Healing Kisses (ch9)

I wanted to get back into the "healing" theme from the title for this one.

Disclaimer: I do not own Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight.

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															Chapter 9.

On the rare weekend when Maya and Claudine aren't rigorously practicing song or dance in the studio, there's typically only ever one other thing they are doing; taking a break.

Except this break has been a little longer than most others, being that Maya had announced she needed to go back to her room to fetch something, and Claudine had casually opted to accompany her.

And of course, as soon as they'd arrived at the room, Maya had forgotten whatever it was she'd needed to get and had claimed she might recall if she were to lie down and think for a moment.

And naturally Claudine had huffed and puffed, but ultimately decided that she should probably lie down with her.

They haven't gotten back up in half an hour.

Their break time consists of messing around, tickle fights and rolling each other over, kisses ranging from heated to sweet and back again. One of the few times Claudine manages to knock Maya off and crawl on top of her, she sits on her lap with a disgruntled expression, nose wrinkled.

"Honestly. Did you actually even forget anything here?"

Maya gives a thoughtful hum.

"I believe I did, but I still can't remember. Perhaps a few more kisses could jog my memory."

"You're insufferable."

But Claudine kisses her anyway, leaving a small nip on her lips to chide.

The track suits they've been wearing all morning to practice become even more ruffled than the song and dance numbers call for as Maya switches their positions, pushing Claudine down with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Perhaps we can still do a bit of practicing here."

"Hm? How do you figure?"

"You, for one, ma princesse..." Maya leans over her, pinning her wrists, hovering just shy of her lips. "You could do with a bit more practice in supporting your notes. Allow me to teach you how to hold your breath."

Maya dives in before Claudine can even get the chance to inhale, stealing the air from her lungs.

Claudine tries to kiss back, but the ambush had caught her off guard and she knows she won't be able to last half as long as she could've. She tries to push Maya off, make her restart the challenge fairly, but Maya only kisses her harder, giving Claudine no choice but to push back against her mouth.

When she does inevitably hit her limit, however, Claudine turns her head to break the kiss, gasping. Maya admires the sight of her breathless and flushed, reaching out to stroke through her hair.

"Oh dear. You're getting rusty, Saijou-san."

"Like hell I am," she snaps. "You're playing dirty."

"There is no other way I play best when it comes to you."

"Me-chante- I'll show you a thing or two!"

"I look forward to it."

Claudine locks her arms around Maya's shoulders, dragging her down into another kiss, one where they both have a fair amount of oxygen this time.

And this time, even after several minutes of back and forth, Claudine holds her own. Maya breaks the contact briefly to show her a smug expression.

"Your heart's beating rather quickly, Saijou-san."

"As if yours isn't."

"Certainly not that quickly," Maya teases, resting a hand over Claudine's chest.

Claudine growls.

"Shut up."

She grabs her shoulder and pulls her down for another kiss, intent to emerge victorious this time.

But not a moment later, just when they're both getting very into it, a knock comes on the door. Maya pulls away with a sigh, and Claudine groans.

"Damn it. I was just about to win..."

"Do keep dreaming, ma princesse." Maya kisses her forehead and leaves her there on the bed to regain some air. Claudine rolls over and mumbles under her breath in French.

Maya gets to her feet and fixes her clothes and hair a bit before heading to the door. When she opens it, she finds Nana and Junna smiling back.

"Good afternoon, Tendo-san!" Nana chirps.

"Oh," Junna clears her throat as she notices the other occupant of the room. "I hope we weren't interrupting."

There's a telling huff from Claudine, but Maya plays it off cooly.

"Not at all. What can I do for you?"

"Well-" Nana holds out a clipboard for her. "It's just that time of year again to get your flu shot!"

"You know how it's mandated by the school, or else you can't perform in any theater-related activities or sports," Junna explains. "So we're going around asking everyone to sign the forms. You might as well do yours now too, Saijou-san."

Claudine pushes herself up with indignant speed, clearly still upset about the interruption.

"Fine, fine!" She stands and crosses the room to take the clipboard from Nana and begins writing. Maya blinks, slightly dazed all of a sudden. Claudine peers up at her curiously. "What's gotten into you?" she murmurs. "Are you tired from our practicing?"

Maya straightens up a bit.

"Of course not."

When Claudine is finished with the forms, she flips to a blank one before handing it to Maya. Maya picks up the pen but drops it before trying again. When she writes, she writes much more slowly than usual, and her strokes are a bit wobbly.

Claudine, Nana, and Junna all share perplexed glances, but they don't say anything.

Once Maya has finished, she hands them back the clipboard. Nana smiles again.

"Perfect! Thanks, you two!"

"You can come by the nurse's office later today for your shots."

The pair wave before taking their leave and heading off to the next room.

Claudine closes the door behind them before turning back to Maya, who is still oddly silent.

"Ahem. Tendo Maya? Are you home in there?"

"Eh? Ah, sorry. I was just thinking..."

"Clearly. About what, if I may?"

Maya averts her eyes and shakes her head.

"It's nothing..." She begins making her way back to the bed and sits down, running a hand back through her hair. "Now then, shall we continue?"

"Hold on just a moment." Claudine follows her and sits at her side, narrowing her eyes. "Don't you lie to me, Tendo Maya. Something's bothering you and it certainly doesn't seem like nothing."

"I assure you it's-"

"You're not doing a very good job of assuring me of anything right now. In fact, you're only making me worry more. Now, I don't intend to pry, but if it's something I should know about-"

"You are too good to me, Saijou-san." Maya reaches forward to cup her face with both hands, smiling handsomely.

Claudine's heart skips. She grabs Maya's hands and pulls away. When she holds them, she feels them trembling.

"Don't change the subject! Why are you shaking? Do you feel sick?" Panic seeps into her voice and her posture, and she looks about to bolt for the door to tell someone.

Maya draws in a deep breath and squeezes her hands until her own stop shaking.

"It's nothing of the sort, Ma Claudine. Please don't worry yourself."

"That's a little difficult to do right now," she quips. "What is it you aren't telling me? You were fine until those two came in-"

She cuts off with a gasp as something clicks in her mind. She looks up sharply at her partner. "That's what bothered you, isn't it? The flu shots. Don't tell me you're... afraid of needles...?"

Just the word causes Maya to shudder, and she looks away. Claudine lets out a deep breath, and all of her worries go with it.

"That's all... Thank goodness..."

"I told you it was nothing to worry about," Maya says quietly. "I've never been good with them since I was a child."

"Now, I hope you don't take this the wrong way when I say that's absolutely precious." Claudine picks up Maya's hands again and squeezes them. "I don't mean to poke fun at you, but that's quiet an adorable phobia coming from the mighty Tendo Maya. Needles and ghosts."

"Please..." Maya mumbles weakly. "I don't want to think about it if I can avoid it."

"Of course." Claudine lets go of her hands to cup her cheeks instead. "Allow me to provide a bit of distraction then." She kisses her softly, sweetly, amused and relieved that she was worrying for nothing.

Maya whimpers into the kiss, but eventually allows Claudine to distract her with such preferable methods. She eases Maya down onto the bed and peppers her with kisses until the tension in her body drains away.

Maya lets out a sigh, and it trembles just a little bit. She pulls Claudine down on top of her and hugs her close.

Claudine is much more content now than she had been earlier when they'd gotten interrupted. In fact, she's almost giddy. After all, it isn't every day she gets to see Maya shrink away in fear at the idea of a simple flu shot.

But Claudine doesn't want to be mean to her about it. She knows it's a common and understandable phobia.

As she rests herself down over her partner, she can feel Maya's pulse jumping up against her chest. Claudine runs her fingers through Maya's hair, caressing her face.

"You poor thing. Don't worry. I'll be with you every step of the way." She kisses her sweetly to seal the promise.

Maya shudders a sigh beneath her, locking both arms around her back.

"Merci..."

"Take a nap," Claudine murmurs against her neck. "Everything will be all right, Ma Maya."

She doesn't miss the nervous little breath Maya exhales against her hair. Claudine eases off of her a little, rubbing a hand over Maya's stomach to help calm her down.

When she finally does fall asleep, Claudine kisses her a few more times, endlessly amused, before closing her eyes as well.

When they wake a few hours later, Maya is clearly still nervous about getting her shot. It's written all over her face, in her stammering voice, in her shaky movements. Claudine tries to be as gentle as possible without teasing her too much.

"Come on. We have to get it done."

"I know..."

"You can hold my hand if it will make you feel any better."

Maya nods and accepts Claudine's hand.

As they head out of the room and down the hall, Claudine can feel her fingers losing circulation.

When they reach the infirmary, there are already a dozen other girls waiting in line, and a dozen more who already got their shots.

"Owww, geez it's so sore!"

"It wasn't that bad."

"Ugh, I totally hate needles..."

Claudine grimaces; listening to all of these comments obviously isn't going to make Maya feel any better. To distract her, Claudine carefully slips her hand free of the vice-grip and curls her arm around Maya's back instead.

"Don't worry. It'll only take a second. You won't feel a thing."

Maya swallows.

"Of course..."

Claudine kisses her cheek.

"You're so brave."

As they inch their way up on the line, Claudine notices two familiar people coming back. Kaoruko and Futaba have just gotten their shots and spot them on line.

"Yo, Tendo! Kuro!"

"Futaba-haaan! My arm huuurts!"

"Geez..."

They stop beside Claudine and Maya. Maya is clearly in no state to converse, so Claudine handles it as best she can, trying to steer the conversation away from talk of needles and shots.

"So you two are officially set for another year of acting, huh?"

"Yup!" Futaba grins. "Who knows what kinda roles we'll get this time around?"

Claudine moves Maya up with her on the line, willing to let the brief friendly conversation with the others fade off. But of course, Kaoruko has to butt in.

"I say, Tendo-han, you look a little pale. Are you all right?"

"She's fine!" Claudine says quickly, giving Kaoruko a warning glare. "She's just a bit tired, that's all."

But in spite of her unspoken warning, Claudine can see that knowing Cheshire smirk coming across Kaoruko's lips.

"Oh, well the shot should wake her right up! It was rather painful, after all. I heard some girls were bleeding quite a bit."

"Kaoruko-"

"What the hell are you talking about, Kaoruko?" Futaba says before Claudine can lunge at her. "Stop makin' stuff up. Let's go. See you late, Kuro!"

Claudine sends a seething look after the giggling Kaoruko before turning back to Maya.

"Don't listen to that trickster," she murmurs. "When I get my hands on her, I swear..."

Maya peeks up at her and inhales a quivering breath.

"I don't know if I can do this..."

"You don't really have much of a choice, unfortunately." The line moves them up another step. "Of course you can do this. You're the Tendo Maya, aren't you? You can handle this." Claudine kisses her cheek again.

She builds up Maya's confidence as much as she can before it's their turn at the front of the line. As soon as the nurse smiles and makes eye contact, Claudine feels Maya freeze up. Claudine plays it cool.

"Excuse me? Could we perhaps go together? For a bit of moral support?"

"Of course, dear." The nurse waves them both over and pulls a curtain to give them some privacy.

Claudine and Maya sit down on a soft mattress as the nurse gets her supplies ready. Claudine takes both of Maya's shaking hands in hers. Maya looks like she's about to cry.

"Claudine-"

Claudine's heart twists.

"Don't look at me like that," she whimpers. "You're going to be fine. I promise. Here, I'll go first."

She shares a glance with the nurse, who nods kindly. She prepares the needle, and Claudine doesn't miss the scared little sound Maya makes in the back of her throat. She stiffens up and her nails dig into Claudine's wrist. Claudine nuzzles her head.

"Breathe. I'm right here, you dummy." Claudine offers her free arm to the nurse, who gives her a countdown.

"One, two, three- and done." She puts a small bandaid over the punctured area and then turns away to start preparing for the next one.

Maya, who is all but huddled up against Claudine now, slowly lifts her head.

"That... That's it...?"

Claudine shrugs.

"That's it. It takes one second. I didn't feel a thing, and neither will you."

"...Are you sure?"

Claudine cups Maya's face in her hands again, leaning in to brush noses with her.

"I'm absolutely sure. Trust me. Perhaps you haven't had good experiences in the past, but now you have me."

Maya draws in a deep breath and lets it out.

"You're right."

"Aren't I always?"

Claudine pulls her in for a sweet kiss, smiling all the while.

And then the nurse's voice comes again.

"Done! You two are all set!"

"Eh...?" As Maya eases away from the kiss, she glances down at her arm. There's a small band-aid there already. She shakes her head, looking up at the nurse, baffled. "You already did it?"

The woman smiles and nods.

"Yes. You're all set, dear."

"I didn't even notice..."

"You see?" Claudine purrs. "A little redirection and distraction can go a long way." She kisses her again, smiling all the while. "You faced your fears and you bested them. I'm proud of you, Tendo Maya."

Claudine thanks the nurse before helping Maya up and taking her leave with her. Maya walks slowly beside her, almost in a daze, still unbelieving of what had just happened.

"I was worrying so much... and I didn't even realize when it happened... I can't thank you enough, Claudine."

"There's no need to thank me," she huffs. "I just did what any good partner would've done."

"Even so, I would like to repay you somehow and show my gratitude."

"You can repay me with another nap," she decides. "We can't go practice right after getting our shots, so resting is the only logical option."

"But of course."

So they retreat back to Maya's room and collapse in bed together, where Maya thanks Claudine with many tender kisses. By the time she's finished, they're both happily breathless.

"So..." Claudine pants up at her. "Are you... still afraid of needles?"

"Not so long... as you'll be there to help distract me," she muses. Maya eases down over her to leave one last kiss on her lips. "Merci, Ma Claudine."

"De rien, mon cher."

As Maya drapes her arm around Claudine's shoulders, Claudine finds the spot where she'd been given her shot. She leaves a soft kiss over the band-aid to help it heal while Maya nuzzles into her shoulder.

They settle down together and drift off before long.

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A/N: I thought this would be a really cute idea/fear for Maya (along with her mild fear of ghosts). The concept of her being vulnerable and nervous while Claudine does everything within her power to take care of her just... gets me...