The Girl Who Played God (ch5)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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							Chapter 5. One Minute

That morning, Nana sleeps in by one minute.

She knows, because she's gone through these days enough times to remember which time she wakes up on each morning exactly.

Because of the slight change that had happened last night with Junna, Nana sleeps in an extra minute, because she's just so comfortable lying there together with her girlfriend.

But of course, the dutiful Student Council President can't stand to be even a minute late for classes. When she realizes the time, she lets out a tired grunt as she slowly starts pushing herself up with Nana slouched on top of her.

"Hey, Nana…"

"Mmnnn just five more minutes~"

"Who are you, Karen?"

"Eheehee~"

Slowly, Nana pushes herself up and off of Junna, who smoothes a hand back through her bedhead and reaches for her glasses. Nana stretches out her arms a bit before leaning in to peck her nose.

"Did you sleep well, Junna-chan? Were you nice and warm?"

Junna blushes and looks down.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad!"

Nana hugs her, and Junna sighs, figuring she can accept it first thing in the morning.

"All right now, come on. We don't wanna be even later than this."

"Right!"

And the morning continues as per usual, if not one minute behind. But considering that had happened because Nana had been warmly snuggled up with her girlfriend last night, she doesn't mind it one bit.

She's extra gleeful this morning as she takes Junna's hand and walks with her down the hallway to join the others for breakfast.

When everyone is ready, they all head outside together.

Though it's a beautiful day, Kaoruko is complaining of a sore back, so Futaba agrees to give her a ride on the bike. They mount up and put on their helmets, but don't drive off right away. Instead, Futaba goes at a very leisruely pace, riding alongside the other seven in the bike lane as their friends stick to the sidewalk. The idle morning chatter rises up as always.

"Sooo~?" Nana says. "What's on the to-do list today, Prez?"

"Lots," Junna replies. "I've got a couple meetings after school and one during lunch, but they should be quick."

"That's our Junna," Claudine says proudly. "Always hard at work for us."

"But of course," Maya smiles. "She was the natural pick for Student Council President, after all. Saijou-san? Would you care to join me after school for additional practice today as well?"

"I suppose so."

"Enjoy that," Kaoruko says smugly from the bike. "Futaba-han and I've got a date today~"

"What?!"

"A date?"

"Like what?"

"Geez," Futaba sighs from up front. "It's not really a date, she's just callin' it that. We're pickin' up some stuff for her folks, that's all."

"Oh come now, Futaba-han. Can't you humor me just this once?"

"Still, that sounds nice," Mahiru smiles. "Actually, after school today, Karen-chan, Hikari-chan and I are going to see a movie!"

"That's right!" Karen blurts. "I'm so excited!"

"Just don't lose your ticket this time, Bakaren."

"I won't! I swear!"

Though Nana had decided that yesterday was her favorite of the cycle, today might actually be a contender as well. While all the others have plans together, she knows that she'll be helping out the girls from Class B while waiting for Junna to finish her meetings today, and then they'll get to walk back home together and cook their favorite foods for supper.

It might become tough for her to decide on a favorite day, but that's far from a problem.

As they continue on their way to school, Nana keeps to her usual spot at the back of the group, watching everyone else with Junna at her side. Futaba is driving slowly beside them, laughing with Claudine about something at the front of the group, while Maya adds in now and then. At one point she reaches out to smooth a leaf from her partner's hair, and Claudine thanks her with a very swift kiss.

Kaoruko yawns beneath her helmet and snuggles her face into Futaba's back, slouching up against her to nap. When they reach the next crosswalk, Karen pulls ahead of Hikari and Mahiru to jump only across the white lines and not touch the grey cement at all.

"Quick! The road is lava!"

"Geez, Karen-chan…"

"Don't trip."

"I woooon't!"

Nana smiles as she watches over them all, reaching for Junna's hand in the process. It truly is incredible, how her wish had become this wonderful.

But she'd slept in that morning by one minute.

And somehow, someway, one minute was all it took.

Because of that, they'd all left Starlight Hall together a minute later.

And the stop lights change a minute later.

Nana barely hears it, but there's a crash.

Tires screech, horns blare.

The bus careens off the road and slams directly into Futaba's bike. A chorus of shrieks is drowned out by the terrible smashing of metal as the bike goes flying with both occupants still on it. It crashes right into their group of friends on the sidewalk.

In the moment, Nana can do nothing but watch it happen.

Later, she'd find out the details.

That Futaba was killed instantly when the bus had hit her, and Karen also had never experienced a second of pain as the bike had been flung directly at her and snapped her neck on impact.

Claudine had suffered though.

She and Maya had been thrown across the road and crushed against a parked car, where Claudine had bled out in agony for nearly ten minutes, all the while calling out for Maya who never woke. By the time the medical personnel had arrived, it had been too late.

Maya had been knocked unconscious, and even after they'd taken her to the hospital, she'd simply never opened her eyes again. Her parents had made the decision to turn off her life support only a few days later.

Kaoruko, who had been pinned beneath the bike, trapping and sobbing beside Futaba's broken body, had been permanently paralyzed from the waist down. Her parents had come to collect her and take her home, and she had officially withdrawn from Seishou without even getting to attend the funerals.

Distraught beyond comprehension at their loss, Hikari and Mahiru had both left to return home shortly afterward.

Hikari returned to England on the same plane where Claudine's casket was flown back to France for her parents to collect.

Mahiru was inconsolable for weeks even after she got back to her family, and she fell into a terrible depression.

Seishou itself closed for a full week as memorials were planned.

Junna, as Student Council President, was a part of all of the arrangements for the four girls who had passed away.

And all the while, Nana just kept waiting for it to end.

For herself to wake up from the nightmare.

For it all to rewind right then and there.

But the days kept arriving, each more terrible than the one before.

The school was filled with a sickening silence day in and day out. The flowers and the banners only served to make the terrible reality all the more painful.

Nana kept waiting. Waiting for it to stop. For it to just go back so she could fix it.

But she still had weeks before the next rewind. If she could just hold out until then, in this aching, nauseating numbness…

She pushed through, crying herself to sleep every night as Junna toiled over more memorials, more flowers, more ceremonies.

They cried alone, even when they were together.

Nana just needed to wait. Just wait a little longer-

She was so caught up in the impossible tragedy, and how she might mend it, that she let it consume her.

She didn't think to go to Junna.

She didn't think to comfort her.

She just needed to wait and then fix it all herself.

And so on the nights when Junna was out having meetings with school officials until midnight, Nana screamed into her pillow until her voice died.

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After the funerals, the memorials, and all the final farewell ceremonies, it became too much.

Day in and day out, Junna heard and saw nothing but the deaths of her friends.

She prepared everything, gave all the speeches, and did nothing but relive it again and again.

It was just too much.

Three days after the final ceremony, Hoshimi Junna killed herself.

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The four funerals were shortly followed by a fifth.

Nana did nothing. She couldn't have. Not to save Karen, Futaba, Claudine, or Maya.

But she could have done something to help Junna, and she hadn't.

As her roommate, her partner, and her girlfriend, Nana should have been able to do something to prevent her death. Junna's blood was on her hands more deeply than the others' was.

She couldn't wait any longer. She had to fix it. She had to.

The morning of, Nana doesn't even attend her own girlfriend's funeral.

She tears away from the crowd of mourners at the last minute and runs like a shadow through the rain, her black clothes soaking through in seconds.

She races all the way across town, across the very same crosswalk that is now overflowing with flowers and crosses and mementos.

She races all the way back to Starlight Hall, where she crashes through her door and collapses onto Junna's cold, pristine bed.

And she sobs like no one ever could before, or has since. She beats her fists against the mattress and screams, kicks the blankets and throws herself against the wall.

But even then, she can't feel the pain.

She grows still and sinks into the pillow, which still retains Junna's lingering scent.

It hadn't felt real.

Not even when she'd watched the bus collide with Futaba and Kaoruko with her own two eyes.

Not even when she'd watched Karen's limp body be tossed across the sidewalk as the rest of them had screamed.

Not even when she'd heard Claudine's sobs for help, and watched hers and Maya's blood flowing through the streets.

But now it's real, and she knows it.

Junna is gone, and so are the others.

Hikari won't ever return to Japan after this.

Mahiru won't be able to come back to Seishou now that everyone she's ever known and loved is gone.

And Kaoruko can't continue in her career as a dancer anymore, as she'll be confined to a wheelchair for life.

All because Nana had let herself get comfortable. Here, in this very same bed.

She curls her fingers gently around the blankets and pillow now, imagining Junna is there beside her, smiling, kissing her.

All because she'd rewound time again, even though her friends had told her she didn't need to.

All because she'd slept in one minute.

One minute had been all it had taken.

And one minute had taken everything from her.

It was all over.

They had gone from nine to four.

Now, all that was left of the radiant group of promising performers were two distraught students who had lost their best friend - the source of their light - and fled back home, a paralyzed dancer who would never be able to do anything for herself but cry ever again-

-and a foolish, wretched girl who had tried to play god one too many times.

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A/N: I needed to post and share this before Rondo and the new movie did it first.