THE GREAT SHIZUMA
Chapter Twelve
Étoile
The seasons turned. In August, the girls celebrated Hikari's fifteenth birthday; Tamao's sixteenth in September; and Yaya's fifteenth in November. The first snow of the year fell heavily on December 12th. The Lulim hair stylist from The Great Gatsby, whose name was Suki, had to trudge from the Lulim Library to the Strawberry Dorms in that mess. Her brown hair, still in its cutesy pixie style, was packed away in a coonskin cap and she clutched her down coat closer to her small body.
Shivering, she bustled into the dorm hall lobby. The delicious warmth washed over her. The light dusting of snow on her hat and coat immediately melted. Sighing, she pulled her hat off her head.
"Suki-chan!"
Suki wasn't startled; she recognized the voice.
"Hey, Tomi-chan," she grinned, her mittened hand raised in greeting.
Hitomi, a tall girl with long brown hair and blue eyes, took Suki in her arms, grunting with surprise. "Your face is freezing!"
"Hai," Suki agreed shyly, pulling back to wipe her nose. "I think my boogers froze out there."
Hitomi laughed. Suki always randomly said weird things like that. "Hey, hey! The Étoile candidates have been announced!"
"Huh. Well, I am interested, even though Chikaru-san never enters anybody."
"She did this time."
"Really?" Suki's hazel eyes widened. "Who?"
Hitomi grabbed her arm and guided her down a hallway. She pointed to the big red poster on the bulletin board. It said:
Concerning Selection of Next Year's Étoile
On December 14th Astraea Hill will be holding its annual Étoile battle in the high school auditorium at 800 hours, and its annual Étoile selection in the cathedral at 1600 hours. The entries for next year's Étoile are as follows:
MIATOR
Suzumi Tamao
Year 5
A Class
Aoi Nagisa
Year 5
B Class
SPICA
Nanto Yaya
Year 4
Moon Class
Okuwaka Tsubomi
Year 2
5-A Class
LULIM
Natsume Remon
Year 3
Theta Class
Hyuuga Kizuna
Year 3
Kappa Class
"Remon and Kizuna, eh?" Suki nodded. "Good luck to 'em, I say."
"Quite a shocker, isn't it?" Hitomi asked.
"Not as much as Nanto and Okuwaka. They'll be fighting with each other more than the other candidates."
The blue-eyed girl shrugged. "I've no doubt that they love each other. Each couple has their own way of expressing their love. Theirs just happens to be arguing."
"And how 'bout Tamao entering again? Ralph Nader much?"
"Don't say that, Suki-chan. You never know, she might just win this time."
Cowed into silence, and a little embarrassed, Suki pensively rubbed her chin. How did those girls get roped into this one?
---
Chikaru's peaceful afternoon of sewing was interrupted by Kizuna and Remon. The dynamic duo burst through the door, crying, "Chikaru-oneesama!"
A little startled, the red-threaded bobbin flew out of her hands and landed by Remon's feet. The green-haired Lulim girl crouched down to pick it up and Kizuna exclaimed, "Chikaru-oneesama, who are Lulim entering for the Étoile selection?"
Chikaru smiled gently as Remon handed the bobbin back to her. "Actually, I don't think I'll be entering anybody."
"Why?" asked Remon.
"If Miator and Spica want to duke it out, that's fine, let them. I have no desire to entangle myself in their rivalry."
"But what about Lulim?"
"What about Lulim?"
"Don'cha wanna enter somebody for Lulim's sake alone?" Kizuna inquired, chewing wintergreen gum. "I mean, Setsuko will enter someone just to spite Shion and psyche her out, and vice versa. But you could enter a couple just to see Lulim win for once!"
The Lulim President set down her bobbin. "Who would I enter?"
Kizuna didn't miss a beat. "Us."
Chikaru blinked. "You?"
"Aww, you don't think we could do it?" Remon pouted.
"Oh! Of course I do! But...um, are you sure you're up for it? The battle itself is ten times more taxing than the actual duties of Etoile. Ask anybody. Shizuma, Hikari, Amane..."
"We can handle it," Kizuna smiled as Remon linked her arm with hers.
"Are you sure?"
"Sure as my hair is green," Remon replied. "Look, Chikaru-oneesama, do you know how long Kizuna-chan and I have known each other?"
"No. How long?"
"Since our second year at St. Olaf." The green-haired girl squeezed Kizuna close to her. "We've been together for seven years. We're inseperable."
"We've been through everything," Kizuna added, grabbing Remon's hand. "When I was ten, I lost my mother to cervical cancer." Her eyes swam at the horrid memories. "From the day of her diagnosis, and well after her death, everyday was a struggle. I used to think that it was my fault, that I'd done something to bring her cancer upon her. I called myself a murderer." She closed her eyes to stop her tears.
She had been in a fairly dark mood one day when she was younger, and wrote a short story about a girl who lost her father to esophogeal cancer. A few months later, her parents were sitting her down. Kizuna had thought that this would be one of their parent-daughter heart-to-heart lectures and rolled her eyes a bit. Then the words "I have cancer" were uttered by her mother. The strongest memory of that day, however, was little Kizuna watching the sun go down and thinking, Come on. The story and Ma's diagnosis have to be more than just mere coincidence.
Kizuna looked back up and smiled. "But Remon was there, supporting me, convincing me everyday that, despite what Ma and Pa said, I was not a horrible person. If it weren't for her, I would've gone psycho." Her tears fell as she gazed at Remon. "I owe ya big time, buddy."
The green-haired girl leaned her head on her girlfriend's. "Kizuna..."
Chikaru stood.
"Where are you going?" Remon asked.
"To enter you two." The Lulim President left the sewing room, closing the door behind her, leaving Kizuna and Remon to sob tears of sorrow and joy in each other's arms.
---
"Where are you taking me, Hikari-sama?" Yaya asked as the Etoile cadette dragged her toward the class building.
"I told you five times already!"
"Well, I forgot! Please tell me again!"
"I'm not even telling you anymore."
Yaya huffed and decided to just shut up and find out.
Hikari brought her to the conference room where Shion and Amane were conversing. They stopped abruptly once the two fourth years entered and Shion straightened. If Amane looked anxious, Shion looked terrified as hell.
"Have you told her yet?" the Spican President asked.
Hikari smiled sweetly as she guided Yaya over to them. "Nope. I leave that all to you, Miss President."
"Cheeky little kohai," Shion groaned.
It suddenly hit Yaya. "Oh man, Hikari, are you asking me to run for student government?"
"Well... Technically, yes."
The raven-haired girl was practically jumping for joy. "Wow! Me, a member of student government, representing Spica! What position am I running for? President? Secratary?" Her excitement was boundless. Then she frowned. "Wait, Tsubomi-chan is the secratary..."
"What we have to tell you concerns Tsubomi as well," Shion interrupted with a small smile.
"Eh? What about her?" Yaya blinked.
"Hikari, Amane, and I were talking about the upcoming Etoile selection. After a debate that lasted about four hours, we settled on two candidates." She crouched a little so that she could look the fourth grader in the eye. "One of them is you, Nanto Yaya. The other is a second year, Okuwaka Tsubomi."
Hikari watched Yaya as the message registered. For as long as the blonde had known the brunette, she had never seen Yaya's normally narrow eyes get that big.
"Oh," she said in a little voice.
Shion stood up straight and folded her arms across her chest. "I can see you're quite shocked."
Yaya swallowed hard and nodded.
The President's expression softened. "We understand if you're not ready to confirm, but please consider it."
"Does... Tsubomi know?"
"Know what?" came that grouchy voice from behind. The four girls turned en masse to see the pinkette standing in the doorway.
Tsubomi blinked. "Am I missing an important meeting?" She quickly walked in and snatched her clip board from off the table. She stood nervously as a suffocating silence settled over the conference room. "What's going on?"
Shion smiled and approached Tsubomi. "We're glad you came, actually. Your timing couldn't be more perfect."
Yaya scowled at the President. Here she was, dying from fear and anxiety, and Shion was milking this political situation for all it was worth.
Tsubomi clutched her clip board tighter to her chest, her amber eyes bright with apprehension. "Why is Yaya-chan here?" Her eyes flashed toward the person in question, to Shion, and back to Yaya again.
Hikari stepped forward and put a hand on the second year's shoulder. "Don't worry, Tsubomi-chan. This is good news."
"Then just tell me already!" Tsubomi snapped, pulling away from the cadette.
It was Amane who finally spat it out. "We want you and Yaya-kun to run for Etoile together."
The clip board slipped out of Tsubomi's hands and clattered sharply to the floor. She lowered her shaking hands to her sides. She stared wide-eyed at Yaya, who shly returned the gaze from the side. Tsubomi appeared to be trying to say something, but the second year's mouth refused to work. Her lips trembling, she managed to stammer out, "M-me and her?"
Amane nodded, her sad eyes showing concern. "Take your time. You don't have to accept or decline it yet, but-"
"Yes."
The blue-haired horserider blinked. "What?"
"Yes," Tsubomi repeated, her voice sounding more resolute. "That is my answer."
Yaya gawked at her. "Okay, Quickdraw," she said with a chuckle. "Amane-sama said we could take our time."
"I don't need or want time." The second grader was smiling softly, blushing, her topaz eyes glittering. The expression on her face was SO un-Tsubomi. "I've always wanted this. Even if we don't make Etoile, I'd still love to stand beside you, to show everyone at Astraea Hill how much I love you, to waltz with you."
"Tsubomi..." Yaya could feel a warm blush rise to her cheeks. She couldn't describe the potent emotions that swirled within her. They burned like fire, glowed like embers. They washed over her like the Pacific Ocean, and Yaya didn't mind drowning in the least. Her emotions spilled over in the form of tears as she hugged Tsubomi fiercely. The younger girl also cried a little.
"Then my answer is yes, too."
---
The student government meeting the next day consisted of not only the councilors, but also Remon, Kizuna, Yaya, and Nagisa. The redhead had been notified of her recommendation after Setsuko had vainly tried to persuade Tamao to run again. Nagisa said she'd be happy to run alongside Tamao, but not if the poet didn't want to.
Setsuko leaned forward in her tilt chair, hands folded, a no-nonsense expression on her face, all business. "This is the first time in the history of Astraea Hill that all of the Etoile candidates came together in the same room before the battle to confer. The reason I've called this meeting is not in the light of an event to come, but rather in the shadow of an event that has passed. Last year, we had a ...disturbance in the midst of our selection." Everybody knew the story, but Setsuko decided to include it in her opening speech anyway.
"Just as this year's Etoile was about to be announced, Hanazono Shizuma burst in - late, I might add - and pulled the Miator cadette from the ceremony." She swallowed and gazed sadly at Tamao. "As tragic as the event is in of itself, what compounds the irony of the situation is that Miator would've won."
Four heads snapped up. They belonged to Amane, Hikari, Tamao, and Nagisa. The Etoile and the candidates gawked at Setsuko, their eyes as big and round as saucers.
"You mean... Spica... won... by default?" Hikari whispered.
Setsuko nodded.
"It's in the records," Chikaru agreed.
Shion moaned and buried her face in her hands. "Such a shame on Spica..."
"A shame on both schools," Setsuko sighed. "Miator's former President, Rokojou Miyuki, had been extremely lenient about the situation, readily and heartily accepted the loss, for she was personally involved with Shizuma." Determination flashed in her eyes. "I can't allow that. As a respected member of the student government, I'm proposing a bill."
Shion looked up. "One of your infamous bills?"
"It may live on in infamy," the Miator President nodded. She slid a sheet of paper out to the center of the table. "This piece of legislation makes the tampering and rigging of the Etoile battle/selection a serious offense that may result in permanent removal from Astraea Hill."
The bill passed by a unanimous vote. Tsubomi recorded the results on her clip board and filed the bill with the rest of the bills that had passed. She didn't sit down, but remained standing, and said, "I believe it's manditory that Shizuma be monitored."
"I agree," nodded Setsuko, "but who will do it? I can't, Tomouri-san can't, Minamoto-san can't. We'll be busy."
"I'll do it."
Shion turned toward Tsubomi. "Okuwaka-san! You musn't. You'd only be aiding Miator toward victory!"
Tsubomi set her clip board down resolutely. "Shion-san, I'll be damned if I see Spica win by default again. A default victory is not an honorable victory, and I want this to be an honest, clean battle!"
"Me, too," nodded Yaya.
"And us!" Kizuna exclaimed. "We'll help, too."
"Well..." Shion sighed. "Alright. I guess I'll help." She grinned wickedly. "I do have a secret weapon to use against her."
Setsuko looked at Tamao amid the chatter. "So, do you accept?"
Awestruck by the support and help she was getting, the poet could only nod.