Manga Version of Beyond the Sea by Oras Clover can be found here:
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I do not own anything here.

Somewhere beyond the sea
Somewhere waitin' for me.
My lover stands on golden sands
And watches the ships that go sailin'.

Beyond the Sea

By Allquall

Chapter One: Morning in Miator

Nagisa awoke as the morning sunlight landed on her closed eyelid. She opened her eye to see a slight opening in the dark blue curtains. For a moment, she laid in the bed a bit confused. She was looking at the window from the left hand side of the room. Also, there was a naked arm wrapped around her uncovered waist. Then, order returned to her mind as she remembered where she was, and her body lightly shook with happiness.

She lay in the comfort of her lover’s arms for a few more minutes before she dared to look at the clock. The clock face read 6:45am. Technically, she had fifteen more minutes to sleep, but she knew that if she didn’t leave now, she would have to endure the giggles and stares from the other girls in the hallway. Yes, they all knew about Nagisa’s frequent visits to the famous former Etoile’s room, but that didn’t mean that they were entitled to see her in the morning with last night’s hair and clothes.

She slowly slid beneath Shizuma’s arm, trying her best not to wake the platinum-hair beauty. Shizuma lightly snored as her arms caressed Nagisa’s pillow instead of her. She sat on the edge of the bed and gazed at her sleeping girlfriend. Nagisa loved it when Shizuma put her hair down, and she really loved it when it lay in stark contrast to her light colored skin. Nagisa stood up and unwittingly shook the bed somewhat. Shizuma's face scrunched up as she rubbed her eyes.

“Why are you up so early? We have a good hour to sleep,” she whined in a yawn.

“Correction: you have a good hour to sleep. I have breakfast in a half-hour, confession at 7:45, and class at eight.”

She tried to turn coolly toward the dresser but tripped and fell in a heap onto the floor.

“HAHAHAHA!!” Shizuma laughed greatly at Nagisa as she held her naked torso, “Need a little help?”

“Humph!” Nagisa pouted as she picked up the culprits that had tripped her.

Two piles of Miator school uniforms were the guilty parties complete with stockings, shoes, and undergarments. Shizuma still laughed as she watched Nagisa try to put on her Miator uniform in order to walk back to her room.

“Aww, don’t get mad, sweetie,” she said while trying not to laugh, “Come back to bed! I’ll make you breakfast.”

Nagisa fussed with the corset strings.

“No thanks, I have to meet up with my study group for my chemistry project at breakfast.”

“Just tell them you’re with me,” Shizuma stated arrogantly.

“Dammit, Shizuma-sama! You broke my corset strings last night!”

“How many times must I tell you to drop the –sama? I love you, and despite the age difference, I still see you as my equal. My very intimate equal. If you would just come in without clothes, like I suggested, you wouldn’t have this problem.” Shizuma added seductively.

Nagisa felt herself falling in line with Shizuma’s logic as she lost herself in those deep eyes, but she glanced at the clock again and yelped.

“Aagh! What am I going to wear?”

Shizuma laughed at her again, “If you are that determined to leave me, grab my pair of sweats.”

Nagisa looked at her in confusion till Shizuma pointed to her dresser, “Second drawer from the left on the bottom row."

Shizuma listened to the low rumble of the drawer sliding open as she stretched and yawned. Nagisa began to throw on the former Etolie’s old tracksuit.

“Can’t you just go to afternoon confession?” asked Shizuma, determined to get another half-hour of “Naptime with Nagisa.”

“I’d rather not,” said Nagisa as she tied the drawstrings, “Father Sergio has morning duty today.”

Father Sergio was one on the few men on the campus. The three schools on Astrea Hill shared priests, which meant those who were experiencing “worldly” pleasures watched the schedule of whom had confession duty. Father Sergio was a kind man, but he barely knew a few phrases in Japanese. In fact, he only knew the Japanese phrase for “five Hail Mary’s” and even then he carried the unmistakable heavy Italian accent. Thus, going to a Fr. Sergio confession was akin to going to the sin dollar store; everything was five Hail Mary’s.

“Shit!” gasped Shizuma, “If Sergio has morning then…”

Nagisa nodded, “Yep, Father Thomas has afternoon today.”

“I’m skipping,” sighed the defeated Shizuma.

She sometimes joked that she had calluses on her hands from the amount of rosaries ordered by Fr. Thomas. Nagisa picked up her clothes and headed for the door.

“What? No kiss?” pouted Shizuma.

“Later, I have dragon breath this morning.”

Nagisa absent-mindedly covered her mouth with her free hand.

“I’ll be the judge of that!” Shizuma bounded out of bed and assaulted Nagisa’s lips with her own.

“Ugh!” gagged Nagisa, wiping her mouth, “Yours is way worse.”

She shut the door and entered the thankfully empty hallway while Shizuma continued to laugh behind the closed door. Her heart was racing against the walls of her chest. Shizuma seemed to be so comfortable with her, but why couldn’t she relax around Shizuma? She knew that Shizuma loved her, but Nagisa still felt deep down that she was temporary. It bugged her, because her head screamed one thing, but her heart argued another. She experienced war within.

She quickly walked to her own room and opened the door to see her roommate, Tamao, fully dressed and working on her schoolwork.

“Good morning, Nagisa!” Tamao grinned cheerfully.

“Morning,” replied Nagisa as she grabbed a clean set of clothes, a towel, and her shower caddy.

She stuck her toothbrush in her mouth and rushed to the crowding community bathroom on the third floor. Tamao stared at the closed door for a moment as a sudden pain gripped her heart. Though rejected, she still longed for Nagisa’s love. Her only hope came as she glanced at the large kitten-themed calendar on the wall. May 13 would be here soon, and Tamao knew that that day would mark the end of Shizuma and Nagisa’s relationship. She just had to be patient and let Nagisa enjoy her time. Tamao’s thoughts drifted to what Nagisa might be learning with Shizuma that she could teach to her when they would be together. She blushed darkly and smiled as she looked forward to the former Etoile’s graduation.

Nagisa felt refreshed as she tied her hair back. She walked back into her room carrying her dirty clothes and shower caddy. Tamao had already left for breakfast by the time she opened the door. Alone in her room, Nagisa closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the tracksuit. Her mind’s eye flashed with Shizuma’s image, and she remembered the gentle touch of her lover’s skin.

The clock reading 7:14 broke her moment of reflection. She raced down the hallway and stairs and sneaked into the Meal Hall during Morning Prayer. Miyuki said “Amen,” and the Miator ladies sat down to consume their breakfast. Once again, Miyuki shouldered the responsibility of Morning Prayer when a certain sixth year failed to arrive at breakfast.

Miyuki’s dark eyes narrowed at Nagisa who was a few tables down next to Chiyo and Tamao. Nagisa felt the president’s eyes burning a hole into her and hesitantly met her stare.

“Where’s Shizuma?” Miyuki mouthed to Nagisa.

Nagisa shrugged but a bright blush appeared on her face. She was terrible at lying especially to Miyuki. She could distinctly read Miyuki’s lips since the Miator president enunciated them very clearly.

“I’m going to kill her.”

Nagisa laughed, and the girls at her table turned to see the source of humor. They turned to Miyuki and saw her lightly navigate through the soggy breakfast.

“She looks mad today,” said a third year.

“Well, Shizuma-sama is missing again,” commented another third year sitting beside her.

“Can’t someone just call her? Hell, I’ll do it. What’s her number?” the first girl said pulling out her bright pink cell phone.

“Won’t work,” sighed Nagisa.

The table turned to hear Nagisa. While their relationship was not a secret, Shizuma and Nagisa kept their physical interaction private. The Miator students respected their privacy for the most part, but that didn’t stop Shizuma from the rare but shameless flirting with Nagisa in an empty hallway. Hence, anytime Nagisa displayed any information about her personal knowledge of Shizuma, the entire table listened with baited breath.

“She hates cell phones,” continued Nagisa, “She refuses to own one on principle. She especially hates hearing obnoxious ring tones or vibrations in class.”

The third year looked disappointed and put her phone away.

“But you have one right, Nagisa?”

A sly smile spread across Nagisa’s face.

“Of course, I do. I just have it on ‘silent’ all the time.”

She held up her little purple phone.

“Does that say what I think it says?” asked a second year as she studied Nagisa’s cell phone charm that was dangling from the end of the phone.

Laughter and coos broke out on that side of the table as the phone was snatched away from Nagisa’s hands.

“S loves N” the tiny pendant declared.

“Did she get this for you?” teased another girl.

More questions and teasing came at Nagisa, whose only answer was a crimson blush and to stare at her food. If she would had looked to her right at that moment, she would have seen Tamao carving “May 13” into her eggs.

Morning classes sped along and soon the Miator women met again in the Meal Hall for lunch.

“Mail!” called one the nuns sweetly.

The sister placed a fat envelope in front of Nagisa who tore it open at first glance. The stationary oozed of class, and the handwriting was steady and artistic.

“How’s your mom?” asked Tamao.

Nagisa’s eyes scanned the page as she flipped the sheet over to read page two.

“She’s well. She says that she and dad are considering a long-term job in Paris. A bank there is in a bit of trouble, and it will take some time to fix.”

“That would be fun. You could visit them now that you know the language.”

“We both know that I suck at French,” said Nagisa with her eyes still scanning the letter from her mother. “The only reason I’m passing at all is because Shizuma-sama checks my homework.”

“No oral practice? I’m sure you’ve mastered her French tongue by now.”

Nagisa froze and slowly pulled down the letter to face her friend and roommate with a horrified gaze as the rest of the table stopped what they were doing to watch the scene play out. A spoon clattered on the table as a couple dozen dish-sized eyes stared at them. Tamao, for her part, panicked. That statement did not come out as a playful double entendre. It came out as bitter, vicious, and demeaning. She was speechless, but wondered if any apology could make up for the tone of her statement.

Nagisa’s eyes danced with tears, but, instead of crying, she clamped her jaw shut and stood up. She picked her mother’s letter and stormed out of the Meal Hall. All eyes shifted to Tamao, who looked tearfully at her food. Hasty whispers broke out across the tables as the Miator students nervously glanced at the two empty chairs at the sixth year table.

The room went silent again as two tall, graceful sixth years entered the Meal Hall. One had short black hair, and the other had an abundance of silver hair tied high on her head. The two high ranking Miator seniors instantly knew something was amiss as all eyes fell on them, but both knew how to diffuse the situation since this was not the first time something went wrong in the Meal Hall. They simply engaged each other in a loud conversation about Shizuma’s adventures in the library during her second year.

The library story was Miyuki and Shizuma’s secret weapon. No one in the student body knew the entire story except Miyuki, Shizuma, and, most recently, Nagisa, but they did know that it involved Sister Mary Margaret (the large, mean math teacher), Shizuma, a dart gun, and a large collection of tampons. Shizuma and Sister Mary Margaret never got along well, and the sister made it a point to harass Shizuma every waking moment, but after a secret afternoon adventure in the library Sister Mary Margaret never messed with Shizuma again.

“She was never the same after that,” laughed Miyuki as Shizuma played along.

“She jumped three feet in the air when she saw a rat’s tail a month later,” Shizuma laughed heartily.

“Who cleaned the red paint from the ceiling?” asked Miyuki as they sat at their table and began to eat.

Whispers once again broke out in the Meal Hall, but the nervous tension had been replaced by giggles. Shizuma versus Sister Mary Margaret took over as the table topic of choice. Shizuma kept an indifferent face as she calmly scanned the table where most of the fourth years sat. There were two conspicuous empty seats at the end, and Shizuma did not have to guess who was the reason for the awkward tension as Miyuki and she walked in. The only question she needed answered was “how did it happen?"

As the peaceful atmosphere once again ruled the Meal Hall, Shizuma leaned over to the girl on her left with a serious and intense look on her face.

“Spill it,” she ordered in a hushed voice.

The girl, another sixth year, obliged with a slight smile on her face as she cupped her mouth over Shizuma’s ear and whispered eagerly. Shizuma had to fight against her emotions to keep her rage at bay as the girl told her of the earlier scene.

“Thank you,” she said stately trying to wear a mask of indifference.

The afternoon bell marked the end of lunch and start of class, and the Meal Hall erupted with the sounds of scooting chairs, voices, rustling papers, and mindless chatter. Shizuma and Miyuki gracefully walked to their classes, and Miyuki could read Shizuma like a book.

“So I take it you heard,” she said in a low voice.

“Have you seen Nagisa?”

“Not yet, but I'll keep an eye out for you. By the way, I need you to finish your Etoile Reflection paper for the graduation program.”

Shizuma shook her head in confusion, “huh?”

“Shizuma! I told you about this a month ago. I need your reflection essay, so we can send the program to the printer.”

“Oh, I’m almost done with it,” Shizuma lied.

She hadn’t even thought about it, and Miyuki knew it.

“That's BS, but whatever. I’m coming over tonight to pick it up.”

Shizuma rolled her eyes.

“Work, work, work…” whined Shizuma.

She passed by Nagisa’s class and saw that Nagisa was not there. Shizuma gritted her teeth at the sight of Tamao’s back. However, the warning bell alerted her that she had one minute to get to her French Lit class.

Tamao nervously looked at the empty desk by the window as the students were dismissed for the day. She took Nagisa’s make-up work and put it in her binder. She decided that that would be how she should start a conversation that would end with her heartfelt apology. She knew she had humiliated Nagisa at the table, but she really did not mean too. The words just slipped out. She held her briefcase in front of her as she was lost in thought about how to regain her estranged roommate’s affections.

As she exited the classroom, she did not see the tall figure leaning against frame of the doorway.

“Suzumi-san.”

Tamao turned instinctively at the sound of her name.

The sound of a hard slap across the face rang out through the hallway.

Tamao held her cheek and held back the tears as she glared into the angry face of the former Etoile.

“Do not ever put Nagisa through that again. She is a part of myself. An attack on her is the same as an attack on me,” Shizuma stated in a clear but low voice.

She turned abruptly and marched toward the dormitory and away from the shamed Tamao, who was slouched in the middle of the hallway. The blue-haired girl wanted to defend herself, but who could stand against the popular and beautiful Hanazono Shizuma. She frowned in anger, but a small hand touched her shoulder. Yaya, in her Spica uniform, picked up Tamao's bag from the floor of the hallway and shook her head.

“I hate to say this, but you kinda deserved that,” said Yaya sympathetically.

Tamao almost growled at her friend.

“Oh, c’mon. The whole dormitory is abuzz with how much of a dick you were to Nagisa this morning.”

That was all Tamao could take, and she started to sob. Yaya embraced her and allowed her to cry on her shoulder.

“It’s alright. I know how it is, and how anger can build up and spill out without a moment’s warning.”

“But we all know how you got over Hikari!” exclaimed in Tamao without masking her frustration.

Yaya laughed nervously, and Tamao turned her head to see the jealous glare of Tsubomi.

Shizuma paced her room. Rather than make her feel better, slapping Tamao made her even angrier. She saw in the young girl’s eyes a rivalry, and she realized that Tamao had not given up on Nagisa.

A soft knock at the door interrupted her rage.

She flung open the door.

“Nagi…” she started, but instead of her beloved, she stared into the impatient face of the Miator president.

“Essay?” she asked sweetly.

“Err…no.”

“I’ll be back.”

Shizuma went back to her frustration. She had scoured the entire campus looking for Nagisa, but she was nowhere to be found.

If only she had ventured to Lulim’s campus, she would have found Nagisa talking the situation out with Chikaru. The red-ribboned president listened as Nagisa talked over the situation. Nagisa didn’t want anyone to fix her problem; she just wanted someone to listen to her. It was late by the time Nagisa said everything she had to say, but Chikaru did the best thing for her. She just embraced her and wished her good night. Nagisa was so glad to have her as a friend.

She walked back to her dormitory room and sighed as she wondered how Tamao would react. Based on her previous experience with her roommate, she could almost guarantee that Tamao would either be sleeping in Chiyo’s room tonight or Nagisa should prepare herself for a tearful apology.

She did not expect an angry, frustrated Tamao. She opened the door and saw Tamao working on her schoolwork. The blue-haired girl did not even acknowledge Nagisa’s presence. Nagisa silently changed into her flannel pajamas. The weather was chilly but winter had not yet fully set. She placed her slippers on her feet and sat on the edge of her bed. She looked at the back of her roommate who was still concentrating on her schoolwork.

“Tamao-chan…”

“I put your make-up work on your desk,” growled Tamao.

“Thank you…”

Nagisa looked at Tamao’s desk and at the little mirror that reflected the angry face of her roommate.

“Tamao! Your face! What happened?”

Nagisa pulled Tamao around to see the raised hand-shaped patch of red on her cheek. Tamao pushed her away.

“This?” yelled Tamao as she pointed to her still stinging cheek. “This is what I get because you can’t take a joke.”

Her anger and frustration broke through her emotional dam, and all those raw emotions came pouring out. She just wanted to hurt something as much as she herself hurt.

“If you do something silly, everyone laughs and smiles, but heaven-forbid that I have the same luxury. ‘You sure were a dick to Nagisa, Tamao!’ ‘I can’t believe you would say such a thing to sweet Nagisa, Tamao.’ And to cap it off, I get humiliated in front of everyone by your psycho-bipolar-organic-vibrator!”

Tamao could see that she was hurting Nagisa, but it felt good to let everything she had been feeling out.

“Shizuma may think that she knows you. Hell, everyone might think that they know you, but guess what! I’m the only one who knows the real you. You are a passive –aggressive coward. You shed a few tears and get other people to fight your battles. You spurn me, but then expect me to be there at your every whim! Well, fuck you! I’m done trying to accommodate your sensitive feelings, and, no, this time I’m not going anywhere because you feel uncomfortable! Tonight, you can sleep with that grey-haired bitch and leave me the fuck alone!”

Tamao stormed to Nagisa’s desk and took the make-up work in her hand. She then threw the paperwork into the dark, empty hallway allowing it to scatter haphazardly onto the wood floor. She then unceremoniously shoved Nagisa into the hallway and slammed the door in her face.

“Tamao…” said a shocked Nagisa to the closed door.

She stood there for a long time allowing what had just happened to sink in. With tears flowing down her cheeks, Nagisa picked up the papers and shuffled to Shizuma’s room. As Tamao listened to the footsteps grow softer and more distant, she sat on her bed and sobbed at what she had just done.

Shizuma sat at her desk trying to throw together her memoirs as an Etoile at the last second. Miyuki had been true to her word and visited ever two hours to see if she had finished. She looked at the clock. It was 1:30 in the morning, and if her calculations were correct, she had one more hour till another visit from her local warden. She was almost done as she took a large gulp of caffeinated tea. She had developed a nasty headache from it all, which pushed her into a foul mood. And on top of all of it, she still had yet to speak with Nagisa.

A soft knock came from the door. Miyuki was an hour early. It figured that she’d be early, she couldn’t get any sleep till Shizuma was finished. Irritated, she yelled at the door,

“NOT THE FUCK NOW!”

She growled something incomprehensible to herself and continued to scribble on a sheet of paper. An hour later, she was putting the finishing touches on the essay, when another knock came from the door.

“ALMOST DONE! GIVE ME ANOTHER HALF-HOUR!”

“Shizuma!” Miyuki’s muffled voice ordered from the other side of the door.

“Dammit! I’m almost done!”

“Shizuma! Open your fucking door!”

Now, that was a statement that got Shizuma’s attention. Miyuki rarely swore, and she only did so if the situation deemed it necessary. Shizuma meekly opened her bedroom door and saw real anger on Miyuki’s face.

“Care to explain this?”

Miyuki pointed at the floor next to her door. Shizuma followed her hand and saw a sleeping Nagisa curled up on the floor.

“Oh shit!” Shizuma exclaimed as swept Nagisa into her arms and placed her onto her bed. The former Etoile placed her full lips onto Nagisa’s forehand and stated that Nagisa had a slight fever. She placed a cool washcloth on red-head's forehead and watched her nervously.

“Did you two get into a row?”

“No, I didn’t even hear her knock. She wasn’t there when you came by an hour ago, was she?”

“I wasn’t here an hour ago. I’ve been doing the two-hour rotation,” answered Miyuki.

Realization and guilt at her assumptions and rudeness shot Shizuma through the heart. She held her head in her hands and sighed.

“Well, I screwed up.”

Miyuki scanned the pages on Shizuma’s desk.

“This will work. I’ll proof it for you,” Miyuki stated helpfully, “Let me know if you need anything.”

The woman with short black hair left quickly. Shizuma was exhausted, and now she was worried. It was 2:40 in the morning, and Shizuma decided that both she and Nagisa would be sleeping in tomorrow. She shut off her alarm clock and let her clothes hit the floor. She crawled over her Nagisa and allowed the whimpering, feverish girl to mold to her body. It broke her heart to feel Nagisa crying in her sleep.