Scanning the first few pages under the lemon chiffon light of the centre stage, the gunslinger found her crimson eyes widening. She knew this couldn’t be happening, yet it was; at this moment she felt her mouth go dry. Sensing a familiar pair of black onyx eyes on her, Jo forced her head up slowly. Gulping down whatever she thought she had in her mouth, the gunslinger forced out a weak smile. Receiving a warm motherly smile from her manager, Sei, the gunslinger had her hands grasping tightly onto the sheets of paper, near the point of tearing it; she wasn’t to be receiving a smile back. Forcing out a deathly grin to her manager seated at the back row of the theatre, Jo trembled, wishing that the warm motherly smile would give in to her very visible plea. Seeing the solid black onyx eyes narrow at her now unsettled crimson, Jo knew her manager wasn’t going to go easy.

“Is there anything wrong with the script Jo?”

Noticing the crew girls pop their heads out from their posts to see the sudden conversation, the gunslinger bit her lip – this was to be private! Drawing in a deep breath, Jo literally crushed the pages within her tight grasp. She didn’t like this but she had to, she had to get out of this before a disaster struck. Pleading her manager metres away, the gunslinger quickly raised her voice to respond to the Chinese lady; little did she take notice to the red-head’s return.

“No.”

Sei watched the gunslinger on the stage, all tense and agitated at her warm motherly…now mocking smile. The Chinese lady knew…too well. Shifting slightly in the soft red cushioned chair to suit her comfort, Sei continued,

“Then may I know what might be bothering you?”

The gunslinger twitched. She could hear the soft whispers of uneasiness from the crew. Jo held her deathly grin on, this wasn’t a fight…it was just a simply question and answer session between them both…nothing seriously wrong was going to happen. Ignoring the presence of the crew, Jo fumbled slightly with the sheets in her hands,

“Yes.”

It was short, sweet and simply, Jo didn’t want the crew to find out what was bothering her, it was a private matter and she really needed the privacy; now. However, the gunslinger realised her manager wasn’t just going to end her conversation with a simple ‘Yes’ as an answer and later find out what was wrong. She wanted to know now despite the privacy given. Chewing onto her bottom lip, Jo took in her last deep breath, hoping that her voice wouldn’t come out as shaky she would expect from this situation,

“I don’t want the leading role.”

There it went again… The whole theatre went hysterical…literally. The crew girls jumped out from their positions behind the curtains, rushing over to where the gunslinger stood in the centre, questions of why poured continuously. Fixing her crimson eyes onto the black onyx, Jo knew that her manager perfectly understood why the leading role was bothering her. Yet she realised, her manager wanted the crew to know as well. The gunslinger grunted at the thought, she fell foolishly into a plan well devise by her manager – such interrogation wasn’t stated in my contact. Nevertheless, she couldn’t control her emotions at the sight of the first few pages of the script. Breaking the commotion on stage with her motherly yet stern voice, Jo heard the Chinese lady continue her digging,

“And why would that be?”

Brushing her white bangs away from her face, Jo brought back her stoic demeanour in an instant once the question sounded. She only wanted the Chinese lady to be informed, no one else was to hear or know her reason and that was final. Nothing was going to sway her from that decision. Instead of pleading, her crimson eyes glared back; burning,

“Something you are very familiar with.”

---

Hearing the boots click loudly on wooden floor of her dressing room, Meg definitely knew what she would see when the gunslinger would storm up to her. Tucking her flaming-red strands of hair behind her ear, her sapphire-blue eyes landed softly on the crimson that burned with intensity so high that it could literally set things aflame. As the gunslinger swiftly approached her once closing the door, she noticed the crushed sheets within the silver-white’s hand. Coming to an abrupt stop in front of her, the red-head could feel the warm raggered breath beating against her face, causing her cheeks to tint pink. Tilting her head up to eye the gunslinger, little did she notice her body near the latter. Trembling slightly, Meg ran her hands up the strong arms that slowly reached out to pull her closer. Having the distance between their bodies reduced in a split second, the red-head shivered as she found the gunslinger nuzzling into her flaming-red. Feeling the small caress at the base of her back, Meg arched involuntarily. This was weird, something’s strange, grasping tight onto the white cotton shirt the gunslinger wore, Meg flinch slightly as the gunslinger tightened her hold. This wasn’t the usual, the gunslinger rarely showed her emotions to her, especially when the crew was still in the theatre’s presence. Her stoic demeanour was still underway, yet the affections the gunslinger was displaying were the opposite. Shutting her sapphire-blue eyes, the red-head shook the thought away – It’s just her mood. However, she sensed the gunslinger reluctantly pull back from their embrace, forcing a soft groan of discontent from the red-head. Having her chin cupped by the gunslinger’s free hand, she saw the crimson waver continuously. Before she could part her lips to question, she felt the most indescribable feeling in her life flutter throughout her body. Knowing that her face was only an inch away from the gunslinger’s, she never would have guessed that such an act would be pulled on her. Widening her eyes, she felt the soft lips press against hers; she could hear her own heart beating wildly. It was her first lip lock, however she never knew that the gunslinger would be the one to steal it without her permission, nonetheless, she knew she wouldn’t mind it either…They both knew they were waiting for this moment to come, yet Meg didn’t know that it would this day. Grasping tighter on the soft white cotton shirt, Meg pulled the gunslinger closer, hoping that her first kiss would be more passionate. Sadly, the red-head felt the gunslinger resist her pull, letting only her lips stay at where they were – something is wrong… Reluctantly pulling her lips out of the chaste kiss, the red-head now found the crimson blank, brimming with no emotion, and lips pressed into a thin line. Dropping her jaw slightly, Meg raised her eye brows in question, hands still holding its tight grip. Jumping into bizarre conclusions were the red-head’s famous acts, however, Meg knew right now that jumping into a conclusion wasn’t going to bring any laughter. Stroking the gunslinger’s arm, she noticed the sweet taste that still lingered on her lips – That was something pleasant, but whatever I’m seeing isn’t. Nuzzling into the gunslinger’s chest, she heard the slow rhythm of the gunslinger’s heart; it was barely even near the matching pace of the red-head’s. Puzzled by the beating, the red-head furrowed her brows together – Wasn’t she that ignited the spark? Unexpectedly, the red-head found the strong arms of the gunslinger move forward to wound round her waist, gently lifting her up above the ground, her sapphire-eyes now staring straight, at the same level of the empty crimson. Yelping softly at the sudden movement, she found the next action stranger than before. Having her feet off the ground, Meg felt she was flying, literally. Further more she felt the sense of security bound around her. With her body know firmly pressed against the gunslinger, she could feel the warm breaths exhaled out from the silver-white tickle her neck. Allowing the gunslinger to rest her head against her heaving chest, her ears strained to pick up the almost inaudibly word that immediately sent the red-head into a state off total confusion.

“Congratulations.”

Wanting to question the gunslinger further, the silence created soon after stopped Meg at her tracks. Returning the embrace the strong arms were giving, the red-head willingly placed her arms lovingly around the gunslinger’s neck, easing the tension that the gunslinger somehow built in those moments of affection. She never had the gunslinger congratulating her, in addition, she never had the gunslinger give her kiss out of no reason, a hug that literally sent her flying and a silence she someway didn’t know how to break. Feeling the arms around her tremble slightly, the red-head might have guessed that the gunslinger was getting tired just holding her up in the air, still. Soon she felt her feet touch ground and her legs bend slowly to straddle the gunslinger that she now sat on top of. Playing with the silver-white strands, Meg heard the gunslinger sigh quietly, meanwhile tightening her hold around her small waist. Hearing footstep sound outside her dressing room, Meg locked her sapphire-blue onto the door, hoping that the crew wouldn’t intrude on their private moment. Luckily all she heard was the voice of her co-worker call out to her, muffled slightly by the thick wooden door,

“Meg, are you in there?”

Shifting slightly on the gunslinger’s lap, Meg felt herself constricted by the strong arms, neither letting her move nor talk. However, brushing against the top of the nuzzling silver-white, the red-head managed to answer. With that, she heard the muffled voice continue behind the door,

“Sei wants to see you now.”

Just after hearing the manager’s name, Meg was sure she felt the gunslinger flinch and the strong arms around her tighten even more. Wanting to answer her co-worker, she was swiftly cut off by a low plea that the gunslinger made sure that only the red-head could hear. Turning rosy-pink at her plea, Meg gulped back down whatever she had wanted to say. Feeling the hold on her tighten even more, Meg flushed slightly. Cuddling back, Meg could still sense her co-worker waiting at the other end for her response. Contemplating, on whether to leave or stay, Meg finally had her mind set on one Brushing against the gunslinger’s face, the red-head called out,

“Can you tell her I’ll be a little delayed?”

---

“Christine…Christine.”

“Little Lotte always said…”

Pulling herself out her musings, Meg averted her sapphire-blue eyes to the centre of the stage, landing softly onto her co-worker which walked promptly towards her as the red coat which hung from her shoulders flowed freely down to the ground. Picking her head up, Meg knew…Look at her; look at her, with those eyes that hold love, like those which were reserved only for… Dropping her jaw slightly, Meg focused on projecting her voice with excitement and joy, however, no matter how many she rehearsed it, it just didn’t seem right; and little did she know that her manager knew that too. Forcing a smile out, Meg prayed silently as the lines she memorised spilled out, wishing that words would sound better than before. However, her lines were swiftly cut off like a knife as her manager sounded from the back of the theatre.

“That’s enough for a day… can someone call Jo out, please?”

Meg’s sapphire-blue eyes widened as she registered the words of her manager; after a long day’s rehearsal, did her manager finally acknowledge her wish? Hearing the breaths of content from her co-workers, Meg watched as the crew slowly picked up the props from the stage, among them strode forward the gunslinger, her stoic demeanour revealing her existence of no emotions. Crossing the stage and landing softly to the ground from the drop, the red-head watched silently as the gunslinger hastily walked towards Sei. With a quick motion, the gunslinger led her manager out of the theatre. During those few seconds, words weren’t exchanged like usual, smiles and grins weren’t shown… Meg frowned as she turned away – I never wanted this to happen.

---

I'm a terrible writer am I? Well, I am truly very sorry to all my reader for the terribly long delay of the updating of my current stories. My body isn't really working well with me...So, I'll try to update whenever I can. Thank you all for you support: - J-Crusader