it stops her from doing what has to be done. Pushing Setsuna out of the way, Konoka makes her way towards the door, fully intent on getting away from Setsuna before her defenses crumble again.
Setsuna isn’t one to take chances. She has always known this, but when Konoka pulls her arms off of her, the sharp jolt of something that runs through every part of Setsuna’s body removes all her inhibitions, and when she sees Konoka walk past her out of the corner of her eye, she decides to take that chance, no matter the outcome, because this is one chance she isn’t willing to let drift out of her grasp.
She grips Konoka’s hand tightly in her own and pulls Konoka towards her, leaning her head onto Konoka’s back, wrapping her arms around her tight enough to keep Konoka at bay.
“Please don’t go,” she finally says, her voice a bare whisper. “I’m sorry… I…”
And Konoka realizes that the wetness on her back is from Setsuna’s tears.
Not trusting her voice, Setsuna slowly turns Konoka around to face her. In between her tears, she wipes the side of Konoka’s cheek and, with her right hand behind Konoka’s head, she brings her up for a kiss.
Self restraint out the window, Setsuna kisses her with all abandon. It is slow and sensual and passionate, and in it is all of Setsuna’s desire, the feelings that accumulated over the years poured out into that one kiss to prove to the one person who mattered that she loved and was loved in return.
And when she feels Konoka kiss her back amidst tears of her own, their hearts beating as one, she knows that somehow, everything will be okay.
…
THIRTY -- kiss
Between the truths and non-truths, the lies and non-lies, it is easy to fabricate an illusion of happiness, telling yourself that you are happy, believing that you are truly happy even if you know deep in your heart that it isn’t real. Setsuna knows this. It was her life; it was the small sliver of falsehood that kept her going.
But here, in Konoka’s arms, she feels the happiest she has ever been; here, in Konoka’s arms, is where she had always wanted to be, and although she knows she may still be living decades after Konoka is gone, she is sure that these moments will be enough to last her a lifetime. Beside her, Konoka rubs her eyes, and grins when she notices that Setsuna is still lying next to her.
“Ne, Kono-chan…”
Overjoyed at Setsuna’s use of her name, Konoka leans over and catches Setsuna’s lips gently with her own, drawing her in for another kiss, and Setsuna can’t help but smile at the thought of the kiss that shouldn’t be hers… but is.
And she realizes that this… this is happiness. And it is more than she could have ever dared to hope for.
Welcome to Library Island, newcomers, and Hey to all my friends and fans and such! Today I'm posting Dream a Dream, another konosetsu (yuri) fiction, that I hope y'all like! Go to it! Arigatou! ^^
-set-chan
------Dream a Dream------------------------------
The Full-Proof Plan
Konoka Konoe layed in silence on her warm bed in her shared Mahora dormroom. It was early morning, the sun had just barely begun to show in the hazy sky. The chocolate-haired girl remained still, listening to the deafening sounds of the night cicadas fading away. She cursed the fact that she was suffering from morning insomnia. Light barely poured into the small room as she snuggled deeper into the comfortable blankets. She didn't know how long she had been awake but she wasn't regreting it either.
Lately, the girl had been having interesting dreams, not something that occured frequently with her. She figured they were pretty important because dreams were the keys to emotions and she believed they could sometimes reveal deep feelings. She was in the school's Divination Club and often liked to experiment with the unnatural. On a daily basis, her classmates came to her asking for their fortunes to be read and for her to tell them their furtures. She laughed it off because she wasn't a prophet. Divination was just something fun that she just so happened to be good at. She was really more impressed with her latent magical ability, but her crazy dreams had made her go back to her one of her favorite pasttimes.
Her latest dreamy reenactments included her and and a certain someone on an intimate level. She knew that she was in love with her protector and best friend in the whole world, Setsuna Sakurazaki. Her relationship with the petite, raven-haired girl was all Konoka could think of. They had been friends for as long as she could remember and even after they were split up Setsuna was always on her mind. After their reunited friendship in Tokyo, their relationship slowly became stronger and now they were pretty much inseperable. But Konoka felt more for the sword weilding heroine than just friendship and many mornings she found herself thinking wonderful thoughts until time to leave for school.
She was positive Setsuna cared for as well, but hoped it was more than just her doing her job. On a number of occasions, Konoka teased her beloved Secchan, everything from talking about kissing to actually standing or sitting really close to her on purpose. She loved when Setsuna actually let down her guard, in which case Konoka would sneak a surprise kiss on the easily flustered girl's cheek, but sometimes it was the other way around when Setsuna gave her secret hugs that only they knew about. Konoka was hoping something would happen soon, she was dying to push their relationship further. She wanted to know what it felt like to kiss and have the one person she loved all to herself. She thought it was about time she did raise their relationship to that higher level.
Konoka sighed as she ran her hands through her long hair. She still couldn't sleep. Then, she remembered it was an important day and she glanced at the little calender that sat on her nightstand to reassure her of the date. It read January seventeenth, Setsuna's birthday, and she still hadn't gotten her anything. She thought hard about anything that would be a good gift for the girl, and then it came to her. If Setsuna cared for her as much she cared about Setsuna then the best gift would be to give herself.
'But I can't just say, "here Secchan, I got you me as a present," I need something else to hint it,' she thought.
Finally another idea came to mind, she would put her skills to use, and give Setsuna a tarot card reading and maybe warm her up to the idea by drawing the 'lover' card, then proceed to tell her how she felt. She smiled at the thought of a full-proof plan coming together. So by the time Asuna's alarm clock rang wildly and Negi and Asuna slowly got up to their regular ordinary day, Konoka had an indestructable smile plastered on her face, a small nervous feeling, and a plan that couldn't fail.
Konoka was just putting the finishing touches on her manditory school uniform when a knock came at the door. She already knew who would be on the other side, and she was so excited to get on with the day that she rushed to the door basically tripping over Negi and Asuna, who were eating their breakfast. She opened the door to the smiling face of her friend. Setsuna was also wearing her uniform and her hair was bundled in the usual side ponytail. She was carrying her sword-Yuunagi- with her like she always did, ready to strike down anyone who tried to hurt her princess.
"Good morning Ojo-sama," she smiled, "Are you all about ready to go?"
"Hi, Secchan," Konoka said, returning her smile, then turning to her roomates, "Are we about ready to go?" Negi and Asuna were already on their way out the door to start their walk to Mahora's main building.
"Geez, you're way too anxious," Asuna said tiredly as she passed Konoka, who was locking the door, "It's just school."
'If she only knew,' Konoka thought as she threw on her roller skates and rolled up to join Setsuna, who was walking ahead. 'It'll be a good day.'
Well the good day didn't start right away. Konoka got so exited about her plans that she forgot she had to go through at least six hours of school first. But it was well worth it, and everyone had the same class anyway. She couldn't keep herself preoccupied on the lesson though, every few minutes she had to shoot a glance at her Secchan, who really had no idea because Konoka sat two rows behind her. Slowly, the day ached on and halfway in the afternoon, their child sensei announced that they were going to be allowed about an hour and a half of recess time. They were allowed to run around the campus to stretch their legs and take a break from working hard. Most of the classmates were thrilled, recess was the best time of the day. Konoka already had all her tarot cards in order, and she decided she couldn't control the urge to give Setsuna her gift.
The bell rang and Negi dismissed the class. A herd of girls ran out the door in a hurry. Clearly everyone had the same objective. Konoka grabbed her bags and skates and walked up to Setsuna's desk. The pretty raven-haired girl had fallen asleep, her eyes were fluttering and her head was just barely propped up on the palms o her hands. Konoka smiled at the girl who must have been a heavy sleeper because she had no idea how she didn't budge through the stampede. Konoka decided to tease the swordsman a bit. She waved her hand in front of her face, but no reaction. Konoka smirked as she inched her face really close to the sleeping girl's. Still no reaction, so she quickly kissed the girl's cheek. That did it, Setsuna's eyes shot open, and she jumped at the sight of Konoka's face so close to her own.
"O-o-jo-sama," she said, trying to catch her breath. She had never expected to be woken up that way, much less falling asleep in the first place.
"It's break time," Konka smiled, giving the girl some room to gather herself from the melted puddle of adrenaline she had been reduced to. "Come on, let's go, I've got a birthday surprise for you."
"Birthday?" Setsuna asked.
"Don't tell me you forgot your own birthday," Konoka said,"aren't you glad I'm here to remind you." Konoka grabbed the girl's hand, pulling her from the desk, and led her outside in the chilly January afternoon. Setsuna was nervous about this birthday surprise. For as long as she could remember, nobody celebrated her birthday, much less remembered it, until Konoka came along. Setsuna felt that her day would be better as she held Konoka's hand tighter. Her young princess leading the way.
Konoka led Setsuna through the mobs of girls crowding on the courts. The sight of the young couple did peak the interests of some of their classmates, who began to follow out of curiousity. Setsuna knew they were causing quite a little commotion among their random fans. It wasn't anything knew, Setsuna was asked on a daily basis if her and Konoka had finally made the move. She never answered the fans, she just didn't know what to say. She had always wanted to take Konoka off to an isolated place and tell her exactly how she felt about her, but just didn't know how to go about it.
Konoka dragged Setsuna to a secluded rest area. It was a nice place that had a beautiful fountain and it was well out of the way of the others so Konoka didn't have to worry about being interrupted, and plus she had nice scenery to help the mood along. Turning around to inspect the area better, Konoka smiled triumphiantly and reached into her bag as a confused Setsuna watched close by. She pulled out a box that held her tarot cards.
"Sit," Konoka commanded as she sat on the fountain's platform edge, pulling her long legs up. She patted the place opposite to her. Setsuna nodded, mesmerized by the chocolate-haired girl, and took her respected place, carefully sitting her Yunagi down on the ground.
"What is all this for, Ojo-sama?" Setsuna asked.
"Your birthday, silly," Konoka smiled. She began placing the tarot cards in a pattern most commonly known as the star pattern. Making sure, ahead of time to plant the 'lover' card towards the top. Happy with the formation, she looked at her very questioning Secchan, already knowing what she was going to ask. "It's tarot card reading, a part of my divination practice. It's the lesser half of your gift, assuming that you like the whole thing."
"I know I will," Setsuna said, feeling at ease with her princess. They were alone, where no one could find them (if they weren't looking). She felt easygoing, not uptight and tense like usual. It must have been the cool air and her heart feeling full. It had been that way ever since she realized that she was trully in love with Konoka. Just the idea of them being together made her heart beat faster, her stomach turn flips, and her mind become frantic at the thought of what could be.
"Hope so," Konoka smiled, flipping over her first card, Setsuna watching patiently. She had never had a reading before and didn't know what to think. Strength and nobility were the themes of her first two cards flipped over. So far, so good, but Setsuna couldn't focus on the cards. The girl of her dreams was with her and Setsuna wanted to tell her about how she felt. She felt sure that Konoka must have liked her as well. She started to wonder a little when the theme of the next card caught her attention.
"This is the lover card," Konoka said, her plan falling into action, as she flipped the card over slowly. She looked Setsuna in the eyes. 'Here goes nothing,' she thought. "This card is pretty self-explanatory, there's someone either in your life now, or soon to be, someone who you will love or are already in love with, and you will be loved by that person or are already loved by someone unconditionally."
Konoka was silent and Setsuna was speechless. Konoka wasn't really sure her plan had worked until in one lightening-fast motion, Setsuna had breached the distance between them, grabbing and pulling her into a warm embrace, careful not to lose balance and fall in the water.
"Secchan, hold on a sec," Konoka gasped, trying not to lose her words. She didn't expect this from Setsuna, she was hoping to make the first move. The plan may not have begun how she thought it would, but it wasn't messed up either, she just needed to regain control of the situation. She reluctantly broke their hug and looked at her protector, who was bright red and trying to hide it by looking down, finding the end of her skirt quite interesting.
Konoka thought Setsuna's blush was adorable and knew it was a good sign, to her it meant that she could continue with her plan. She started to put the tarot cards back in the box when suddenly, Setsuna stood and grabbed her Yunagi.
"Where are you going, Secchan? " Konoka asked nerviously.
"I'm sorry, Ojo-sama," Setsuna said, as she turned to her shocked princess and bowed. "I must have gotten a little carried away. I know I need to do my job. Please forgive me." Konoka was scared that she would lose her chance.
"Secchan, don't le-" she started to say as she quickly stood up on the fountain's edge, too quickly because she lost her balance. Konoka expected to hit the water, but was surprised when she felt strong arms around her waist and legs, holding her up.
Konoka opened her eyes, seeing her friend holding her close again. Setsuna was glad she had overly good reflexes. All of her thoughts of leaving were diminished, because she was more concerned about the other girl. "Please don't leave," Konoka finished as she brought her arms to rest on Setsuna's shoulders. "I need to tell you something."
Konoka lifted Setsuna's head so they were face to face. "I care about you so much. I put this reading together so I could determine your feelings, but now I'm sure we both feel the same way, am I right?" she said seriously.
She could've sworn her heart skipped a beat or two, when Setsuna placed her hands on her hips and lifted her from the platform and slowly pulled her down to her level until their faces were only a couple of inches away. "You know I do, Ojo-sama," Setsuna replied.
"Kono-chan," Konoka demanded, as her feet finally touched the ground, their faces inching ever-so-closer. She understood now. It felt right. Having the one person she loved hold her close and telling each other how they felt. Her set-out plan was a success, and Konoka couldn't help but smile before the final results.
"Kono-chan," Setsuna said, almost in a whisper as she pressed her lips lightly against her princess's. Konoka's eyes fluttered closed as she thought about how wonderful her affectionate nick-name sounded coming out of her new lover's mouth. Also, how great it was to be kissing that same mouth. She returned the kiss with all the passion she had built up for the swordsman. She pulled out the band restraining Setsuna's raven-colored hair and tangled her hands in the silky strands, as Setsuna pulled her them even closer together.
When Setsuna broke the kiss, she couldn't resist saying her favorite name again earning her a warm smile from the other girl. Their fantasy ended when the bell rang and Negi's voice could be heard not too far away announcing it was time to head back to class. Konoka laced her fingers with Setsuna's and they held hands all the way back to class.
"Happy Birthday, Secchan," Konoka said gripping her hand tighter. Setsuna knew that this would be a birthday she'd never forget.
When they arrived back in class, they gathered a few looks for their dishoveled appearance, but nobody thought too much on it except some of their fans who witnessed some of the scene. Konoka didn't care that by the end of the school day, everyone was asking about their relationship. Her plan worked out perfectly and she thought that even though it was Setsuna's birthday, she got the best present of all.
