Carmen Lalafin Nonomiya/Bond Story

*Romani woman unbound by country, laws, or borders. All men fall in love with her flamboyant and charming appearance, as well as passionate attitude toward freedom. From "Carmen."*

* Chapter 1
* Chapter 2
* Bond Level 15 Talk
* Bond Level 30 Talk

The Flower Carmen Threw

 **Shizuha:**(Oh, what are they doing here...?)

 **Yuyuko:**...Hmm, it IS strange when you think about it that way.

 **Lalafin:**Right!? It's really strange!!

 **Shizuha:**What's the matter...? Why are you two staring at the flower bed?

 **Lalafin:**Ah, Shizuha! Perfect timing... We just noticed something very strange!

 **Shizuha:**Very strange?

 **Yuyuko:**Let me fill you in on what happened...

 **Yuyuko:**Carmen's rose prop died after all those rehearsals we had.

 **Shizuha:**Oh my...

 **Lalafin:**So we decided to make a similar-looking flower to use for the time being until they've fixed the prop. That's why we came to look at the roses as reference!

 **Yuyuko:**But as everybody knows...beautiful flowers have thorns.

 **Lalafin:**And Carmen dances with a wild rose in her mouth...

 **Lalafin:**The thorns will prick her mouth!

 **Shizuha:**Ah, I see...

 **Yuyuko:**If you look at real roses, you can see how sharp those thorns are.

 **Yuyuko:**How would you even hold that in your mouth without stabbing yourself?

 **Lalafin:**Oh! Maybe Carmen did it on purpose!

 **Yuyuko:**Hmm? What do you mean?

 **Lalafin:**She says it herself.

 **Lalafin:****(Carmen)**
"Be careful if I ever fall for you... Even if you don't love me back, my love for you won't change!"

 **Yuyuko:**Huh, meaning...?

 **Lalafin:**Maybe she's using herself as an example to show that you WILL get hurt!

 **Yuyuko:**Don't you think that's a little extreme...?

 **Shizuha:**Heh heh! I can see what you mean by 'strange' here.

 **Shizuha:**But no need to worry...because the flower Carmen throws to José isn't a rose.

**Yuyuko & Lalafin:**What!?

 **Shizuha:**It's actually a yellow flower in the original story. They say it's probably a wild mimosa with a strong fragrance.

 **Yuyuko:**I see... So they changed it to a red flower for the stage—that's why it became a rose?

 **Shizuha:**Bingo. By the way, here is a pop quiz!

 **Shizuha:**What's your image of flamenco dancers?

 **Yuyuko:**Let's see... Distinctive dance steps and oh...

 **Lalafin:**The vibrant red roses in their mouths!

 **Shizuha:**Right?

 **Shizuha:**The image of the red rose came from Carmen.

 **Lalafin:**Wow, I didn't know!

 **Yuyuko:**I had no idea that the image of flamenco came from Carmen.

 **Yuyuko:**The story somehow reminds me of the long history of this theater.

 **Lalafin:**Oh, I just thought of something!

 **Lalafin:**What if Carmen had a lollipop in her mouth instead of a rose?

 **Lalafin:**Then flamenco would be linked to candy!

 **Shizuha:**Well...

 **Yuyuko:**I wonder...

 **Lalafin:**I'm sure of it! It's a great discovery!

 **Lalafin:**I have to tell everyone about this!!!

 **Yuyuko:**...And she's gone. How carefree...

 **Shizuha:**Heh heh, that's our Carmen!

She Is Carmen

 **Lalafin:**Alright, here I go...!

***Tan-tan-tan! Tan-tan-tan!! Tan-tan-tan! Tan-tan-tan!!***

 **Lalafin:**...Phew, what do you think?

 **Fumi:**Your flamenco steps were perfect—sharp and beautiful from every angle.

 **Lalafin:**Yay! Thanks for checking, Fumi♪

 **Fumi:**It's nothing, I learned a lot too... It was as if the Carmen who overwhelmed everyone around her in the bar in act 2 was dancing in front of me.

 **Lalafin:**Hehe, that's because Carmen charmed Zuniga and Escamillo with this dance!

 **Lalafin:**I've got to give it my all♪

 **Fumi:**...Hey, can I ask you a question that's been bugging me?

 **Fumi:**It takes a lot of practice to fully grasp the unique rhythms of flamenco, doesn't it?

 **Fumi:**But you don't seem to be struggling at all... Perhaps you have danced flamenco before?

 **Lalafin:**No, this is my first time!

 **Lalafin:**This dance uses the upbeat, right?

 **Fumi:**Yes. It's about feeling the intervals between the counts.

 **Lalafin:**Right, right! For example, with "1 and 2 and 3"...instead of clapping on the numbers, you clap on the "and".

 **Fumi:**And it's the downbeat when you clap on the numbers...

 **Fumi:**To be honest, I find it pretty difficult. Most Japanese songs and dances are based on the downbeat.

 **Lalafin:**Yeah! The teacher said Japanese people are used to clapping to the downbeat!

 **Lalafin:**I had a hard time getting used to this rhythm, but Shizuha taught me something interesting...

 **Fumi:**Something interesting?

 **Lalafin:**Yes! She mentioned that the flamenco's 12-beat rhythm is called "compás"!

 **Fumi:**Compás... Oh yeah, we talked about it during the read through.

 **Lalafin:**Yes, I'm not good at math, so when I heard that I was like, "Eek"!

 **Lalafin:**They say this compás is like..." the way people live"!

 **Fumi:**You lost me...

 **Lalafin:**One turn of the clock is 12 hours, right? And after counting to 12, the night has come and morning lies in wait...

 **Lalafin:**It's the perfect rhythm to keep you on your toes!

 **Fumi:**Um...

 **Fumi:**I g-guess? I don't really understand, but I trust that your intuition is right.

 **Fumi:**You're not just following the rhythm, but you're also running with the emotions in the dance.

 **Lalafin:** Whaaat!?

 **Lalafin:**...This is just between you and me, but I was a little nervous about playing Carmen this time.

 **Fumi:**Really?

 **Lalafin:**Yeah... Carmen is so strong, cool and...alluring, right?

 **Lalafin:**I can take on strong and cool characters, but I thought alluring ones would be perfect for, say...Shizuha or Tsukasa.

 **Fumi:**...That's not true. On the contrary, your flamenco performance is splendid!

 **Lalafin:****(Carmen)**
"Why thank you. I just dance as I please."

 **Fumi:**Heh heh...

**Lalafin & Fumi:**Ahahahahaha!

 **Lalafin:**Oh, Fumi, I'm getting all fired up by just all your praise!

 **Lalafin:**Okay, that was a nice break♪ I can dance even better this time!

 **Fumi:**Ah, alright...

 **Fumi:**(...Did she think I was doing an etude? I meant everything I said.)

 **Fumi:**(...But now I'm sure why Nonomiya-san was chosen for Carmen.)

 **Fumi:**(Her intuition and carefree personality...is why she's the perfect fit for the role of Carmen...)

 **Lalafin:**The stage this time is a collaboration between Rinmeikan and Frontier! Let's do our best to complement and inspire each other♪

 **Lalafin:**I was actually really nervous when Fumi told me about her struggles...

 **Lalafin:**It's a very difficult problem so that's why I thought we had to do something about it together.

 **Lalafin:**Don't worry, I'm sure we'll figure it out! Because Rinmeikan—Rui and Yuyuko are the best Stage Girls after all♪