Disclaimer: I don't own Marimite =.= Mores' the shame, eh?
A/N: This is something I thought up while at a wedding. Don't ask =.= Anyway, I sincerely apologize if some characters seem OOC, it is not my intention! If you find something off about the canon or any chars, lemme know ;~) I love any and all kind of criticism (except that which makes me cry T.T)
On with the show!
Revenge is a Dish...
Chapter 1
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"Arg! I can't stand it!" seethed Yoshino Shimazu, who was barely containing herself at her desk as she trembled in anger. "Why she always like that? Why is she so - Baka?! Baka baka baka baka!"
Yumi Fukuzawa, who had been invited to eat lunch with her friend, sat back in her chair, wide-eyed at the girl's sudden tantrum.
"Ah…." Her voice leaked out, not quite sure how to sooth Yoshino when she was like this. Rosa Foetida en bouton had her periodic mood swings, Yumi knew. And when she was like this, it was usually better to just nod and agree with her. Most of the time, the culprit was Yoshino's grande soeur, Rei Hasekura. While the two girls had a very close relationship (aside from being soeurs, they were also neighbors and cousins), they also occasionally had their little spats. Rei, as most people were aware of, had her own way of dealing with the fights; generally by being quiet and going about her own business.
Yoshino, on the other hand, did not.
"Gah!" She yelled out suddenly, slapping her hands on the hard wood of her desk. The loud crack of skin on wood caused Yumi to sit up straight in her seat. "I tell you, I can't stand it!" Yoshino hissed and clenched her hands together into tight balls of fury. Yumi sighed inwardly. She may as well ask, or Yoshino would eventually keep yelling until she did.
"What did Rosa Foetida do, Yoshino-san?" The girl asked, moving bits of her lunch around with her chopsticks absentmindedly.
"Oh, I'll tell you what Rei-chan did…" Yoshino practically growled, her eyes narrowing to slits. She was so mad, she completely skipped calling Rei Onee-sama. "She was supposed to come and wake up me for school today, like she does every day. But no! She didn't! But not only that, oh hoh no! She also had the gall to wait for me outside the house and scold me for being late! I almost didn't make it to class on time today!" She finished and, taking a deep, controlled breath, she helped herself to a large helping of rice from her lunch.
Yumi's mouth twitched upwards. It was pretty much along the lines of what she thought had occurred. It was never anything really big, to her mind, but Yoshino and Rei always had a tendency to blow small things out of proportion.
Well, thought Yumi as she took a bite of egg, maybe small things to others are just larger to them.
First, there was the famous "Yellow Rose Revolution" that had happened soon after Yumi had become acquainted to the Yamiyurikai by becoming soeurs with the then Rosa Chinensis en bouton, Sachiko Ogasawara. Yoshi had done the all-but-unheard of action of returning the rosary that her grande soeur , Rei, had given her. It was shocking, and had a huge effect on a number of girls in the school for the following days. But, apparently, the whole situation that had led up to that affair had been quite long-standing. It had all stemmed from how the two girls treated each other, and what they really wanted out of their soeur relationship.
After that, things had calmed down (at least, as far as Yumi could tell), and only rose to smallish spats between the two girls. Yoshino, with her first strike, certain victory attitude and Rei, with her favorite phrase being sincerity, commonly came at odds with each other. Yumi was actually pretty shocked that, with her having a younger brother as first-hand sibling experience, they didn't have their little fights more often. The two yellow rose sisters were usually alright, but there was the occasional time (as was the case right now) that the two cousins and soeurs didn't quite see eye-to-eye.
"I mean, honestly!" Yoshino continued her tirade, setting her chopsticks down perhaps harder than she had intended. "If she wants to be like that, then fine! I hope she enjoys walking to and from school alone from now on!"
"Now, now, Yoshino-san…" Yumi smiled and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "Surely it's not that bad, right? I mean, you two have always been together. I'm sure you and Rei-sama will be fine before you know it."
"Tch!" Yoshino made a frustrated noise and turned her face away from Yumi, her long braids whipping around with the action. "Yea, right. It would be alright if that was the only problem. Rei-chan also has been too busy to hang out with me recently. She's got club activities… her parents get her to help them out more often… she is taking extra classes in the evenings…"
Yumi tilted her head to one side. "Extra classes? Like, extra-curricular? What is she studying?"
Yoshino's eyes widened and her nostrils flared. "I don't know!" She screeched. The few other students in the classroom who had stayed through Yoshino's rant were all paying attention now, their food all but forgotten. "If she would take the time to tell me, I would feel a little better!"
"Alright, alright…" Yumi soothed, while at the same time throwing an apologetic look to the other students in the room. "Take it easy… I understand…"
Yoshino seemed to pick up on the atmosphere and settled back into her seat, once again picking up her chopsticks.
"Whatever…" She said, picking through her lunch. "At least you are all peaches and cream with your Onee-sama, Rosa Chinensis, right?"
Yumi's hand froze as it carried an egg to her waiting mouth. Onee-sama… the word struck closer to home than she really would have liked. Sachiko Ogasawara and Yumi were just peaches and cream… right? Weren't they? Sure things have been… well… weird lately… but… things where alright.
They had to be.
Yoshino's eyebrow raised slightly at Yumi's frozen hand. The egg had dropped unnoticed back into her lunch. "Uh… Yumi-san?" She snapped her fingers. "Hello? You alright in there?"
Yumi blinked, shook her head, and smiled. "Ah… yes. I'm fine. We are fine. That is to say… Onee-sama and I are…" She fumbled with her chopstick and dropped the same egg again. "We are… fine…"
Her friend eyed her for a long moment, clearly not fooled. Yumi Fukuzawa, as the entire student body and most of the faculty of Lillian Academy for Women knew, was a horrible liar. As the previous Rosa Gigantea, Sei Satou, had said, her face constantly looks as though it goes through life's many phases. Essentially, that meant that her face betrayed what she was thinking at all times. It was painfully easy to tell what Yumi was thinking most of the time, and even easier to tell when the girl was lying.
And she was most certainly lying this time.
"Spill it, girl." Yoshino sighed, pointing her chopsticks at Yumi. "What's the problem in the garden of Rosa Chinensis en bouton?"
Yumi's shoulders fell, defeated. Yoshino, as her best friend, had the mystical power to know exactly what she felt at all times. She wasn't exactly sure when Yoshino had attained this ability… but she still had it. Sometimes, it was a heavy burden than she wouldn't wish on anyone.
"We… that is to say… Onee-sama and I… we haven't really seen much of each other the past few weeks." Yumi said quietly, staring at the piece of egg that refused to jump into her mouth. "For a while now… it seems she is too busy to spend much time with me. We see each other at the Rose Mansion, of course. And during Yamayurikai meetings we see each other… but…" She shrugged, barely keeping her smile from slipping. "She is too busy to spend much free time with me…"
"It's the same with me and Rei-chan!" Yoshino jumped up and pointed directly at Yumi, who stiffened in surprise. "Gah! What is with our Onee-samas ignoring us?"
Yumi shrugged and, concentrating harder this time, succeeded in picking up the egg that had fallen before. "I don't know, Yoshino-san…" She sighed, popping the egg into her mouth.
It was a surprise at first. After the wonderful vacation she had spent at Sachiko's summer home, things seemed to be going so well. Sachiko and Yumi had spent a few lunches together a week, walked to and from school and the bus stop together, and even gone out during the weekends. It had been some of the best times of Yumi's life. But, in the past few weeks, Sachiko had less and less time to devote to Yumi. She had her own duties to attend to, Yumi guessed, what with the Yamiyurikai, her schoolwork, as well as her family matters. Sachiko was Rosa Chinensis, after all. Yumi, in comparison, had a vastly different amount of requirements needed of her and, as a result, had much more free time than her Grande Seour.
Still, Yumi frowned as she stabbed at another egg with her chopsticks, she could at least tell me what she's doing recently…
Truth be told, Yumi was extremely clingy. She would never admit it, but she loved being nearby Sachiko. She loved being around her, hearing her voice, seeing her face. It was one of the things that made her the happiest and most fulfilled.
But when her Onee-sama didn't spend time around her… didn't talk to her… barely would even notice her when she entered a room… it hurt. It hurt her that her Onee-sama, whom she loved so much, whom she looked up to as everything she wanted to be, didn't want to be with her. Yumi would even go so far as to say that it made her a bit upset.
Upset enough to…
Yoshino's face in front of her eyes jolted her back to reality.
"Uh… I'm sorry, Yoshino-san. What did you say?" Yumi sat back, coloring slightly by her friends close proximity.
"I said we should get back at them!" The other girl repeated, a curious glint in her hazel eyes.
It took a second for Yumi's brain to catch up. The moment of confusion went by quickly, however. "Get… back? What, like revenge?"
Yoshino nodded enthusiastically. "Yea! We should get revenge on them for ignoring their cute petite soeurs! If they want to ignore us, fine. We should think of something to get back at them!" She sat down roughly in her seat and tapped her small chin thoughtfully.
Yumi blinked, trying to come to terms with what her friend was saying. It didn't work out very well. "Uh… are you saying that you want to get… revenge… on Onee-sama and Rei-sama for ignoring us?"
"Yes! That's it exactly!" Yoshino declared, happily downing another mouthful of rice. "You want to get back at Sachiko-sama for ignoring you, too, right?"
"Well… I don't want to hurt her… or inconvenience her…" Yumi said, pressing her index fingers together nervously.
"No, no, no. We won't hurt them. We'll just…" The girl smiled slowly, the glint still in her eyes. "Do something… to get their attention…"
Yumi exhaled, relief flooding into her body. She would never want to hurt her Onee-sama, but she desperately wanted the older girl's attention again. And if a little revenge would get Rosa Chinensis to look at her again…
"Alright, what do we do?" Yumi asked, a bit more determined now.
Yoshino scrunched up her face, deep in thought. It was indeed a difficult problem. Both of the older girls were quite unflappable, most of the time. While Rei was constantly worrying about Yoshino, and any little thing that happened to her was likely to draw Rei's attention, Sachiko was quite the opposite. Sachiko was the epitome of a lady. She rarely let anything visibly bother her, and aside from a few instances in the past, Yumi had rarely seen the girl flustered in any way. She wasn't really sure how she could succeed in getting the older girls' attentions.
"Well, it should probably be something that involved the two of us. Rei-chan has been ignoring me, so it would have to be more than me alone that will draw her attention. As for you…" Yoshino smirked. "Sachiko-sama fawns over you to no end. But, from what you said, she has been ignoring you as well. Therefore, if we do something that involves both of us… its more likely to draw the attention of both Rei-chan and Sachiko-sama."
Yumi nodded, agreeing with the logic behind her friend's argument. However, actually thinking of something that would successfully get the attention of both Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida would be, in practice, quite difficult.
As the thought of something the two of them could do, something on Yoshino's face caught Yumi's eye. It was a grain of rice. The small morsel was stuck on the side of the girl's mouth as she sat there, deep in thought. Yumi would later claim that she had no idea why she did what she did, and would forever stick to that story. But, completely surprising herself and her friend, Yumi leaned forward, picked the piece of rice from Yoshino's face and, smiling softly, stuck it into her own mouth.
Yoshino's eyes widened as it occurred to her what Yumi had just done.
"Uh…" She stammered, coloring slightly.
"Sorry." Yumi apologized and held her hand behind her head embarrassingly. "It was just a habit I got from when my brother was little." She giggled, shrugging bashfully.
Yoshino nodded slowly, her eyes still wide with shock. It wasn't weird, what Yumi had done. It had just been surprising. Yoshino hadn't been prepared for it and was therefore thrown off her usual game. It usually took only a beat for the girl to get her energy back. But for some reason, she sat there, staring at Yumi blankly. Then, as if struck by lightning, she stood up, a triumphant look on her face.
"Ah hah! I got it!" She yelled, startling Yumi by returning to her usual energetic state.
"Got what?"
Yoshino sat back down, lowering her voice. "I know how we can get Rei-chan and Sachiko-sama back for ignoring us." She smirked very evilly at Yumi.
Yumi, for all her worth, kept back the shiver that came from the smile Yoshino had given her.
"Uh… ok? What is it?"
Yoshino gestured for Yumi to come closer. Yumi leaned forward, slowly and carefully. Taking a careful glance around the room, Yoshino made sure none of the other students were within close earshot.
"All right… so here's what we are going to do…" She leaned forward and whispered her plan into Yumi's ear.
It only took a few moments to explain the idea to her friend.
"Reeeehhhhh?" Yumi lurched back, giving out a rather unladylike sound of surprise. Surely she hadn't heard correctly. "W-what?"
"You heard right." Yoshino pressed her finger to her mouth, a clearly understood gesture to be quieter. Which would have been humorous to Yumi, considering how loud Yoshino had been before, if Yumi had not been too shocked to even think straight. "That will certainly get their attention, right?"
"B-b-b-but we…" Yumi stammered. She casted a nervous glance around the room, afraid other students had overheard Yoshino's plan. "We can't do that! I-I-I…"
Yoshino raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. "And why is that?"
"Uh-I-we…" Yumi's thoughts were flying through her head at a pace of thousands of kilometers an hour. "Onee-sama will… Rei-sama will… I mean… we-"
Yoshino held up hear hand, causing Yumi to stop talking. "It won't be real, of course. It will be an act. An act to get the attention of our lovely Onee-samas, right?" She peered at Yumi, only partially facing the girl. "Don't tell me you aren't willing to do a little act to get your precious Onee-sama to look at you again…"
Yumi's mouth opened and closed like a fish. She simply had no idea how to respond. How Yoshino had come up with the idea, she did not know. Why Yoshino had even suggested it, she did not know. She had never even considered something like that before. She had no clue what to say.
Yoshino shrugged, sighing. "Alright, alright, I get it; it's a horrible idea. I'm sooo sooorrrrrrry I said such an unattractive plan to you Yumi-san. I'm sure we can-"
"I'll think about it."
Yoshino turned her attention back to Yumi, arching her eyebrow lightly. Yumi's head was lowered, her bangs covering her face from view. The girl had spoken so softly, Yoshino wasn't even sure she had spoken at all.
"Hmm? What was that? I didn't quite hear you."
"I said I'll consider it…" Yumi said again, louder this time. She raised her head and locked eyes with Yoshino. "I'll call you tonight, all right? After I think more about it…"
Yoshino grinned and nodded. "Sure. Think about it, and then give me a call." She picked up her chopsticks again and held them out in front of her, pointed at Yumi's lunch. "Until then… can I have some of that egg?"
0 – 0 – 0
Yumi sat on her bed, her knees pulled up against her chest, staring hard at her telephone. She had been staring at her phone for the past hour, ever since dinner had ended. All throughout dinner, she had been musing silently. Her parents and Yuuki, her brother, tried to strike up conversations with her, but to no avail. Eventually, they gave up and chalked it up to a poor mood. After dinner, Yumi trudged to her room and sat on her bed, staring hard at the phone.
And so she had been the past hour.
She had almost picked it up once half an hour before, actually, but ended up panicking and slamming the receiver back into its cradle.
All afternoon, she had been running through the entire conversation she and Yoshino had during lunch that day.
It had started as a normal meal with Yoshino complaining about Rei… totally normal on most occasions. But then it turned into an impromptu "meeting" about how their Onee-samas, Sachiko and Rei, had been ignoring them recently, and how they should take revenge on the older girls for their neglect. If they even wanted to call it neglect. It seemed like such a negative word, but it certainly seemed like it to Yumi. She had no idea why Sachiko had been ignoring her recently, and she really wanted to know. For her, spending time with Sachiko was what made her the happiest. She desperately wanted to have her Onee-sama look at her again… and wanted the same for her friend.
But…
Then their conversation had taken such a surprising turn, she didn't quite know how to take it. Had Yoshino been serious when she told Yumi the plan she had come up with? It had seemed so outlandish… so insane… that it couldn't possibly work.
But the longer Yumi spent thinking about it, the better it seemed to her. It could cause many problems for her and Yoshino. It could cause problems for the Yamayurikai and all of their friends… but only if they failed. If Yoshino and Yumi were successful in their act, then they would gain the attention of their Onee-samas back…
It would work.
It had to work.
Sachiko would look at her again.
The thought of spending time with Sachiko made a smile creep across Yumi's face. She was indeed determined enough if it meant that the older girl would look Yumi's way again. Before she could lose her nerve, Yumi snatched the telephone receiver from its cradle, and dialed Yoshino's home number. After a few rings, the other end picked up.
"Shimazu residence."
"Uh… Good evening. I am sorry to bother you at home this late. This is Yumi Fukuzawa. Is Yoshino available?"
0 – 0 – 0
Saturday came quickly, and after classes the maidens of Lillian could use their early departure from classes to participate on club activities, accompany friends on their outings, and get caught up on schoolwork. The Yamiyurikai, likewise, gathered in the Rose Mansion to perform their duties as the student council.
The Rose Mansion would catch the eye of anyone that happened to walk by. Being an independent building used solely by the student council, and because of its strictly wooden two-story appearance, one could certainly see why it is called a mansion. Most students stayed away from the building, but anyone was welcome if they wanted to come. If, that is, they could handle the atmosphere of high-class ladies that the three roses, Rosa Foetida, Rosa Chinensis, and Rosa Gigantea put off.
The three members of the student council sat in the meeting room on the second floor of the Rose Mansion, on the other side of the familiar biscuit-shaped door, trading words between each other as they discussed the day's matters. Yumi stood at the small kitchenette in the corner of the room, silently making tea. Today was going to be the day her and Yoshino put their plan into action.
Carefully, Yumi turned her head and scanned the room.
Yoshino was sitting at her place beside Rosa Foetida, Rei Hasekura. Brushing aside her short-trimmed hair, the older girl silently read a handout that a club had given the council to look over about their budget plans for the next term. Yoshino, likewise, was sitting uncharacteristically quiet beside Rei. She glanced in Yumi's direction, and winked.
Yoshino was ready.
Yumi cast her glance to the other occupants in the room. Her Grande Soeur, Sachiko was there, talking quietly to the third member of the Yamiyurikai, Shimako Toudou. Sachiko was her ever-normal self; cool, calm, collected, and beautiful. Her long, black hair shined in the reflection of sunlight that streamed in from the window. Her cool, dark blue eyes carefully scanned the handout that Shimako had given her.
She hadn't looked Yumi's way since she had entered the room.
Shimako, on the other hand, had happily greeted her classmate and even offered to make some tea herself. Rosa Gigantea, as many of her admirers and acquaintances would say, was the epitome of a lady. Long, wavy chestnut hair. Large eyes that made you smile to even look at...
Sometimes Yumi found it a little depressing that she was constantly surrounded be women that made her feel… well… somewhat inferior as a girl.
Sighing to herself, she looked over at the other two occupants of the room; Touko Matsudaira and Noriko Nijou. Touko was a distant relative of Sachiko's and a generally good girl, once you got right down to it. There had been issues when she first arrived of her getting between Yumi and Sachiko, but that had since calmed down and the two were on friendly terms. Touko occasionally came to the Rose Mansion to assist with the Yamiyurikai work. Noriko, on the other hand, was the Petite Soeur to Shimako, which made the first year girl Rosa Gigantea en bouton.
Everyone was here. But was Yumi ready?
Willing herself to keep from shaking, Yumi carried a warm cup of tea to Sachiko.
"Here is some tea, Onee-sama." She said quietly, placing the cup and saucer beside the older girl. Yumi stood there for another moment, desperately hoping to get some sort of acknowledgement from her soeur. A "Thank you, Yumi.", or one of her bright smiles that she loved so much. Anything would be greatly appreciated. But, Sachiko simple turned her head in Yumi's general direction, saying nothing.
Yumi felt her stomach turn uncomfortably. So… it was like that, then. She darted her eyes towards Yoshino. The girl stared at Yumi unblinkingly. Then, with a silent, minute nod, Yumi knew that they were ready to go.
Bowing slightly to Sachiko, maybe in a silent apology, Yumi made her way to the chair besides Yoshino and sat down. Her friend stirred beside her. The other girls in the room were going about their usual business, occasionally glancing around to the other girls out of curiosity.
It was now or never.
She was ready.
Slowly, Yumi reached up and gently grasped one of Yoshino's long braids. After another moment, she started twirling it around her fingers, putting on a practiced face of bored playfulness. Yoshino smiled and, after a few seconds of Yumi playing with her hair, reached up and poked the girl's cheek. Yumi suppressed a giggle, and took a sip of tea as she continued to play with Yoshino's hair. She didn't dare look around to see if anyone was watching, as it would likely give them away. Instead, she periodically shifted her eyes towards Yoshino's face, and giggled when her friend also sought out her gaze.
Yumi, even though she expected it, had to suppress a cough when Yoshino gently pushed her elbow into her side. Her cough came out as a soft laugh and she retreated her hand from her friend's hair to protect herself from another elbow attack.
"You two seem quite friendly, don't you?" Shimako's voice came out softly from across the table. Yumi and Yoshino turned their attention to the other second year. She had put down her pencil on the handout she had been working on and instead chose to pick up her tea. She took a small sip.
"Well, yea. Of course." Yoshino smiled airily and shrugged, taking another chance to nudge Yumi. Yumi saw Sachiko glance up at the pair in her peripheral.
"Of course?" Shimako tilted her head to the side in unspoken question. Yumi and Yoshino were friends, so it was common for the two to be friendly with each other. But something about the way Yoshino had said "Of course" sounded off. "What do you mean by that?"
Yumi smiled and put on the look of surprise that she had been practicing in the mirror at home. "You mean, you don't know, Shimako-san?"
"Know what?" The girl asked. Noriko and Touko were now paying attention to the conversation. Touko stared at the girls with her usual stare of indifference, whereas Noriko slowed her pace as she carried a tray of cookies.
Yumi's heart thumped in her chest. She felt an unmistakable feeling of unease in her stomach. She almost felt like calling the whole thing off. But it was too late. Yoshino stirred next to her and, gently reaching up to the table, laid her thin fingers on the back of Yumi's hand.
"Yumi-chan and I are dating."
The tray of cookies fell to the ground.
Touko's eyebrows raised in surprise.
Rei started and stood up from her seat, her chair scraping across the floor.
Sachiko froze, her eyes wide and her mouth open, prepared to take a sip from her tea.
Only Shimako remained unfazed. She smiled and tilted her head in a cute gesture matching her personality perfectly. "Oh, is that so? Well, congratulations!"
0 – 0 – 0
Dawwww... Cute~ Gahaha!
Anyway, to continue or not continue?
Lemme know what you all think! I'll continue it based on if people wanna read more!
R & R~