Archive of Our Own

On the third night of their summer trip, she dreams of that first performance she saw at Univeil. But instead of the stage, she is looking straight at herself.

The overhead lights dim and the stage lights behind her blaze in white, red, gold, on her ecstatic upturned face.

“Tsuki’s brilliance is on a whole different level!” whispers a woman somewhere behind her. “His singing, dancing and acting are like a movie star!”

This was the moment she had felt a surge of admiration for her beautiful, talented brother. Amazing! You’re amazing, Tsuki-ni!

She can hear the play behind her but she’s engrossed with the naked emotion on her face, the admiration and then, here it came; the longing. She’s frightened by the intensity of the desire on her face. Did she really look like that? Did Tsuki see her looking like that?

She’s overcome with terror. If he sees her looking at him like that, he will leave. If she keeps looking at him with that raw hungry look, Tsuki will leave. She struggles to reach herself, to wipe that expression off her face but her body refuses to move.

I wish I could be up there too, just like him. If only I could get into Univeil.

The lights go out behind her.

When she wakes up the blanket is smothering her and she’s sweating unbearably. Shirota-senpai had told her that the air-con is bad for her throat so Kisa sleeps with it off.

She throws off the blanket and the air cools her flushed body with the ugly red marks where her binder eats away at her skin every single day.

“What does Neji-senpai have planned for us today?” Suzu asks as they eat breakfast overlooking the sea.

“We have a dance class with Fumi-san,” Sou says. “I saw him on my way down here.”

“The third years aren’t here,” Kisa says. “They must have woken up earlier than us.”

“We’d better not eat too much if we have dance class with Fumi-san,” Suzu says regretfully. Kisa knows how he feels. Their table is spread with croissants, orange juice, butter, jams and that doesn’t even cover the Japanese food in the tureens in the centre of the room.

“Let’s go for lunch at that seafood place again if we have time one day,” she says. The darkness of the night has passed and the light glittering like tinsel on the sea, the delicious breakfast and the prospect of a day of dance with Fumi is sending bubbles of happiness floating through her.

“Aren’t you three ready yet?” a voice demands and they look up to see three first-year Jeannes from Rhodonite.  Mare has his hair tied scraped back and is wearing stylish sportswear. The two on either side of him look pared back too.

“What for?” asks Suzu, baffled.

“We’re all being taught dance by Takashina-senpai!” Yuki looks like he’s both vibrating with excitement and about to face a terrifying ordeal.

“We actually got up early,” says Mare. “Before eight o’clock.”

Eiko nods.

“That is unusual,” Suzu says.

“You don’t know how lucky you are to be trained by Takashina-senpai all the time.” Mare says. “It’s too bad we have to share him today.”

“Well excuse me!” Suzu says.

“Not with you,” Mare says.

When they get to the studio, the first-years from Onyx are there too.

“Tachibana!” Kasai says when he notices her. Sou shifts awkwardly next to her.

They’ve never been in a studio altogether before and automatically shift to standing in their class but Fumi enters and starts positioning them in lines in front of him.

He stands there faintly smiling and considering them all and Kisa is reminded of the first time she saw him stretching as she arrived for her audition. It was impossible for Fumi to enter a room  and not draw the attention of everyone in it. He was like the sun, producing his own light.

“Why don’t we do a warm up first,” Fumi says. He shows them a new routine which even the Quartz first-years haven’t seen before and they all start to dance. The steps get progressively harder and sometimes Fumi will go around and correct their positions. When he touches Kisa arm, to move it at a slight angle she feels a leap in her chest that frightens her.

Did he notice that? she thinks. But Fumi has already moved on to help Mare who is wearing the most determined expression Kisa has ever seen on him.

When they stop for a quick break, Yuki is wheezing and Mare staggers to the wall. Kasai and Suzu look like they’ve barely started and Fumi, of course, looks serene and cool.

“Alright, let’s try you one by one,” he says and Yuki gives a faint moan.

He shows them a dance that is a style Kisa hasn’t seen before. She stares fascinated. It’s an almost gleeful dance or one that she could imagine a trickster character that Neji-senpai acted would dance. His body seems so light and so full of electricity, they all stand around in awe.

When he stops, Otori and Mare break into spontaneous applause.

“That’s an Al Jeanne!” Yuki says.

Fumi looks amused. “I hope you memorised that,” he says.

They perform the dance for him one by one and he corrects their position if they show difficulty but just lets them dance through to the end without stopping them for minor flaws. Sometimes he will add an extra sequence for those who finish the first dance easily, like the Onyx dancers.

The dance is strenuous enough that Kisa has to exert herself but she also feels that blank feeling of ecstasy that she feels as she gets closer and closer to the gruelling intensity of a stage performance. When she finishes the first dance, Fumi adds on another one for her that nearly pushes her to her limit.

Eiko surprises them by being the one Rhodonite who completes the first dance and then goes on to dance the second one Fumi choreographs for him too.

“Not bad,” Fumi says, appreciatively. His eyes rake over Eiko’s form. “Would you ever consider transferring to Quartz?”

At once, Mare and Yuki jump up from their exhausted sprawl on the floor and throw their arms around Eiko.

“Takashina-senpai, no!” they cry.

Kisa quickly checks Eiko’s face, having recently been the target of a turf war herself, but Eiko’s eyes are curved as if he is grinning beneath his mask. He obviously doesn’t have any doubt that his class would ever let him go.

The glow from her dance is fading too quickly but she doesn’t know why.

Kasai steps up next.

“Kasai,” Fumi says conversationally. “Sugachi tells me you were originally chosen to be a Jeanne.”

Kasai is already standing in position, relaxed and confident. “Mm!” he says brightly. “I worked hard at my dancing and Kaido-senpai started casting me as a Jack.”

“Interesting!” says Fumi. He’s smiling.

When they stop for a break, Kasai is panting hard.

“Woah!” Suzu says. “I’ve never seen Kasai not finish a dance before. Fumi-san is amazing!”

“Of course,” snorts Otori. “Have you been this long and not realised that yet?”

When Kasai straightens up, he’s looking at Fumi with an expression that is strangely similar to Mare’s but with a great deal less adoration. “Takashina-senpai, I will practise more!”

“Alright let’s stop for lunch,” Fumi says. Kisa averts her eyes as she notices the sweat glistening on his face, afraid she can’t control her expression.

They all crowd onto the terrace before they go into the dining room to cool off in the sea breeze. Kisa gets the impression that their classmates from Onyx are just joining them to be polite. Even Suzu has already recovered and is attempting to talk to Yuki who is wilting against the balcony.

“My make-up has completely sweated off,” Mare moans.

Kisa dares to lift her shirt slightly so the breeze will hit her overheated body. Self-conscious she drops the shirt back over the sliver of skin and looks around. Fumi isn’t with them.

They eat quickly in the dining room, feeling awkward about their messy appearance in front of the guests and then tear back to the studio.

Fumi is already waiting for them, standing casually by the speakers and fiddling with something.

“You’re back,” he says as they file in. “We’re going to learn something new this afternoon. How many of you have heard of commedia dell'arte?”

Kisa looks at Sou but he shakes his head. Suzu looks blank.

Mare’s hand shoots up in the air. Yuki looks at him goggle-eyed.

Fumi nods to him and he says swiftly: “A type of theatre from Italian Renaissance where the characters wear masks.”

“It started in the Italian Renaissance as a type of street theatre,” says Fumi. “Since then you’ll have seen its influence in everything from Shakespeare to Charlie Chaplin. But what it is mainly know for is the stock characters. They appear over and over again in different variations and they all have characteristic movements. Today we’ll be using three.”

“Harlequin, Columbine and Pierrot.”

He walks around looking at them, smiling faintly. He points at Suzu: “Harlequin.”

Kasai and Otori also get assigned as Harlequin.

“So Harlequin is a Jack,” Suzu says.

“Everyone else sit to the side,” Fumi says. “These are the specific movements that Harlequin uses when he dances.”

“Why does he looks like a clown,” Kasai asks after they’ve watched a run through.

“Because he is,” says Fumi. “He started off as a quick-witted servant character but you could also portray him as a romantic hero. I’ll show you the base moves and then you’ll interpret him how you like.”

“He usually wears a chequered costume and a mask,” Mare blurts from the floor.

“He’s a trickster,” Fumi agrees and then shows them Harlequin’s moves. Kisa recognises some of them from the dance he showed them this morning.

She can see straight away that Suzu is wonderful at portraying Harlequin as a romantic hero. He’s brimming with confidence as he takes Fumi’s graceful movements and makes them striking and powerful. Otori’s version seems to lean more into Harlequin’s trickster and ambitious nature while Kasai brings a dynamism that illustrates why he is the top dancer of all the first years.

“Very good,” Fumi says. “Now let’s move on to Columbine.” He looks over to the group by the wall.

Yuki makes a noise like a hissing kettle. “We’re going to gets tips for being a Jeanne from Takashina-senpai! I’m dying!”

“You haven’t even started yet,” says Otori sitting down.

Fumi points at the three Rhodonite students. “Ok Jeannes, get up it’s your turn.”

So Fumi wasn’t going to class her as a Jeanne. On the one hand, Kisa feels a relief that she can’t but name to but on the other…

Fumi is shifting his position into the confident steps of Columbine. Mare is watching him like a hawk while Eiko has already started moving.

She wants to be up there too. As one of Fumi’s Jeannes.

She forces herself to listen to Fumi’s explanation of who Columbine is.

“Columbine is also a servant,” says Fumi. “And in many interpretations she’s portrayed as the lover of Harlequin. She’s often the most intelligent person in the story.”

“Of course she is,” Yuki says.

Fumi as Columbine is even more captivating than his Harlequin. Kisa feels like she should stop staring but she can’t. The sun is turning his hair gold. She can see the muscles moving under his skin as he stretches.

Mare throws himself down next to her, making her jump slightly.

“Last but not least,” Fumi says smiling at Kisa and she feels the same lurch in her chest. “Pierrot.”

“Is Pierrot another Jack?” asks Suzu uncertainly as Kisa, Sou, Tanaka and Fuji stand around Fumi.

“Pierrot is the foil to Harlequin,” says Fumi. “The melancholy clown. He often appears pining for Columbine who breaks his heart and leaves him for Harlequin. He’s an archetype of unrequited love. The eternal outsider defined by his longing.”

The bottom drops out of Kisa’s stomach.

“That’s such an interesting role!” Yuki says.

“That’s perfect for Kisa!” Mare says.

Kisa fights herself out of her well of shame. Of course. Fumi picked her for Pierrot because he thinks she can portray a complex role. He doesn’t know anything. This is a compliment.

“Let’s do our best Kisa-chan!” Sou says.

She’s being silly. “Yes!” she says and focuses on Fumi’s moves.

She has never played a role like Pierrot. His movements go from playful and comic to suddenly mournful and anguished. He performs sudden acrobatic moves when he’s upset and makes grand gestures overflowing with naivety. It’s so interesting and she is suddenly glad she was chosen for this role above the other two.

When they’ve finished Pierrot’s moves, Fumi stops them. “That’s it for today,” he says and Kisa belatedly realises how late it is. “You all have phones so have a look at some performances of your characters tonight. I just want you to image the costumes when you dance. But don’t research too much. I want to see your versions tomorrow when we dance.”

Mare waits a full five minutes until they’re well away from the studio and then wails: “I’m disgusting! I’ve never sweated so much in my life!”

“We can’t go in to eat like this,” Kasai says. “Let’s shower first.” He looks at Kisa and says: “I wish I could play opposite your Columbine but your Pierrot was amazing too! You play Jack roles in a very unique way, probably because of your background as a Jeanne.”

“Yonaga has a background as a Jeanne too,” says Mare, pointedly.

Sou says quickly. “It looks like the lifts are free, shall we take this one?”

That night she searches for Pierrot on her phone and actually laughs out loud when she sees that the first images that appear are Pierrot pining for not Columbine but the moon. In some stories Pierrot is rejected by Columbine and serenades the moon. Sometimes the moon is transformed by his desires into a living being to fulfil his love.

The idea of displaying her longing for her brother who has rejected her makes her burn with shame. Much better she focus on Pierrot’s love for Columbine.

She understands why Fumi suggested they look up other performances. So much of Pierrot’s personality is illustrated by his costume. A loose white blouse and pantaloons, large buttons, a large frilly white ruff and sometimes a conical hat. It will be a challenge to portray the sad clown without it but Kisa appreciates Fumi’s intent. Learning to play Pierrot without the costume of Pierrot can only make her interpretation stronger.

The longer she watches Pierrot comically pull his face in grief and the uncomfortable innocence of his longing, she’s touched by a twinge of discomfort. She will enjoy playing Pierrot opposite Eiko or Mare or Yuki but if her Columbine is Fumi….

If she has to turn that raw longing of an abandoned child towards Fumi. Her heart stutters in embarrassment and what feels like fear. She couldn’t do it.

She’s worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet. She watches a video of mischievous, acrobatic Harlequin to relax before she goes to bed.

The next morning she is put in Fumi’s group as Pierrot. Because of the uneven numbers, there is no Harlequin.

“I hope you don’t mind,” says Fumi smiling. “But it was either this or have one person added onto a group. Pierrot’s main interaction is with Columbine so this made sense. We can just practise the dance between Pierrot and Columbine.”

“Kisa, you’re so lucky!” Mare says.

Fumi runs through the whole dance for them and narrates the story.

The high-spirited and mischievous Harlequin falls for the clever, beautiful Columbine. He uses magical feats and acrobatics to capture her attention but she rejects him until he lets her take the lead in their final duet.

Pierrot acts as foil to his flashier, more confident friend Harlequin but his standout role is during the middle of the dance where he confesses his love to Columbine.

Fumi calls them sporadically to the centre to try different parts of the dances out. The first who go are Suzu and Eiko to dance Harlequin and Columbine.

“This is part where Columbine confesses her love to Harlequin,” Fumi says.

Eiko suddenly rushes to the side of the room and rummages in his bag. He runs back and shows a shiny sweet packet to Fumi.

Fumi raises his eyebrows.

“We were watching videos last night,” Yuki pipes up. “Sometimes the actors gave each other paper hearts as part of the play.”

“So you brought love hearts,” Fumi says. “Very enterprising. Alright, give one to Suzu as part of the dance then.”

Eiko bows theatrically to Suzu as Columbine and shyly offers him something plucked from her chest.

Suzu takes it not even as Harlequin and looks at it.

“EMAIL me?” he says. “Torimaki, how old are these??”

“They’re retro! Retro!” Yuki says.

Suzu puts it in his mouth.

“No, don’t eat it!” Mare says. “We didn’t buy enough!”

“Then why did you give it to me then?”

“Ok next group!” Fumi says.

Kasai and Mare almost seem in a ruthless competition rather than courting each other during their own dance. Mare’s Columbine rolls her eyes as Harlequin performs an impressive feat of acrobatics to woo her. She gives him a heart and he takes it.

“Dream on,” he reads.

Sou has better luck as Pierrot and Kisa marvels at how effective he is at hinting at the melancholy longing underneath a comic exterior. He puts a love heart to his mouth and then gives it to Mare.

“Let’s dance! Oh Yonaga, you’re so funny!”

Kasai snorts.

Kisa gets up to dance as Pierrot to Fumi’s Columbine. It’s no way near as terrifying as she expected. They hardly touch. She doesn’t need to tense in the expectation of the warmth of Fumi’s body brushing hers. Columbine isn’t pursuing Pierrot. Pierrot is pursuing Columbine. Pierrot will only show as much as Kisa lets him.

She finishes the dance feeling relieved but vaguely disappointed. She can’t put her finger on why. It isn’t just her mediocre portrayal of Pierrot but something else.

When she sits down and Fumi calls the another pair up, Otori pounces on her.

“Even Yonaga’s Pierrot was better than that,” he says. “You’re performing opposite Takashina-senpai!”

“Hey!” Suzu says. We’ve only started practising!”

They break for lunch and Kisa stews over her burger as the others chatter around her.

“What’s wrong, Kisa-chan?” Sou asks quietly.

She pulls herself to the surface and smiles at him. “Nothing,” she says.

“Are you worried about performing Pierrot?”

She’s been too focused on herself. “I was just thinking but Sou-chan! I didn’t even tell you how good your Pierrot was! I really felt his sadness underneath his act as a clown.”

Sou smiles faintly. “I really like him. He seems closer to me than any role I’ve played before.”

Yes. Kisa can understand this herself. She doesn’t know quite what Sou found in Pierrot but he hadn’t hidden it from himself. She wants to tell him how much she admires him but she is worried at how this will come across.

He’s still looking at her so she puts the remains of her burger to the side and suggests they go onto the terrace before going back to the studio.

“Good idea!” Suzu says. “I love dancing but it feels weird to be inside all day.”

It’s even worse after lunch.

Fumi’s charisma as Columbine seems to grow the longer they practise and in her reaction she quells the feelings inside her and her Pierrot turns increasingly passionless. Fumi will slant his eyes at her in a quick glance or blaze in a moment that reveals what his Columbine could really be like on stage and her hands will shake.

Her whole body isn’t focused on dancing as Pierrot but hiding how overwhelmed she is by Fumi. It’s torture.

Her mind is blank as she dances with a single question arising over and over again. Can he tell what I’m feeling?

Eventually Fumi says: “Why don’t we take a break for a moment, Kisa? I’m going to go around and check how everyone is doing.” He looks as calm and good-natured as ever. If he can tell what her animal brain has been screaming for the past hour, it doesn’t show in any annoyance on his face.

She wanders to the wall to get her water and then she’s just standing there staring at Fumi as he walks around the room. Takashina Sarafumi, Quartz’s Al Jeanne. The shining star of their class.

Like the reel of an old film, her mind is running through the dance. She’s not watching her own performance but Fumi’s as Columbine.

During the practise sessions this morning, why didn’t anyone applaud when they finished dancing?

Not her, but Fumi. They applauded when he had danced Harlequin for them yesterday morning and Harlequin isn’t even a Jeanne. She runs through Fumi’s performance again and the electricity, the feeling of sun sparkling off water, isn’t there. He’s hidden behind the clouds. He was dimming himself so he wouldn’t outshine her mediocre Pierrot.

When Fumi returns she throws herself into Pierrot as much as she can. When Fumi indolently turns half away from her she pulls an exaggerated mournful face to hide her hurt. She throws her arms open like a child and smiles when she makes Columbine laugh.  But the moment she has drop the clownery Pierrot uses to hide the anguish and raw need beneath, she shies away and mimics the Pierrot she watched on her phone last night.

Columbine is unmoved. Fumi is also unmoved.

She hadn’t realised some of the others had gathered around them until she offers Fumi an imaginary heart (Eiko’s stash has already been devoured by all of them) and sinks to the floor.

“Wow! Great work!” Suzu says.

“I’m so happy I get to see Takashina-senpai performing up close!” Mare says.

This isn’t Fumi performing. Not really and it’s Kisa’s fault. Fumi can’t really perform as Columbine because he’s worried he’ll drown her out

She’s not Pierrot. She hasn’t become him. She’s sitting an inch below his skin. Columbine’s rejection isn’t hurting her. The anguish is only surface deep. She’s showing Fumi a tin plate and asking him to pretend it is real silver.

“Have a good night’s sleep,” Fumi says to them. “Tomorrow morning we’ll all perform for each other and then I believe you’re off to Tsukasa for singing practise.”

“I saw him while I was on the balcony at lunch,” Kasai says. “He’s been sunbathing on the beach all day.”

“I knew it!” howls Mare.

After dinner, she goes back up to her room and starts watching a video of another performance of Pierrot but switches it off straight away. She doesn’t need someone to show her who Pierrot is.

She looks at the mirror and makes the innocent, buffoon gesture that Pierrot does to Columbine. Takes a deep breath. She lets the hurt roll over her, the black clenching pit of despair that sits in her stomach. The shame of being rejected by Tsuki. She thinks about telling someone she was so pathetic as a sister that Tsuki didn’t even tell her what was wrong before he left. That she only took care, attention and love from him and hardly gave anything back. She smiles.

Pierrot’s face looks back at her.

Giving in to pure self-indulgence, she imagines the happiness on Fumi’s face when she gives him the freedom to shine as Columbine. Giddy, euphoric, she jumps into the air as Pierrot. Her eyes are glittering strangely, her face childlike and open.

She remembers the ecstasy on Fumi’s face when he performed with Tsuki-ni.

I wish I could be up there too, just like him. If only I could get into Univeil.

I wish I could make Fumi look at me like he looked at Tsuki-ni.

She stops performing and the night rushes in thick and heavy. The heat weighs over her. She’s shaking.

She feels the same electricity the next morning as she does before a performance on stage. Her body is preparing herself for danger and she’s hungry. She eats an extra bowl of rice and doesn’t speak much. Her blood thrums just as it did before she went on stage as Mukai.

The others around her are all laughing and chattering as usual. She feels like she’s outside herself watching on. They’re all going to perform together but why does she feel as if she’s going onstage alone?

“Kisa-chan!” Sou says. “Have you finished? Everyone is going.”

“Sorry, Sou-chan.”

She focuses herself as they walk to the studio and tries to act normally.

Eiko suddenly appears in front of her and she jumps. He’s sporting a tiny black heart on his cheek bone and pink blush.

“We’ve got make up for everyone!” Yuki says

“Actually we’ve just brought our own makeup.”Mare says. “But we’ll make do.”

Eiko carefully draws something on Kisa’s face and even colours it in. Kisa cranes around to the mirror and sees its two large teardrops. She pulls an exaggerated mournful face.

“That’s it!” Yuki says.

“Why haven’t you done us?” Kasai says.

“Honestly, we don’t want to ruin our makeup,” Mare says bluntly. “Hearts and tear drops are one thing but Harlequin has multi-coloured triangles all over his face. This is Dior.”

Fumi is stretching at the side of the room. He’s preparing for Columbine, Kisa realises. Her heart races with anticipation. She’s going to star opposite Fumi just like Tsuki did. As his Jack.

“Alright lets do some warm-up exercises,” he says to them and they all scatter to positions around the room.

Even during warm-up, Kisa is moving as Pierrot. Her body feels weightless as if her mood could crash from the pure child-like happiness she is feeling to despair at any moment. When they stop, she sees Sou looking at her from his position beside her with a look of faint puzzlement on his face. Sou had been the only one who had realised her Mukai had changed from just dancing next to her during the summer performance.

Fumi stands in front of them. “Who goes first?” he asks smiling.

Otori, Yuki and Fuji’s group go first.

“Otori-kun really is good as a Jack.” Sou whispers next to her and Kisa has to agree. His Harlequin is more powerful and domineering than the mischievous character Fumi had shown them yesterday. She looks at Fumi who is cooly assessing them.

“Not bad!” he says when they stop. “Kyoji, an interesting interpretation of Harlequin. Make sure to pay attention to what your co-stars are doing even when it’s your solo.”

Kasai, Mare and Sou go next and Kisa is in awe as always at how dynamic Kasai’s dancing is. His acrobatics as Harlequin cause a couple of watchers to spontaneously break out in applause. Mare’s Columbine looks as unimpressed by this as she had in rehearsals yesterday. Kisa loves Sou’s Pierrot the most, an almost dark irony to his movements as if the innocent buffoon persona is a mask to hide the very adult yearning beneath. It’s very far from her own Pierrot and she is fascinated.

When they stop, Yuki says: “That felt very enemies to lovers, Mare.”

“Don’t say such disgusting things,” Mare says.

Suzu, Eiko and Tanaka go next and Suzu’s Harlequin is the most like a romantic hero of all of them. Kisa is fascinated by how different all of their interpretations have been of the same characters. Eiko’s Columbine is the most elegant yet as his dance skill is incredibly striking.

“Very good!’ Fumi says when they stop and Eiko grins beneath his mask, eyes crinkling into little crescent moons.

Kisa takes a deep breath. She feels a panicky liquid feeling as if she is going to wet herself. She’s going to become Fumi’s Jack. The terror lasts for a few seconds and then the same crystal clear certainty that falls upon her before she goes onstage appears. She stands up and walks over to Fumi who has cocked his head slightly as if he’s been taken off guard.

Kisa gets into position and becomes Pierrot.

Harlequin with his flashy costume that glitters under the lamplight has gone and it is just Columbine reading beneath the moon. Her sleeves are rolled to her elbows as she easily masters a traditionally male pursuit. She throws the book aside and reaches for another.

This is Pierrot’s first and only moment alone with Columbine and he hides the upwelling of emotion by jumping clown-like into view. He isn’t Harlequin. When Columbine looks up, he doesn’t demand her attention, but tries to make her laugh with his dramatic child-like gestures.

She is laughing. Happiness fills him, his whole body. He’s giddy and then he slows down and does something he knows he will regret for the rest of his life. He shows her his heart and she turns from him. It shatters but he’s still smiling.

Columbine looks almost angry. Why are you making me feel like this? She seems to be saying. She’s burning brighter than the sun. Her anger is beautiful.

When they stop, it takes a moment for Kisa to come back to herself. She’s looking at Fumi and realises that the expression on his face is one she doesn’t recognise.

It doesn’t look like happiness. Irritation, frustration, excitement but not happiness. He’s like a live wire next to her, as if something inside him is about to ignite. She’s shaking. What on earth did he see on her face?

People around them are applauding but it’s coming from far away.

“Pierrot is so romantic!” Mare howls. “When he smiled in that heartbroken way, you could just see how much Columbine meant to him. If he played opposite me I’d die! I’d look so beautiful!”

Kasai says: “I prefer Tachibana as a Jeanne but I have to admit I couldn’t match Takashina-senpai as a Jack like this.”

“Of course you couldn’t!” Otori says. “That’s Takashina Sarafumi! Why did you even imagine you could??”

Fumi straightens up and she sees him physically reign himself in. She’s overcome with horror and slowly walks away back to her seat on the floor.

“Kisa-chan you were amazing!” Sou says.

“Thank you,” she says hollowly.

The class comes to an end and Mare and Eiko pass around face wipes for them to scrub off the makeup.

As they all file out, Fumi calls mildly: “Kisa, you’ve still got makeup on your face. Come over here and I’ll help you take it off.”

He’s holding a makeup wipe and smiling at her as if she hadn’t seen that violent upsurge of emotion in him earlier. She obediently stands still as he dabs at her face.

“You’re pretty quiet,” he says.

“I’m sorry,” she says helplessly.

He finishes wiping her face, puts the tissue in the bin and then stands there as if assessing her. “Why don’t we have another dance?” he says. “As Pierrot and Columbine.”

It feels more lighthearted this time as they dance in the empty sunlit room. It takes her a while to understand what the difference is and then Fumi touches her arm instead of turning away and she realises that this Columbine isn’t rejecting Pierrot.

There is a masculine edge to the way Fumi is dancing now as if he isn’t completely Columbine at all. He’s almost dancing as himself. Her Pierrot starts to slip away from her like smoke until she is dancing as Kisa. The sunlight is gleaming on Fumi’s brassy hair and a warmth is filling her chest.

This is Quartz’s Al Jeanne. This is Takashina Sarafumi. She can’t help it. She blurts out: “Fumi-san. You’re so beautiful!”

Fumi huffs a small laugh but doesn’t break the dance.

When the moment comes for Pierrot to show Columbine his heart, Fumi reaches aside instead and with a flourish shows Kisa a powdery pink heart. He puts it straight in her mouth.

“Mmmf!” Kisa says. The sugar rush and the feel of Fumi’s fingers brushing her mouth, making her falter in the steps.

They stop and Fumi is laughing. “I wanted to do that for the past two days,” he says.

Kisa cracks the sour sweet in her mouth and swallows it, wiping her mouth. Fumi’s eyes are warm.

“Fumi-san,” she says. This seems like a plaintive question of a child but she plunges on. “Did…I help you at all? Did my Pierrot make you happy?”

Fumi chokes as if he’s suppressing another laugh. “It made me furious,” he says. He’s still smiling. “It felt like the first time I arrived at Univeil and Tsuki-san showed me up in my first dance class.”

This is so unexpected that Kisa doesn’t know what to say but Fumi hasn’t finished.

“I was worried about you today.” He hesitates. “It felt…almost like you were about to disappear. In a puff of smoke.” He’s still smiling but the crease around his eyes tightens. He opens his mouth to say something else but seems to think better and shuts it.

“I’m ok,” Kisa says and in that moment she’s telling the truth.

“Good,” Fumi says. He’s pensive. “I wish I had reached out when I saw this happening before. But I didn’t and now it’s too late.”

She doesn’t know what he means by this but he’s turned towards her, mischievous and kind again.

“Remember, Quartz needs you my little successor. So don’t go running off anywhere.”

“Quartz…needs me?” Kisa asks. His successor? Does this mean Fumi wants her to be the next Al Jeanne?

“That’s a good expression,” Fumi says. “Come and eat lunch with me. I’ve been so busy for the past three days but now I can do what Tsukasa has been doing and lie around on the beach.”

They step out of the studio, through the hall and into the sunshine. Kisa feels it burn away the dark cobwebs that have collected in her heart. The sweetness Fumi left in her mouth hasn’t yet melted away.