The Girl Who Played God (ch4)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS!

Glad people are starting to enjoy now that it's picking up a bit. This chapter shares some similarities with Revue, Rewind, Replay.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

-----------

							Chapter 4. Second Chance

It's everything Nana ever dreamed it would be.

This new wish of hers is miraculous to say the very least.

Even though it means they all have to live through the uncertainty of those revues again in their second year, even though it means Hikari vanishes for six whole months and the others are forced to spend half a year in sorrow and agony… It always ends just as it should.

Karen goes to find Hikari every time, and the rest of them do their part to help her get there.

The giraffe gets to witness how they rewrite the tragedy of the Top Star, and the necessary sacrifice to the tower and the stage. While he is provided his entertainment in getting to experience not only that, but all of their revues again, Nana is rewarded with her happy ending.

And always, right before the day when it's announced Hikari will be scouted, she reverses things back to their second year. Just as she'd done before, many, many times.

She knows exactly how this works, and exactly what to expect.

Although, the giraffe had been telling the truth about minor abnormalities occurring every now and then. It's never anything major though, and as far as Nana is concerned, she doesn't care so long as the eventual ending is the same.

A few changes in the journey ultimately won't hinder the destination.

With this new wish, which is simply a refined rendition of her old wish, Nana lives out her very best days.

Even when Hikari vanishes, she never worries, because she knows Karen will always retrieve her, and the nine of them will have supper together that night.

The changes are few and far between. No matter how minuscule they may be, Nana makes note of them every time of course, because she knows this story by heart, well enough to notice even when Kaoruko wears a different outfit than she should one day, or when Maya eats one muffin for dessert instead of two, or when Mahiru twirls her baton one time extra.

In any case, they are never major things.

Every time, in every performance they put on, it is always the same people cast in the same roles. Nana still has the same photos on her desk and bulletin board each time, and all of the relationships progress between the girls just as they had the first time.

After getting to experience and live through the days many times, Nana has come to decide upon her favorite dates, and she always looks forward to those days with bubbling anticipation.

Luckily for her, today is one of her favorite days.

She's waited weeks and weeks for it, and she finally gets to live through it again today.

Presently, she's gathered with her friends and fellow third-year classmates in the dance studio for practice. Of course, Maya and Claudine have been dancing together nonstop all afternoon, even after classes have ended, and Nana and the others are content to sit back and watch them. Nana sighs as she takes a sip from her water bottle, subtly reaching out with her free hand to touch Junna's.

"Those two are as marvelous as ever, right Junna-chan?"

"I'll say. But we won't lose to them, right Nana?"

"Of course!"

A little ways into the locker room, Kaoruko is hunched over on one of the benches while Futaba gives her a shoulder massage. Kaoruko sighs and whimpers happily all the while.

"Waah, Futaba-haaaan~"

"Quit makin' weird noises," she sighs, blushing.

Kaoruko looks back at her with a pout.

"Fine. Then perhaps I can express my gratitude in some other way?"

"Yeah? Like what?"

To answer, Kaoruko reaches her arms up around Futaba's neck and pulls her down into a sudden kiss. Futaba paws her away.

"O-Oy, Kaoruko! What if the kouhai saw us?"

"Then so be it!"

"Sheesh…" But in spite of her grumbles, Futaba grins as she sits down beside Kaoruko and puts an arm around her. Kaoruko snuggles up into her side and closes her eyes contentedly.

Nana smiles, squeezing Junna's hand a little tighter.

On her other side, Karen and Hikari are sitting on the floor with their backs against the wall, leaning against each other. Mahiru comes over to bring them both water bottles and towels.

"Geez, you two… Even though you sleep in so much you still get sleepy here…"

"We can't help it, Mahiru-chan!"

"We worked hard."

Mahiru smiles.

"Yes, you did. Good job, Karen-chan, Hikari-chan."

"Come join us, Mahiru-chan!"

"There's plenty of room."

"Eh-?"

Karen and Hikari both reach up to take one of her hands and pull Mahiru down in between them. They make space for her, then happily slide in to rest their heads on her shoulders. Mahiru blushes as she wraps an arm around each of them.

"Geez… What am I gonna do with you two…?"

Nana giggles and turns back to Junna. She must've also noticed her friends' rather romantic actions, because even the Student Council President is blushing now. Nana gives her hand another encouraging squeeze, and Junna glances around first to make sure no underclassmen are present before she subtly threads her fingers through Nana's. Nana chuckles.

"Junna-chan, you're still so shy, even though we-"

"Th-This is different!" Junna hisses. "We can't do stuff so blatantly out in the open."

"Aww, why not? Kissing is so nice!"

"Nana!"

Nana takes a moment to giggle again, but she looks back up to Maya and Claudine when she hears a telltale sound. There's a scuff of a shoe slipping on the waxed wood, and after a brief shriek from Claudine the two of them are tumbling down to the floor together. Maya reacts quickly enough to turn them slightly so they both land on their sides to share the blow of the impact, instead of having her crush Claudine completely.

Mahiru gasps, but before anyone can even ask if they're all right, the fallen couple does all the talking.

"Mechante! You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"Why ever would I do such a thing?"

"So you could end up like this with me on the floor, of course."

Claudine pushes herself up and supports Maya with her, smoothing out her partner's hair before her own.

"In any case, are you all right?"

"I am," Maya smiles. "What about you, Saijou-san?"

"Fine. I'm just amazed that our top student can be such an oaf. And yet you still look so graceful about it…"

"My, thank you for the compliment."

"It really wasn't…"

Nana and the others relax and watch as the two help each other up to their feet. And of course, Maya can't let the little fiasco conclude without pressing a kiss to her partner's temple. Claudine blushes and swats her away, but ends up holding Maya's hand anyway.

Nana uses them as an excuse to her own girlfriend.

"See~?" she says, leaning into Junna. "Kuro-chan and Maya-chan do it out here, and so do Kaoruko-chan and Futaba-chan!"

Junna flicks her eyes away, but ultimately back to her again.

"But Nana-"

"Pleeeeease, Junna-chan?" Nana clasps both of her hands around Junna's now and puts on a puppy-dog face. Junna grimaces, blushes, and then relents.

"Fine. But just a quick one."

"Yay!" Nana closes her eyes and waits patiently. She can feel Junna giving her hands a light squeeze as she leans forward to gently press her lips to Nana's cheek. Nana squeals and taps her shoes excitedly.

"Nana!" Junna scolds her. "Don't make a fuss! Like I said, we do this all the-"

"I know!" Nana chuckles. "But I can almost never get you to do it in public!"

"Nana-"

"Okay, my turn!"

"Wh-What?"

But before Junna can do anything, Nana throws both arms around her and kisses her full on the lips. As opposed to Junna's much more tactful display of affection, all seven of their friends notice Nana's exuberant hug, and they all turn to smile.

"Jun-Jun, Banana! You're so cute!"

"Quite the perfect pair."

"Though, a bit scandalous, wouldn't you say?" Kaoruko leers. "The Student Council President of all people doing such a thing~"

"Oy," Futaba says. "With the amount of work she does around here, she should get to kiss her girlfriend whenever the hell she wants."

Nana's heart backflips with glee. She just loves getting called Junna's girlfriend so much.

Today is, by far, one of her favorite days of the timeline.

Junna adjusts her glasses in an effort to conceal her blush.

"All right." She goes to clap her hands to call for attention, but realizes she's still holding onto Nana's, so she just clears her throat instead. "That's enough for today."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Nana happily continues holding her hand all the way to the locker room, until they have to let go to change.

And the evening continues like most others, with the nine of them heading to the showers together before supper.

And that night, as Nana and Junna return to their dorm room, another one of those abnormalities occurs.

Nana is just finishing up her last assignment of the night, which was editing a script she'd acquired from Class B. She closes the packet and sits back in her chair with a sigh of accomplishment, letting her eyes wander to the photos on her wall. In just a few more weeks she'll rewind time to refill that bulletin board all over again.

After stretching a bit and getting up from her chair, she turns to find Junna sitting up in her bed with various books and papers on her knees. Though her hair is down and she's in her pajamas, she's still hard at work looking serious.

Nana invites herself over, humming as she takes a seat on the edge of the mattress.

"Junna-chan~?"

Junna looks up with a bit of a start, then smiles.

"Ah, sorry. I'll be done soon." She apologizes by giving Nana a kiss on the cheek. Nana giggles.

"You don't have to apologize!"

"You looked like a lost puppy. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning you for my work."

"I'm glad! Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Hmm… actually…"

So Nana cuddles up beside her in Junna's bed and helps with some of the paperwork, which they finish in record time. When it's all finally put aside, Junna lets out a long sigh.

"Thanks, Nana."

"Don't mention it."

Nana carefully removes Junna's glasses for her, folds them up, and puts them on the night stand before turning off the lamp. Junna rubs her eyes as if the light had been bothering them all day. Nana inches a little closer and wraps an arm around her shoulders, playing through her roommate's loose long hair.

"We're a team, Junna-chan. Don't forget that. I'll do whatever I can to help you, okay? So just ask me any time!"

Junna nods, resting her head on Nana's shoulder.

"I will. Thanks, Nana."

Nana smiles and presses a few kisses onto the top of her head. She lingers for a little while in her bed, but is prepared to return to her own like always.

But this time, when she tries to ease away, Junna reaches out to stop her. Surprised, Nana pauses.

"Junna-chan?"

Junna wraps her arms around Nana's stomach defiantly, keeping her face buried in her shoulder.

"It's kinda cold tonight," she mumbles. "Don't you think…?"

And Nana is filled with a rush of delight.

"Yeah! Kinda!"

The first time they share a bed typically doesn't happen for about another week or so. But Nana certainly isn't going to complain if it happens a bit sooner this time around. It will only add that much more to make today one of her most favorite days ever.

Nana hugs her girlfriend in return with jubilance and softly tackles Junna down onto the mattress.

"H-Hey! Nana!"

"Junna-chan, I'm so happy!"

Junna sighs, but it's a happy sigh. Probably her happiest ever.

"All right. Let's just get some sleep, okay?"

To conserve space, she lets Nana rest on top of her and pulls the blankets up over her back.

Nana is thrilled, gazing down at Junna with vibrant eyes. Everyone else in the school, save for their closest friends, has only ever really seen Junna in her uniform, in the daytime, with her glasses on.

But no one else - not even the others - gets to see her, be with her, or touch her like this.

Nana cards through Junna's thick loose hair for a while, twirling it around her fingers as she trails kisses up her neck and across her face, planting them beneath her eyes and on her nose where her glasses usually interfere.

At first Junna lets her do as she pleases as Nana giggles and has her way. But eventually Junna can't do nothing any longer, so she reciprocates by kissing Nana back whenever she gets the chance.

Nana feels a trill of joy every time Junna touches her, whether she's kissing her full on the lips or simply threading her fingers through her hair.

Nana does her best not to get too carried away, because this is only the first night they're doing this, at least from Junna's perspective. It's just so soft and warm, so it's a little difficult for Nana to prevent herself from smothering her in affection right away.

Thankfully, Junna makes it clear that she's just as happy about this as she is.

They must snuggle up and kiss and hug one another for close to an hour that night before Nana can sense her roommate getting dreary. She's more than content with this; today is now officially her favorite day of the cycle, and she hopes the same thing will happen next time around, and the time after that. But for now, she withdraws with a smile.

"Miss President, you've been working so hard lately."

"Ugh, don't call me that when we're here, Nana."

"Sorry, sorry~" Nana leans down and nuzzles her neck. "Get some rest, Junna-chan. Good work today, as always."

Junna folds her arms comfortably around Nana's back.

"Thanks, Nana."

"You're very welcome~ Good night, Junna-chan."

Nana kisses her on the lips softly one more time before settling down over her, hugging her to keep her as warm as possible. Junna holds onto her as well, running her hands up and down Nana's back until she falls asleep.

Nana has never been happier before in her life, and she knows none of her friends have either.

Somehow, this feels almost familiar in some ways. Perhaps if she keeps on repeating the cycle, more and more minor alterations will happen, and they'll all get to fall in love sooner and stay in it for long before she resets things.

Eventually, this entire year cycle could just be the nine of them happily in love enjoying their school days together.

Just thinking about it makes her heart throb. She closes her eyes and sighs against Junna's collar, and she only says this now because she knows her girlfriend is asleep.

"I love you, Junna-chan."

She has for some time now, and not just in this timeline, but ever since their second year in the original.

Now, she just gets to keep loving Junna over and over again without end.

She almost can't wait until the next few weeks are done, just so she'll be able to start it all over again.

----------

A/N: It's been a while since I wrote Junnana. They're just so domestic and sweet. I just want Nana to be happy...