Que Sera Seramyu

by Haruka

Please refer to disclaimer and notes in part 1.

Part 3 - Stall Tactics 


     "Is _this_ right?"
     "Not quite," Ryuji told Yuhka.  "You'll be off by half a beat if you don't pivot your foot at
this point ...."
     Yuhka nodded and followed Ryuji's instruction, but inside she was wondering where the
heck Nao was.  It had already been too long with no sign of her, and Yuhka didn't think she could
stall Ryuji indefinitely without him thinking she was a total idiot.

     This girl must be a total idiot, Ryuji thought sadly.  Such a pretty little thing, too   what a
waste.  He really thought he'd seen her perform these steps flawlessly on an earlier rehearsal
day, but now she seemed to have forgotten everything.
     "Hello, you two," greeted Rei as she and Tae came down the aisle toward the stage. 
"What are you up to?"
     "Ryuji is giving me some extra help with the steps."  Yuhka flashed a grateful smile at
Ryuji, who saw Rei and Tae exchange puzzled looks.
     "Well ...," Tae said slowly, "um, that's ...."
     "Nice," Rei finished.  "Very nice of you, Ryuji."
     "Not at all, glad to be of help," Ryuji said, but couldn't help thinking he hadn't been any
help at all since Yuhka still didn't seem to-
     But she was, he realized in amazement, staring at Yuhka's feet.  She was performing the
steps!
     "Hey, what do you know?" She laughed.  "I think I've got it!  Thank you, Ryuji, for all
your help."
     "No problem," he said in relief.  "I guess I'll go now and-"
     "No!" Yuhka grabbed his arm.  "You can't go yet!  I mean, at least let me buy you some
coffee as thanks."
     "That's not necessary-"
     Yuhka's full lower lip quivered.  "You wouldn't want to hurt my feelings, would you?"
     "No, of course not," Ryuji sighed and smiled wanly.  He looked hopefully at Rei and
Tae.  "Would you join us?"
     "Oh, we couldn't," Tae grinned mischievously.
     "But thank you, anyway," Rei added.
     Ryuji's face fell and Yuhka began dragging him away.
     "What do _you_ think?" Rei murmured to Tae.
     "Isn't it obvious?" Tae chuckled.  "Yuhka has a crush on Ryuji!"


     "Exactly _what_ are we doing here, Momoko?"
     Momoko frowned at the delivery cart in the middle of Ryuji's room.  "Where did that
come from?" she muttered, then looked toward Sayuri.  "We're going to take Ryuji's script, of
course.  I think Nao was right and he doesn't know half his lines yet."
     "It was Nao's argument with him - why not let her handle it?"
     "She talks a good game, but doesn't have the imagination to think of this," Momoko
replied, then smirked at her.  "Are you afraid?"
     "_No_," Sayuri snapped.  "I just don't want to have to explain to Ryuji what we're doing
here if he shows up, that's all."
     "Funny," Momoko said thoughtfully, looking around, "it almost looks like someone
already searched this place."
     "Either that or Ryuji's a slob."  Sayuri carefully stepped over the suitcase that had been
dragged out from under the bed.
     "Well, that's not impossible.  He's a man, after all."
     "Speaking of men, I'm surprised you didn't bring Hikari in on this.  She would have
loved it."
     "I couldn't find her.  Come on, let's get searching!"


     "Can you _believe_ her?!" Nao hissed in the darkness of the closet.  "No imagination my
foot!  I thought of it _first_, you arrogant little-"
     "Quiet or they'll hear you," Hikari warned, then grumbled.  "Why would Sayuri say
'speaking of men' just before mentioning _me_?"
     "I vote we burst out of here and give them twin coronaries, and if that doesn't work, we
beat them up," Nao said decisively.
     "Ssh!" Hikari covered Nao's mouth.  "Something's wrong, they've stopped looking!"


     Momoko and Sayuri had frozen in place upon hearing someone at the door.  They paled.
     "Quick, the bathroom!"  They scrambled to get inside it, nearly wedging together in the
doorway before popping free and tumbling in.  Momoko kicked the door shut just before the
door to the hotel room opened.


End of part 3

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