THE GREAT SHIZUMA

Chapter One

Pen Pals

Aoi Nagisa sat at her desk in her dorm, all her homework finished. She had something she needed to do now. She was glad her room mate, Suzumi Tamao, was away at a student government meeting. What would Tamao think of her doing such things?

Nagisa got up, strolled toward her bed, and lifted up her mattress. From under the mattress she withdrew a small pile of paper. But it wasn't just any pile of paper. They were letters, her letters, to the red-haired fifth year.

They were fifteen letters in all, sent and replied to in the course of four months, ranging from sweet and romantic to bitter and a bit brash. Nagisa sat back at her desk and chose the first one to read, as it was the sweetest in the bunch.

Dear Nagisa,

The distance between Astraea Hill and St. Ninnian University is great, but our love is even greater. No matter how far we are, we will always be joined together by heart, by spirit. I trust that, with a bit of patience, we can weather this separation through until your graduation. Perhaps sooner. You are worth the wait, either way.

Thank you very much for the photo you sent me. This way I won't have to rely too heavily on my imagination when I think of you. I think you know what I mean.

(Is that Yaya and Tsubomi in the background? Haha, figures Yaya would disrupt a hornets' nest like that.)

Women's studies isn't a particularily exciting major, but it sure beats pre-law. Right now we are studying famous women in history; Jane Addams, people like that. Some of my classmates are theorizing that Shakespeare's plays were actually written by a woman. Run that by your bookworm of a room mate and see what she thinks.

How is Astraea Hill? How are Hikari and Amane doing as Étoile? Whew, if there's one thing I don't miss about that place, it's my duties as Étoile. Actually, come to think about it, you are the only reason for me to miss Astraea Hill.

Have fun being a fifth year, kiddo, but not too much fun. You know the limits.

Love then, now, and forever,

Shizuma

Nagisa closed her garnet-colored eyes and pressed the letter to her lips. Maybe some of Shizuma's skin cells still existed on that letter. She absorbed everything she could from that letter, every particle of hope, for she had had doubts. That would become very evident in future letters, but that is a story for later.

With an excited flourish, her room mate Tamao burst through the door. She twirled happily, the hemline of her uniform raising slightly.

"Welcome back, Tamao-chan," greeted Nagisa, hastily stashing the letters under her textbook. "My, my, don't you look jovial."

"I sure am," Tamao giggled, flopping dizzily on her bed. "I appealed to Spica and Lulim to have Strawberry Dorms act out The Great Gatsby, and it was approved! And I get to write the script!"

Though Nagisa had never read The Great Gatsby, she understood Tamao's excitement for having her play suggestion taken to heart. She beamed, "Tamao-chan, that's wonderful!"

Tamao stood back up and headed to her own desk. "I should start writing it now!"

Nagisa watched the blue-haired poet at her desk, a flurry of paper and pencils. It would be an superfluous to say she was romantic, because Tamao basically had no other kind of emotions. Everything she felt, every emotion, she felt with the passion of an anti-fur vegan.

"Who are you casting Hikari-sama and Amane-sama as?" the redhead asked.

Tamao paused long enough to say, "It's not my decision … But I'd like to see Amane-sama as Nick Carraway, the protagonist. And I think Hikari would play a terrific Daisy Buchanan." She smiled over her shoulder. "Perhaps my Nagisa-chan will be cast as Jay Gatsby. That doesn't mean you would really pine after Hikari-sama, right?"

"Eh?! Of course not!" She blinked. "What kind of character is Jay Gatsby?"

"Gatsby is a mysterious man, a neighbor and friend of Nick's. He's rich and throws all these extravagant parties. There are rumors that he killed a man and that he's a German spy."

"And how would I remind the cast manager of him?"

"You wouldn't." Tamao blushed. "I just thought you'd sound so cute going around saying 'old sport.'"

"Maybe I ought to read this Great Gatsby," Nagisa thought.

"You'd enjoy it," the poet nodded. "Kind of an anticlimactic ending, though. I was disappointed by it." She brightened as a hammer blow of inspiration struck her in the head, the heart. "Maybe when I write the script, I can make it a little more climatic." And she was writing again, intensely so, bent far over her desk, her face only inches away from her paper.

Nagisa found herself grinning at Tamao's furor. The poet was just so exuberant, so enthusiastic. It was kind of cute how excited she got sometimes. And it was nice to see her so inspired, hear her using literature terms that Nagisa didn't understand. This was her. This was Tamao. She was the best room mate a girl could ever ask for.

The redhead's smile faded, however, when she saw the stack of letters peeping out from under her French textbook. Room mates were nice, but could they take the place of her?

---

It was midnight in the Strawberry Dorms. The hallways, normally colored in vibrant creamy yellow hues, were subdued to black and white in the darkness. Little squares of silver moonlight decorated the hardwood floors here and there. It was hauntingly silent.

Two slight shadows slipped through the moony patches of light. They belonged to none other than Tsukidate Chiyo and Okuwaka Tsubomi. The two second years were making their way to Nanto Yaya's room where Yaya herself and Konohana Hikari would be. The four of them would then go to Tamao and Nagisa's room for tea.

Chiyo was walking a little more closely to Tsubomi than the latter was comfortable with. She jumped away, demanding, "Stop clinging to me!"

"Gomen nasai," whispered Chiyo. "I just hate the dorms at night. It's creepy."

"Everything's creepy at eleven-thirty at night," she conceded. They pressed onward until Tsubomi's foot hit a loose floor board. The silence had maximized the volume of the resulting squeak by ten. Chiyo squealed in surprise.

The roseate-haired Spican whirled around and clapped a hand over Chiyo's mouth. "Be quiet, baka!" she hissed. "You wanna wake up the whole dorm? Jeez!" And she turned around and continued on her way.

"G-gomen nasai."

---

Aside from the floor board incident, they made it to Yaya's room smoothly. Yaya, a medium-heighted fourth year with black hair, answered the door with that teasing grin on her face.

"Well, if it ain't Chiyo-chan and the brat. Good evening."

"I'm not a brat!" Tsubomi protested. "I'm thirteen."

"Wow, thirteen," Yaya gasped sarcastically.

Hikari, the Étoile cadette, sighed as she and Chiyo walked on ahead of the two rivals. When the whole tea party thing first started, she found their arguments mildly entertaining. But it had gotten old and tiresome very quickly. It's kinda cute, she thought, but mostly stupid.

Now they were squabbling about each other's pajamas.

"At least I don't wear frog pajamas," said Tsubomi. "I mean, really! Should I call you Kermit from now on?"

"Only if I can call you Bugs," Yaya smirked. "Did your mother buy those bunny PJ's?"

"I don't have to answer to that!"

The raven-haired girl shrugged, knowing that she had won. She usually did.

Hikari rolled her blue eyes.

---

One thing the Étoile cadette was glad of: she could still have these midnight tea parties with her friends. Not that she hated being Étoile. Just the opposite, in fact. She loved having the honor of representing the interests of all three schools. She and Amane were the perfect combination of Miator's intelligence, Spica's discipline, and Lulim's ambience.

But she hadn't liked it when her friends called her "Étoile-sama." She was still Hikari, after all. Eventually, she shyly asked them to just call her by her name. They complied with that, but refused to drop the respectful honorific. It made her feel old.

"Welcome, Hikari-sama," Tamao greeted, admitting the Étoile in her room. "Yaya-chan. Tsubomi-chan. Chiyo-chan."

"Honestly, Tamao-chan," Hikari sighed. "You're older than me. You don't have to call me Hikari-sama."

"Age is only a number. You're still Étoile."

Hikari only hummed a bit as she knelt in front of the round table. "What kind of tea are we having tonight?"

"Chamomile."

"My favorite!" Chiyo beamed as she knelt next to Nagisa. "I hear you chose the drama festival's play, Tamao-oneesama, and you're writing the script! Congratulations."

Tamao blushed and muttered a shy thank you.

"What play are the upperclassmen doing?" Tsubomi inquired.

"A dramatization of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby," Hikari responded with a smile. "I'm looking forward to it."

"I've never heard of it," Nagisa said oddly.

"It's one of my favorites," Tamao smiled, sipping her tea. "I read it last year in my World Literature class."

"I'm taking that now," said Yaya. "I hate that class!"

"It's better than Japanese Studies," the redhead commented dryly. Japanese Studies was the most demanding class she'd ever taken. It counted for both a history credit and a literature credit. Therefore the class was twice as long. By the end of it, Nagisa was looking forward to moving on to her next class, which was French. It got that bad that fast.

"Didn't you take World Lit, Nagisa-chan?" Hikari asked.

"No. I decided to take Brit Lit instead."

"Yaya-senpai," Tsubomi spoke up, "what play are the underclassmen doing?"

"I dunno. You tell me," Yaya grinned.

Oh, yeah. Yaya's an upperclassmen now. "So, uh, who's in charge, then?"

"Beats me. I have no idea what goes on with the underclassmen these days."

"Don't you seem pleased as punch," the pink-haired girl scowled.

"Um, Tsubomi-chan," Hikari, who didn't want to hear another spat between them, piped up. "I think Remon-chan was put up to deciding on the underclassmen's performance. You could talk to her."

"Thank you, Hikari-sama."

Yaya giggled. "Aww, Tsubomi's blushing!"

"Am not."

"Are, too." The raven-haired fourth grader began to sing. "Tsubomi-chan likes the Étoile-sama!" She was silenced by a pillow to her face.

Nagisa buried her face in her hands. "I don't get it," she groaned. "If all they ever do is fight, why do they stick around each other?"

Tamao smiled. "There's more to it than meets the eye, Nagisa-chan." A knowing look passed between her and Hikari.

---

A few days later.

Dusk was settling over Astraea Hill. The six o'clock curfew was bearing down on the students, who hurried on towards their rooms. The summer heat brought shimmers on the horizon as well as a few notes from the crickets. The setting sun cast its dusty rays over the campus, bathing everything in a buttery soft glow. There is no such beauty as a summer sunset at Astraea Hill.

Chikaru had something going on. In her last year at Astraea Hill, the Lulim President had seriously started preparing for her future. While she hadn't decided on a college, she knew she wanted to major in art or design. Just earlier that day, she'd thought it would be a good idea to compile a portfolio to submit.

Now the sixth grader sat on her bed, back against the wall, with her pencil and Strathmore vellum-surface Bristol pad. Her original plan was to sketch herself and her friends, but she wanted to add something extra. A theme. But what? Which theme should I choose?

She looked up and smiled at Shion, her girlfriend and the President of Spica. The tall, slight blonde sixth year was sitting on the bed opposite Chikaru's and reading the paper.

"What's the scoop for today?"

Shion blinked her lavender eyes and looked up, as if she had forgotten where she was. "I'm honestly not all that much into the news. I just like the crosswords, sudokus, and horoscopes," she confessed.

"Is that so? What do the planets have in store for you today?"

Shion turned to the back of the newspaper and read her horoscope aloud. "'Capricorn --- Lighten up. Responsible Saturn transcends into Sagittarius today, making your luck all that much better.'"

Chikaru set down her pad of paper and stretched her arms. "Shion, I've been telling you for the past two years to lighten up." She laughed heartily at the Spican's indignant expression. "What does my horoscope say?"

Shion huffed. "'Pisces --- Don't second-guess yourself. If you get an idea for a project today, seize it. It will be a good idea in the end.'"

"Hm," the Lulim President grunted as she picked up her paper. "What symbolizes Pisces?"

Shion smiled sheepishly. "I actually know nothing of astrology beyond my own sign. If you think about it, though, it sounds like pêcher, the French verb for fishing." She checked her watch. "I ought to return to my room."

"Could you leave that newspaper with me, please?" An idea had worked its way into Chikaru's head, and like any sensible Pisces that day, she seized it without a doubt.

"Of course."

"Thank you."

And with that, Shion kissed Chikaru, bade her bonne nuit, and departed for her dorm.

---

After choir practice, Tsubomi headed back to the dorms at a hasty pace, her cap clutched anxiously in her hands. Yaya had not been at rehearsal today. The senpai's skipping practices was nothing new, but it was something that got under the second grader's skin. Yaya was an amazing singer, the pride of the Saintly Chorus. Her tonal and dynamic range had gone down in legend. It aggravated Tsubomi to think that someone with so much talent wouldn't apply herself. Needless to say, Yaya was in for a scolding from the youngster.

"Tsubomi-chan!"

The Spican halted and turned around to face she who hailed her. It was Remon.

"Hello, Remon-chan," Tsubomi greeted once the jade-haired third year caught up with her. They turned and headed back to the dorms together.

"I just got done talking to Hikari-sama," said Remon. "She says you're intensely interested in the middle school play."

"Hai. Do you have any ideas?"

"I do. I've narrowed it down to four choices --- two plays, an opera, and a musical. I'll have it put to a vote."

"Well, what are the titles?"

The Lulim third grader adjusted her glasses on her nose and read off the titles from a sheet of paper. "Julius Caesar, Antigone, The Marriage of Figaro, and Hello Dolly!"

"We can't do The Marriage of Figaro. It's all in Italian."

"Yeah, no one seems to like that one. I'll just get rid of it."

"I have my doubts about Julius Caesar, too. We just did a Shakespeare play last year." Tsubomi smiled at the memory of it. Despite what others thought, she believed her performance as the fair Juliet Capulet was amazing.

Remon sighed, clearly annoyed. "Tsubomi, rather than telling me which plays not to choose, why don't you just give me your vote, already?"

"Okay… Um, I'd like to do Hello Dolly!"

"Hello Dolly! is a favorite among choir members," the third year observed as she marked something on her paper. "Okay. Thank you for your time, Tsubomi-chan. See you around!"

---

June was such a miserable month. The air had turned hot and suffocating humid. Nagisa felt disgusting with all that sweat filming over her body, her auburn hair curling and plastering itself to her head, her ponytail a ratty knot. She had stripped down to her undergarments and lay spread-eagled on the floor. Tamao was away at club activities, so the redhead had the room to herself. Scattered all around her were Shizuma's letters. She'd just finished reading the last one, the bitterest of the lot.

Dear Nagisa,

I am awash with the most potent feelings for you, those which I cannot express in words, and yet I feel troubled. You seemed so distant in your last letter. I understand that no relationship can go without its scrapes, but I do not know what more I can do to iron this out. There was no avoiding it, Nagisa; I was going to graduate and you were going to stay at Miator for a couple more years. We both knew it, but we skirted around it. We were soft, cowardly. I regret that. I think the easiest thing for both of us would be to break off our letters for awhile. Feel free to reply to this letter if you please, but I won't be writing you for a long time. I'll see you again someday, and we'll work this out, and I'll still love you, Nagisa. I couldn't stop loving you even if I tried.

Best wishes,

Shizuma

Was she trying not to love me? Nagisa wondered. Did she regret our relationship? There were so many mixed signals in that last letter. She couldn't puzzle it out, and trying to just made her head hurt. She must have been succumbing to the heat because she started seeing things in the ceiling.

Footsteps now sounded from down the hall, advancing toward her room. Tamao was coming back. Nagisa could've moved if she wanted to, but…she didn't want to. She no longer cared what the poet thought, nor anyone else for that matter.

Her eyes snapped open once she realized there was more than one set of footsteps. Voices, too. Nagisa strained to catch the voices, hear what they were saying. By the sound of it, one of them belonged to Chikaru; the other one…

"I kept feeling like…like breaking off our letters was a mistake…"

"No. You did the right thing." Chikaru's voice. "Relationships are hard. Sometimes you just need to step back and look at things."

Her scarlet eyes widened and cold sweat snaked down her forehead. Oh no.

"She's missed you." The Lulim President's gentle voice was coming closer and closer. "I could tell. This reunion might be good for her." The footsteps ceased and there was a knock on the door. "Nagisa-chan…?"

The redhead's young heart broke into a gallop. She jumped up and looked frantically about. No, no, no, no, NO! She silently cursed her indolence, then tried to shove the letters in a hiding place and put on her uniform at the same time. I look like crap! Shizuma can't see me like this!

"I don't know if she's in there, but you can go in if you want."

Oh, no! NO!!! Nagisa wanted to scream those words, but her breath caught in her throat. The knob was turning. All she could do was turn her back to the door and clamp her arms around her breasts.

She heard the door creak open, and that was it. No gasps. No exclamations. Hesitantly, she turned around and found herself facing Chikaru and…Shizuma.

Chikaru had her hand cupped around her chin with that knowing smile on her face. Shizuma stood tall, her thin, scornful lips curled up in a smirk, a naughty glimmer in her narrow green eyes. "Oh, Nagisa," those eyes said, "you haven't changed a bit." The redhead stiffened when she heard Shizuma giggle.

Tamao burst into the room, the completed script in her hands. First she glared at Shizuma and inquired hotly, "What are you doing here?" Then her attention shifted to her room mate. The poet clapped a hand to her opoen mouth at the sight of what Nagisa was and wasn't wearing.

What could she do? The auburn-haired girl awkwardly raised her fingers off her shoulder and wiggled them in greeting. That made Tamao's nose bleed.