Haruki and Haruka jumped
out of their beds with a start, and followed the earsplitting scream to
Haruna’s room. They found Haruna in her
bed tossing and turning with all of her might.
Within an instant, both sisters had grabbed hold of one of Haruna’s
sweaty hands, and were frantically attempting to awaken her. All of a sudden, Haruna was quiet; her body
seemed completely lifeless. The air was
deathly still once more. Tentatively, Haruki
called out softly to her sister. A
split-second later, Haruna’s eyes shot open.
Her eyes were slightly
bloodshot; she had parched lips; sweat covered her body; and she was breathing
quite heavily, but Haruna was awake. In
the same manner as before, Haruki repeated, "Haruna honey? Are you okay?"
Haruna gulped some fresh
air. Shakily, she nodded her head and
replied, "Y-yes, I th-think so." After a pause, as if doing a mental check,
Haruna added, "It was just a bad dream.
I-I’m alright. D-don’t worry
about me."
Haruki sighed and shook
her head hopelessly. "Don’t you try
and lie to me, Haruna. I know you better
than anybody else." Despite this,
Haruki relaxed her muscles a little, and rubbed Haruna’s arm soothingly. Out of seemingly nowhere, Haruki produced a
warm mug of cocoa, and offered it to Haruna.
With a slight intake of breath, Haruna thanked her sister and took a
sip. Licking her lips, she exhaled
deeply. Haruna gathered her strength
before insisting clearly, "Thank you so much for being here with me, both
of you. I really appreciate it...but I
think I can go back to sleep without having another nightmare."
Haruna’s sisters knew
what she was trying to get to. Silent
until now, Haruka gave her sister a scrutinizing look and responded, "I’m
not so sure... I’ll stay with you the rest of the night, and try to keep the
bad dreams from getting to you."
Haruna blinked drearily,
as if she were already starting to nod off.
"That’s really sweet of you," Haruna stifled a yawn, "but
I’ll be fine. Besides, what can you do
to stop them from coming in the first place?"
Haruka grinned and
gripped Haruna’s hand a little tighter.
"How ‘bout I hold your hand, and channel my protection through you;
the bad dreams might sense it before they get to you, and run away."
The weary sleeper
cracked a soft smile, but her resolution was firm. "I-I can’t let you do that. You have that play to perform tomorrow night,
don’t you? You need to save your energy
and rest up for that."
As if the two sisters had
just remembered said event, an awed silence existed for a few short
moments. It was Haruki who came up with
the accepted solution. "You’re in
the play too, Haruna, so you need your rest as well. Alright then, how about this? If we all sleep in here, then you’ll have
double protection and we’ll all get the sleep we need. Is that okay with you?"
Thinking this over,
Haruna finally gave in and nodded. Used
to sleeping in odd places, especially when studying, Haruki went over to the
bean-bag sofa next to the bed, and lay down between the blankets that had been
left there from last time. Haruka eased
under the covers next to Haruna in order to "better protect her from
nightmares". Not too long
afterwards, the trio fell into a deep sleep uninterrupted by bad dreams of any
sort.
#
The next day at school,
Haruka and Haruki constantly kept at least one eye on Haruna, ensuring her
safety. In the halls, in the courtyard,
or in the classroom, if someone wanted to even talk to Haruna, the sisters were
always one step ahead of them. Haruka
made it clear without words, that if anyone wanted to get to Haruna, they’d
have to go through her first. As this
behavior was actually believed to be quite natural to their schoolmates, no one
argued with it, and knew especially not to mess with them that day. Unfortunately, Miss Gentsuki had no intention
of ignoring them today of all days.
***
Miss Gentsuki was, in
all aspects, typical Prom Queen material. Whichever guy she wanted, usually a jock of
some sort, she’d get. Whenever she was
caught in the act, she somehow got away with it. The two co-captains on her squad were her
friends and lackeys, and they followed her everywhere. They’d do anything for her, and they wouldn’t
get into any trouble either.
In those ways, she and
her posse were very similar to the triplets.
The only difference was that Kyoko Gentsuki was an ostentatious
show-off. She’d show off her riches by
wearing expensive jewelry and clothing.
She’d get people’s attention with her short skirts and part see-through
designer shirts. Whenever possible,
Kyoko would even boast about her huge mansion, her prize-winning pets, or in
general, how much better she was than the "three stooges", the
nickname she had given the Shouri triplets. Usually, they all had their intended purpose,
but that was also what separated her from the triplets.
***
That day at lunch, Kyoko
walked towards the triplets as if she were a model on display. She was closely followed by her two friends
who were also acting pretentious. As
soon as she came to a stop near the cherry blossom tree, Kyoko commanded,
"Move it stooges. We’re sitting
here today."
Kyoko’s two friends, Kama and Gejo, nodded defiantly
as if daring them to counter, and counter they did. Haruka instantly swerved her attention to
them, a glare of pure venom in her eyes.
She excused herself from her sisters, and stood up, all the while still
glaring at the persecutors. Slowly, like
a cheetah stalking her prey, Haruka advanced on them. The look in her eyes paralyzed them on the
spot. Once she was mere inches from
Kyoko’s face, Haruka’s glare increased in deadly
poison, and she began speaking in a low, murderous voice.
"Look, I’ll be
straight with you-leave us be, at least for today."
Not many would have survived
that glare, and even less would have responded while it was still on them. Kyoko was defiant, though. "And what makes you think you can stop
me?"
Haruka let a slow smirk
cross her face, as a pearly white fang lay shining in her mouth. "You’re actually asking me this? Alright, I’ll tell you." Haruka bent forward a little to the side, so
that her mouth was right next to Kyoko’s ear.
She whispered, "I can beat you up right now for one thing. Then, I could have my friends follow
you around and mess with you too. Not to
mention, I could even tell my football buddy, Benji,
all about your little..." Just
then, Haruka named something that caused Kyoko to become bright red at the very
mention of it. Shaking, Kyoko finally
took a step back, and Haruka straightened, a confident
smirk on her face.
Kyoko growled with
frustration, the evidence of embarrassment still splashed on her cheeks. She stammered, "How- How did you find
out about that?"
Haruka gave her a confident smirk. She folded her arms in front of her
chest. Haruka haughtily replied,
"That’s for me to know and you to find out."
The scene remained quiet for a moment
before Kyoko huffed and turned her heel on Haruka. "Tch. Fine. Consider
yourself lucky that I’m taking it easy on you now."
"That would be my
line."
As she took a few steps away from the
triplets, Kyoko stopped and remarked, "This isn’t over, stooge. We’ll see you at the drama production
tonight. Try not to mess it up
now, hmm?”
With that, Kyoko, Kama,
and Gejo left, before Haruka even decided whether she
should respond or not. Watching them for
a few moments, Haruka sighed, and took her place again next to Haruna; Haruki
was on Haruna’s other side. Together,
they laughed once Haruka related what she had promised to tell Benji if it came to it.
#
Right after school, the
triplets went out for an evening on the town before they had to return to
school for the play. Since the play
would be right after club practices, clubs were canceled for the day.
In the town square, Haruka asked her
sisters to wait by the fountain while she bought something. Knowing that Haruka was the type of person
who didn't buy anything unless she thought it was necessary, and was very quick
to decide, they obliged. While waiting,
Haruna and Haruki talked about the play and ended up going over their lines.
Just a few feet away, a
couple of ruffians in shaggy black clothes watched them with devious
looks. They made eye contact with each
other and nodded before slinking over towards the pair. Haruki had watched them from the corner of
her eye ever since they turned the corner.
She knew they'd be trouble, but didn't say anything lest Haruna freak out
with worry. She was like that, Haruki
knew.
Haruna was completely
oblivious to the things around her.
While she was looking to the sky for a hint of her next line, they
stopped near enough to them to talk easily.
"Hey,
cuties. What say youse hang out with us?"
Haruki gave them a cold
stare and said simply, "No thanks."
One of the thugs, one
that hadn't spoken yet, eased up next to Haruki and rubbed shoulders with
her. "Aww
come on baby. Let's go downtown."
When he breathed close to Haruki's ear, she turned away with an appalled exhale. "Get away creep. I want nothing to do with cretins like
you."
Haruna suddenly snapped out of her
daze, and looked around. With an
innocent note to her voice, she asked, "Would anyone like some
music?"
They turned to her, but she simply took
her flute from her bag and began playing "Silent Night". Somehow, after the first verse, both thugs
were sound asleep. Still playing, Haruna
stood up and Haruki gave her a "thumbs up" sign. She grabbed their bags, and as an
afterthought, pushed them both into the fountain. Both woke up with a start, to see Haruki and
Haruna running off. They chased after
them doggedly, corner after corner, street after street. Finally, they caught up with them on the
boulevard, but someone else had joined them.
The two girls they had met before were standing behind a defiant girl
who looked remarkably like the girls.
She spoke with a
dangerous authority. "Now just what
do you think you were planning to do with my sisters?"
At their furtive looks,
Haruka contradicted, "On second thought, don’t tell me; I don’t want
to know. But you should be punished for
your past crimes."
As swift as greased
lightning, Haruka charged them and toppled the two thugs in a flying
tackle. Their heads hit the stone road,
and they were knocked unconscious. Being
the kind soul that she was, Haruna ran over to check on them, to make sure no
permanent damage had been dealt. Seeing
that none had, she had Haruka help her drag them to the side, so that other
people wouldn't be bothered by them. In
disgust, Haruka told them that they should all go home for a shower after
this. Her sisters didn't argue with it.
On the way home, Haruna
remembered that Haruka had gone off to buy something, and asked what she had
bought. Haruka snapped her fingers as
she remembered. She fumbled through her
pocket and brought out two bracelets that matched the one she was wearing
now. She gave one to both of her sisters
and they put them on. Haruka explained
that they acted as emergency communicators.
The red gem could be pushed down to contact paramedics if they were
needed, and the blue one would contact each other. If it blinked white, the call was coming from
Haruki. Red for Haruka
and blue for Haruna. Once that
was understood, they continued on home.
---
About six hours later,
the triplets returned to school long before the droves of friends and family
were due to arrive. That night marked
the 50th
Haruka, Haruna, and
Haruki passed the time by assisting with the scene arrangement, going over their
lines, and dressing for the play. The
latter was done only about half an hour before the curtains were to part. By then, the seats in the audience were
already half filled, with more coming every minute.
***
The play was set in
medieval times and thus included royalty, peasants, dragons, knights, castles, farms--the whole fantastic experience. Haruka, being a rather convincing tomboyish
type, had been assigned to play the dashing knight that rode upon a beautiful
white horse and would later save the princess from the evil clutches of her own
step-family. The sweet princess who
loved humankind and nature alike was represented by Haruna. Calculating facts and figures, Haruki took on
the role of the King’s advisor, who, by himself, would have turned the kingdom
into a dragon fest. The queen who
schemed to rule the kingdom herself had a dragon army for friends, and used
that to her advantage. Only Kyoko could
have executed this role to the perfection that it was played. It was a classic medieval story, yet, it held
a substance to it that was unlike any other.
Anri didn’t have a role,
given that he had only started attending the school the day before, but he had
still decided to come and watch. That
night, few saw what they expected to see, especially from the triplets.
---
The crowd’s random
conversations came to a dead stop, as the lighting dimmed, signaling the
beginning of the play. The orchestra
conductor signaled the musicians to begin playing a soft melody that entranced
the audience immediately. Sharon, the
narrator, spoke through a microphone that came out in surround sound. Before the curtains opened, she began to tell
a bit of a background to the story, as if beginning a storybook. "Once upon a time, in a faraway
land..."
Backstage, the actors for
the first scene were preparing to go onstage.
Haruna, Kyoko, Kama, and Gejo
were the only ones in the first scene.
Backstage hands rushed to do some last minute touch-ups to the scene
layout and the actresses’ make up and costumes.
At long last, the red curtains were slowly pulled open to reveal to the
audience a near-deserted dirt street in what was supposedly a town square, with
a castle looming over them in the distance.
Two figures in rags were
crouching on the ground, knees drawn up to their chests. As a royal carriage carrying the princess and
queen passed, they scurried over, begging for money, for food, for pity. The queen looked at them with disgust, before
she turned her head away in disdain. The
dear princess, however, smiled kindly to them, and tossed two
handkerchief-covered boxes out the window to them. They thanked her profusely as the carriage
continued across the scene, out of view.
The two beggars fumbled
to open the handkerchiefs, and see what their dear princess had left them. They were elated and exclaimed rejoice aloud
from what they had found. In both boxes
was a loaf of bread, two apples, lettuce, and a container of clear water. All but the water had been cut neatly, in
generous slices. They commented how much
more caring their princess was, compared to the queen, and how much better off
the kingdom had become after her light shown upon them. The duo then picked up the two packages, and
headed into an alley, where their whole family of five ate with gratitude
towards the princess. The scene faded to
darkness, and more scurrying was done as the setting changed.
---
When the lights faded on again, the
princess was standing before the King and Queen. The advisor stood nearby as the Queen complained
to the King about how the princess was giving away their riches to
‘nobodies’. When the King asked if this
was true, the princess simply replied that she had only given some food to a
couple of starving peasants. Surely, in
the future, this would gain their loyalty for their King. Because of Haruna’s tactful wording, the King
greatly appreciated the princess’ work.
The Queen growled in her frustration as the King changed the subject to
say that it was time for the princess to choose a suitable husband. In turn, the princess innocently replied that
she believed no man worthy of inheriting her Honorable Father’s kingdom out of
the choices she had been given. The King
accepted this, but he insisted that his daughter to choose soon. With that, the lighting faded again.
---
In actuality, as Haruna revealed to the
audience within the Princess’ bedchambers, Princess Haruna had already chosen
the love of her life. Though she had yet
to meet him in person, she had heard great things of the mysterious knight, who
rode upon a white horse. This knight
saved damsels in distress for no reason other than chivalry, slew the dragons
that attacked the borderlines of the kingdom, and assisted the people in any
way he could--anywhere from saving kittens from trees to helping beggars find
jobs. He was a role model for Haruna in
every possible way. Haruna sighed. If only she could marry outside of royalty,
and he accepted, all of her worries would be quelled.
---
The light came on again in what seemed
to be a balcony connecting to an occupied ballroom. The Queen and Princess were talking alone
together. Kyoko berated her for her
impudence, and when Haruna did not reply with any heat whatsoever, the Queen
grew fiercer. As Haruna turned to look
at the full moon with an appeased sigh, the Queen slapped her hard on
the cheek. Haruna’s face had been forced
to confront the Queen’s, while her stinging cheek throbbed with circulating
blood that severely reddened her skin at the place of contact.
Out of nowhere, Haruka’s
voice rang true. From down below, she
spoke clearly, "Ahoy! Stop thine swift judgment!
What has thy fair lady done to deserve such punishment?"
The two women looked over the balcony
edge to find the White Knight, as Haruna’s love was called. The Queen commanded that the Knight was
trespassing, and called the guards to come.
When a dozen guards had surrounded the Knight with spears, Haruka put
her hands up in defense. "I do not wish
to fight; let us talk this through peacefully.
Am I right in believing that I now stand in the presence of Queen Kyoko,
and Princess Haruna?"
The Queen snarled, "You had best
believe it; leave now, or be thrown in jail."
Ignoring this comment, the White Knight
used one hand to open the front of his helmet, and bowed while still in the
saddle. Haruna sighed in lovesick
content. Suddenly, she felt her heart
lurch, and put the back of her hand to her forehead lightly. Before she realized what was happening, she
swooned, straight over the edge of the balcony.
Alarmed, Haruka pushed forward out of the circle of guards, and caught
the princess as she fell. The guards,
the Queen, as well as everyone else were startled by Haruna’s fall. Haruka leaned her head closer to Haruna’s,
and asked her in a whisper if she was alright.
Haruna smiled wanly up at her sister.
Softly, she responded, "I’m...sorry, Haruka." Closing her eyes, she added,
"I...tried," before falling into a deep sleep. Haruka shook Haruna lightly in an attempt to
wake her.
This simple sentence
scared Haruka more than anything else that had happened that week. Struggling to keep calm, she checked Haruna’s
pulse at her neck. Haruka let out a very
small sigh of relief. At least it was
still there. Haruka became stunned once
more, as Haruna’s pulse became increasingly weaker with every passing
beat. Frustrated, she brought up
Haruna’s limp right arm, and found the jeweled bracelet that she always wore
around her wrist. As if it were a
practiced procession, she pushed down on the large red jewel, and it started to
blink red at a consistent rate. It was
then, that Haruka made eye-contact with Haruki.
This was not how the play had been originally intended, but they had to
go on as best as they could.
Haruki nudged the King
to move into the scene, as she followed.
The King rushed to Haruna’s side; the guards parted quickly. "What is the meaning of this? What has happened to my darling daughter?"
Almost vehemently, Haruka responded,
"Can thoust not see what is right in front of
thy eyes?! Thy Princess Haruna has been
rendered unconscious by the vile woman thou consider to be thy Queen!"
Everyone was awestruck at this comment,
and held their breath for the reaction.
It was Haruki who spoke next, however.
"Accusations aside, art thou princess all right?"
Haruka felt for Haruna’s
pulse once more. Haruka shook her head,
as her whole body shuddered with shock.
Haruki, thunderstruck, quickly bent down as she remarked, "B-but that’s
absurd! Thy Queen art not capable of
such treachery! It="
Haruki’s
thoughts were cut off, as she too, felt the barely beating pulse. Lowering her voice so that only Haruka could
hear, Haruki whispered, "Why now?
Why so soon? She can’t die on us
so early in our lives! We need
her." By this time, Haruki was
choking back sobs. Haruka was on the
verge of tears, but held them at bay as she nodded. "I’d do just about anything if it meant
lengthening her life."
Suddenly, Haruki and
Haruka felt something strange, an energy from Haruna,
into their own bodies. As if struck in
the head by a sledgehammer, both sisters crumpled unconscious on top of their
dying sister. It was then that the
paramedics came rushing from the back door of the auditorium. Almost single file, the team of experts
rushed down the middle aisle up to the stage.
One identified himself as a private investigator, and asked the
conscious actors what had just occurred.
The King, Benji, told all that he knew and
saw. Kyoko’s story matched his.
Meanwhile, the other
officers were calming down the audience who had now been officially riled
up. They told them to calm down, at
least until the final report had been declared.
Over the roar of the crowd,
<End Chapter>
