The Glass Slipper - Act I
As Yumi stepped off of the bus she reflected briefly upon the events that had led her here this day.
"Yumi, phone," Yuuki called from downstairs to his sister. "Hurry up, it sounds like she's on a public phone," he added up the stairs at his older sister.
Who would be calling me from a public phone, Yumi wondered as she walked over to the phone in her room and lifted the receiver from the it, placing it to her ear just in time to hear the receiver from downstairs hang up.
"Was that your brother," asked an inquisitive female voice on the other end of the line.
For a long moment the voice didn't register in her head. "Yes. He's being his usual cheeky self," Yumi replied as her brain continued to process the voice she was hearing.
"He's only a few months younger than you right," the caller asked in a voice Yumi knew she should recognize yet couldn't readily place.
"Yes, about six actually," Yumi responded with to answer as she mentally flipped through all the usual voices she associated with on a regular basis. There was considerable back ground noise, as if the caller was using a public phone however it wasn't loud enough to indicate that she was at a train station of something of that nature.
"He sounds nice enough on the phone," the girl said in an off-handed tone of voice.
"If you say so but you're not the one that has to live with him," Yumi replied into the receiver. It was rare for anyone to call her at home, even rarer for them to do so after eight o'clock at night.
"I'm an only child, Rei-chan aside, so I've always found siblings to be so interesting. I'm very jealous of you Yumi-san," the caller stated in a wistful tone before continuing. "Gomen for calling you out of the blue Yumi-san," the girl on the phone said, "I would really like to see you though."
The last piece of the puzzle clicked into place as Yumi heard the caller's words. "Yoshino-san are you alright," Yumi asked as the girl on the other end of the phone had been out of school for nearly the entire week.
"I'm fine," Yoshino assured her. "Will you come and see me, Yumi-san?"
It had been a terribly rough week for Yumi. The article in the Lillian Kawaraban that had appeared a few days after the fall festival had been kind enough in what it said and didn't say. The article itself simply stated that Sachiko-sama and herself had determined they were not compatible at this time and had decided to go their separate ways. Yumi knew that if not Sachiko-sama, then the Yamayurikai in general had a hand in the wording of the article. Still, just the fact that she was no longer the Petite Sœur of Sachiko-sama was enough to make her the target of hostile comments from some of the students at school. It was bad enough to have even become Sachiko-sama's Petite Sœur in the first place when there were so many others more deserving and better suited, yet to then end it after only two weeks. Many of the students and even her friends thought she was not right in the head for having done so. A result of her actions, or perhaps more appropriately a side effect of them, was that others were suddenly reassessing their relationships with their Onee-sama's. There were even cases where rosaries had been returned just as she had done. It had never been her intentions for that to happen and she personally felt terrible for having caused such a commotion. "Where have you been all week, Yoshino-san?"
There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. "I've been at the hospital having examinations done," Yoshino finally replied. "It's nothing serious," she quickly added before Yumi could worry. "It's actually one of the things I want to talk to you about," The girl with matching braids stated. "Will you come and see me tomorrow, Yumi-san?"
"Examinations?" Yumi inquired concerned for the other girl. Though they had only been together in the Yamayurikai for a couple of weeks, there was a budding friendship between the two of them that Yumi desperately wanted to keep. In part, it was Yumi's last remaining tie to that precious two weeks she had lived out her dream but also she felt a growing affection for the small girl on the other end of the phone. Yumi had learned that due to Yoshino's illness and missing school very often that it had been hard for her to make and maintain any friendships. As she was limited in what she could do, she didn't participate in any clubs and hence was without a truly close friend. Yumi's heart went out to the smaller girl upon learning this. She was determined to remain friends with Yoshino no matter what!
"Blood tests, electro cardiographs and such," Yoshino explained as if she was talking about the weather rather than something important such as exams that could only be done in a hospital. Having been in and out of the hospital most of her life such things were common place to her way of thinking. To Yumi's worried filled mind it sounded as if the other girl was near death.
"So you are sick then," Yumi said in a hesitant voice fearful of the answer yet needing to know it as well. It was like driving past a car accident; you couldn't help but look even if you really didn't want to.
"No, no, it's nothing like that," Yoshino tried to reassure the other girl upon hearing the concern in her voice. "Actually, it's a bit hard to talk about over the phone," she finally admitted. "I really want to see Yumi-san!" Upon hearing this Yumi couldn't say no and after taking down the directions to the hospital where Yoshino was at they ended the call.
Yumi glanced up at the hospital once she stepped off the bus and then strode forth with a purpose while clasping the bouquet of flowers she had brought with her. Yoshino wanted to see me. After a miserable week knowing that someone wanted to see her warmed her heart, if even just a little bit. It had been a miserable week, probably the worst week she had ever had she thought. Between the harassment from the students and second guessing her convictions concerning her own decision to return Sachiko-sama's rosary Yumi's insides were tied in knots. Visiting Yoshino in the hospital she hoped would be a good distraction from her own problems. Upon reaching the correct room she read the name plate and then knocked upon the door. "Excuse me," she said before she opened the door to enter.
Yoshino looked up from the book she was reading and smiled upon seeing the other girl. "Yumi-san!" Yoshino set her book aside and turned back to face Yumi. "Are those for me," she asked indicating the flowers which were a mixture of different yellow roses. "They're beautiful but you didn't have to bring anything, Yumi-san."
Yumi crossed the room so Yoshino could see the flowers better. The local florist had helped her pick them out as she had never visited anyone in the hospital before and didn't know what to bring. "I know, but I wanted to bring you something to brighten your room up," Yumi said with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "I always think of hospital rooms as being too sterile and colorless," Yumi explained looking around at the private room with its white walls and ceiling and light colored tiled flooring as if proving her point. "I thought some color might be an improvement," she concluded with as she walked over to the sink area and found a vase underneath it. Yumi filled the vase with water and then arranges the flowers in it carefully to make them look as beautiful as possible. Carrying them over to the window she placed them on the windowsill so they could get plenty of sunlight.
"Arigato, Yumi-san," Yoshino said with a warm smile. "I'm sorry for taking up your Sunday like this."
"Oh don't worry about that," Yumi replied waving one hand in the air as if batting aside Yoshino's concerns over something so trivial. The truth of the matter was that Yumi was so please by the fact that Yoshino actually wanted to see her that losing a Sunday was something trivial to her. She had realized that upon returning Sachiko-sama's rosary she may never be able to spend time with the members of the Yamayurikai again. Though she had told herself that would be alright, in her heart it had pained her to lose the friends she had just made. That was why Yoshino wishing to see her meant so much to her. "We've never met before outside of school have we," Yumi asked as she took a seat in the chair next to the bed.
"It seems a bit odd," Yoshino replied looking over what each girl was wearing and sharing a grin as Yumi did the same. "Neither of us being in uniform and all," she explained. "Still, I'm glad you're here."
"So…how is she," Yumi dared to finally ask, dropping her eyes to the hands in her lap. Yumi realized that neither of them would be able to focus on anything else till they had talked about this.
"Sachiko-sama was a mess on Monday when I was there," Yoshino said with a heavy sigh recalling the sad event. "I've never seen her so…so…fire up and full of energy."
"Huh?" Yumi exclaimed looking up sharply at the girl sitting in the bed, completely confused by the other girls conflicting words.
Yoshino couldn't help but chuckle upon seeing the different emotions filtering across Yumi's face. "Sachiko-sama doesn't like to show her emotions," Yoshino tried to explain it as Rei had explained it to her. "The more something bothers her the more she'll strive to hide it by making it appear as if nothing is wrong."
"Is that so," Yumi said as she pondered the other girl's words. So by appearing as being all fired up Sachiko-sama must be hiding something very painful if Yumi were to follow Yoshino's logic. This both thrill and saddened Yumi to equal degrees. On one count it pleased to her to know that she was possibly more than just some girl Sachiko-sama had run into at the proper time and place when she needed someone. A spark of hope blossomed in her heart that maybe she did actually mean something to the Rosa Chinensis en Bouton. It also saddened her as she didn't like to think of the older girl as being in pain and to know that she was the cause of it. I never meant for Sachiko-sama to suffer. I only want her to find a little sister that is better suited for her than I ever could be, Yumi told herself.
"Even the Roses are concerned about her," Yoshino added to assure her that she wasn't mistaken about Sachiko-sama. "Rei-chan said they think she is working herself too hard. That just goes to show you how deeply it affected her." Yoshino could clearly see the conflicting emotions as they played across Yumi's face. While the petite girl's heart went out to the brunette she realized that it was a matter between Yumi-san and Sachiko-sama and only they could resolve it.
"I…I didn't mean for her to do that," Yumi stammered feeling even worse after hearing the other girls words. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen." Did I really do the right thing, she asked herself for the countless time. Hearing how Sachiko-sama was taking this she was no longer as certain as she had been concerning her decision to return the older girl's rosary. They probably all hate me now for what I am putting Sachiko-sama through.
Yoshino leaned forward and laid her hand over Yumi's where they rested in the brunette's lap. "I know you had your reasons for doing what you did, Yumi-san," she said giving Yumi's hand a gentle squeeze. "No matter what though, you and I are still friends, Yumi-san," Yoshino told her directly and with conviction. Yumi looked up sharply and peered into the face before hers as if questioning that she had heard correctly. "I'll support you in whatever you want to do, Yumi-san. That's what friends do for each other!"
"Really?" Yumi couldn't help but question, her brown eyes growing large with hope at the other girl's kind words. Yoshino just smiled and nodded. "I was so afraid that after what I did none of the Yamayurikai would want to have anything to do with me," Yumi confessed. "You're the first one to actually speak to me since then."
"Even a rabid dog knows better than to get between two Sœur's when they're fighting," Yoshino said with a soft chuckle.
"Former Sœur's," Yumi corrected her even though a small smile appeared on her face as she did so.
Yoshino acknowledged the correction with a slight tilting of her head in the other girl's direction. "I imagine that the newspaper club had a field day with this?"
"I think someone from the Yamayurikai stepped in," Yumi replied as she reached into her purse and pulled out the latest addition of the Lillian Kawaraban and passed it over to Yoshino.
The dark haired girl unfolded the paper and read the front headline. 'Red Rose Rebellion' in large bold letters was splashed across an image of Sachiko-sama and Yumi with a jagged rip down the middle between the two of them. Yoshino read over the article quickly. "That certainly reads like Youko-sama's work," Yoshino finally said as she refolded the paper and handed it back towards Yumi.
"Keep it," Yumi said holding up a hand, palm facing outward towards Yoshino. "I brought that one for you as I have a copy of it at home already," she explained. "I never meant for any of this to happen," Yumi reiterated in a frustrated tone of voice. In a short amount of time Yumi conveyed what she had heard concerning others who were also dissolving their Sœur bonds because of her actions.
"There will always be those that want to be like others," Yoshino said to her friend. "In this case they want to be more like you, Yumi-san."
"Eh!" Yumi exclaimed taken by surprise at the other girls words once again. "Why would they ever want to be like me?"
Yoshino shrugged slightly causing the hospital gown she had draped over her cardigan to shift at a strange angle. "For a few weeks," Yoshino explained as she pulled the offending hospital gown back up and into place, "Yumi-san was Cinderella." Somehow Yumi knew she didn't mean the play. "You were the Petite Sœur of the Rosa Chinensis en Bouton and in direct line to becoming a Rose yourself one day. Whereas most girls our age dream of being social with the Yamayurikai, you actually were able to not only be social but also make friends with them. That alone would garnish you some fans I would think but then you went and gave it all up. Left to a young girl's imagination I am sure they have thought up all sorts of reasons for you to do this," Yoshino said sighing wistfully at her friend. "Your actions, with no clear reason for them, have probably been romanticized by some of the more silly girls at school," Yoshino concluded.
"Romanticized," a bewildered Yumi asked. "How could anyone ever possibly come to think that?" Even as she voiced her objections though she knew the truth of the other girls words.
"You appear out of nowhere and suddenly you're not only the Petite Sœur of Sachiko-sama, the Princess of Lillian but also the lead in the play. You are very much what they are calling you, Yumi-san." Yoshino informed her. Seeing the blank look upon Yumi's face Yoshino took pity on her. "They are referring to you as Lillian's Cinderella."
"Is that so…" Yumi replied, too stunned and amazed to say more than that.
"Arigato," Yoshino said refolding the newspaper and setting it aside next to a stack of books on the table next to her bed. "So," Yoshino opened with as she turned back to face her friend, "How is Yumi-san doing?"
Yumi took a deep breath and pasted a smile on her face as she let it out. "I'm fine. Once all the talk dies down and things return to normal I think everything will be back to the way it was before…it all started," was her reply. Yoshino is in the hospital and I'm certain she didn't want to see a gloomy Yumi, she thought to herself. I can put on a happy face for her while I'm here. If Yumi had really thought about it she would have seen that she wasn't really certain how she was inside. There were moments when she doubted her decision and then others when she was once again certain it had been the right thing to do. Her entire week had been filled with second guessing herself. One moment she truly believed that Sachiko-sama needed…no deserved, a Petite Sœur as wonderful as Sachiko-sama was herself. The next moment she was calling herself baka for having returned the rosary. Internally she sighed to herself. There's nothing I can do about it now. It's not like I can go ask for her rosary back!
Yoshino cocked her head slightly to the side and regarded the girl with pigtails for several long moments. Yumi staunchly met her friends gaze determined not to give away any of the inner turmoil she was feeling. "Well, if you need someone to talk to please consider me, Yumi-san," Yoshino finally offered feeling she was not going to get anything further from the girl before her. "We're friends remember."
"I will," Yumi assured her. "So, did you truly miss me or was there something else that sparked your sudden desire to see me," Yumi asked feeling as if Yoshino had not as yet reached the real reason for calling her out upon such short notice.
"Both actually," Yoshino admitted with a guilty look upon her face. "I truly did want to see you, Yumi-san," she stated earnestly. "I've been worried about you all week and with not being in school I couldn't actually see how you were doing." Yumi was touched by the other girls concern which she heard clearly in Yoshino's words.
"I believe you," Yumi replied upon hearing the honesty in Yoshino words. "I can't help but feel there is something else bothering you as well though."
"I think there is something else I need to thank you for," Yoshino began. "The day I left school Rei-chan and I had a very bad argument."
"Is that so," Yumi interjected completely baffled why her friend would wish to thank her for a fight between Yoshino and her Grande Sœur.
"Did you read the previous edition of the Lillian Kawaraban," Yoshino asked. Upon seeing Yumi nod that she had she asked, "What did you think of it?"
"I thought you and Rei-sama made a perfect couple," Yumi truthfully answered. "I voted for the both of you," Yumi added blushing slightly at the admission.
"Arigato, Yumi-san," Yoshino stated with a thankful smile. "So nothing in the write up of Rei-chan and me struck you as odd?"
"Not really," Yumi replied, puzzled by Yoshino's line of questioning. "Should there have been?"
Yoshino nodded slightly to indicate that there should have been. "I'm certain that everyone at school would answer the same as you and just like you, they would be wrong."
"Waa?" Yumi exclaimed in a slightly louder tone of voice, surprised for the third time that day by the small girl in the hospital bed. I hope this doesn't become a habit with our conversations. I'm not certain I can take so many surprises at once!
"The personal information for us was switched," Yoshino informed her of finally. "Not the information that can be found in our school records such as our height or our blood type but rather what our personal interests are."
Yumi was completely flabbergasted by this revelation. "So you mean that Rei-sama likes …"
"Shoujo novels," Yoshino finished for her. "While Samurai novels such as the ones by Ikenami Shoutarou, are more to my liking," Yoshino informed her of while picking up the book she had previously set down and showing the cover to her so Yumi could see who the author was. Yumi found it difficult to believe that the shinai wielding Rei-sama preferred to wield a set of knitting needles at home. Yoshino pointed to the stack of paperback books on the table by her bed. "All of those are by him as well. I love almost all sports," Yoshino confessed. "Maybe because I can't play sports is why I love watching them so much," Yoshino reasoned aloud.
"So is that what you quarreled about then? That the newspaper club printed the wrong information," Yumi asked trying to understand what her friend was trying to tell her.
"Yes and no," Yoshino answered sitting back as a frustrated sigh escaped her lips. "People see Rei-chan as being strong. That's why the newspaper club misprinted the personal information," Yoshino explained. "The truth of the matter is that Rei-chan is very much a girl's girl and she falls apart whenever I'm not around. This is only because she has never had a time without me there. Rei-chan has a kendo match this Saturday," Yoshino continued to explain. "She was supposed to be at practice however when she learned that I was leaving school early she didn't go to practice as she wanted to be with me."
"That doesn't sound like a bad thing," Yumi interjected understanding how a person would rather be with the person they care about than a club event. Even though she herself had given Sachiko-sama her rosary back she still wanted to be around the older girl she adored.
"I agree however I was just coming in here for tests and there was nothing seriously wrong," Yoshino explained. "There really was no reason for her to miss her practice on my account." Yumi nodded, understanding what her friend was getting at. "When I asked her why she wasn't at practice she said she would rather be with me. I was so angry with her for skipping out on something I knew was so very important to her that I snapped," Yoshino continued to explain the events that occurred previously that week. "I was so furious that I almost gave back her rosary but I...," Yoshino trailed off.
"You saw how much my giving Sachiko-sama's rosary back affected her and you didn't want Rei-sama to feel that way," Yumi finished for her in a rare moment of brilliant clarity. Once again a pain of sorrow stabbed at her heart knowing she had caused Sachiko-sama to hurt.
Yoshino nodded to indicate that she was correct. "I don't think Rei-chan could have survived that. In a strange way I should thank you for what you did as it prevented me from devastating Rei-chan. She is an incredibly strong person but she uses me as a shield from having to be strong on her own. She is always more concerned about me and what I need rather than herself. I guess you can say that rather than being strong for herself she is strong for me. If she is always relying on helping me, what is she going to do when I'm gone?"
"Gone?" Yumi exclaimed suddenly fearing there might be something more to Yoshino being in the hospital than the other girl had told her. "Where are you going?" Even as she asked this her mind processed what Yoshino had said. While it is important to live for your own reasons Yumi didn't see anything wrong with wanting to be strong for another's sake. In a way she saw it as rather sweet that Rei loved Yoshino so much that she wanted to take care of her.
"Nowhere," Yoshino assured Yumi upon hearing the note of alarm in her voice. "Still, it is doubtful that Rei-chan and I will be together forever you realize? Rei needs to learn to do things not only on her own but also for herself. That is why I decided to have the operation on the same day that her kendo match is," Yoshino informed her of.
"Operation?" Yumi asked beginning to feel like a parrot repeating Yoshino's words back to her.
"That's what all the tests have been for this week," Yoshino explained. "I was born with a heart defect, a hole in one of the inner walls of my heart. The operation will go in and repair the defect. Usually you would have such an operation when you're a baby however I was not diagnosed till I was in elementary school. I've always been fearful of having the operation done and hence have staunchly refused to do it whenever it came up in conversation." Yoshino's voice trembled only slightly upon admitting this to her friend.
Yumi suddenly realized that while Yoshino may be strong in many ways, she was still just a teenage girl and the prospect of an operation on her heart was a frightening thing. "So why the sudden change," Yumi asked, curious as to her friends reasoning.
"I want Rei-chan to become stronger but I also want to become stronger for Rei-chan as well. In that manner she won't have to do as much for me and she'll have more time to do things for herself," Yoshino explained in a resolute tone of voice. "I want to be able to walk beside Rei as an equal partner. As it is now I am just a burden to her. She's taken care of me my entire life and I would like to be able to take care of her for a change. Not always," she quickly added, "as that would be just as bad. Still, I wish that Rei-chan could depend on me when she needed to. I don't want her to always have to be the strong one."
Yumi digested the other girl's words carefully. She could certainly understand how Yoshino was feeling though she doubted that Rei-sama would ever see the younger girl as a burden. Still, no one wanted to be a burden to another if they could help it. Much as she had returned Sachiko-sama's rosary because she was not good enough and to stay would be to unduly burden Sachiko-sama. Yumi nodded her head once to show that she understood. "How can I help," she asked.
"Arigato, Yumi-san!" Yoshino exclaimed. She had not been certain at all that Yumi would offer to help her. Truthfully she had not wanted to involve the other members of the Yamayurikai as she was certain they would have just told her to speak directly to Rei. "I need you to deliver a message to Rei-chan for me," Yoshino replied with a smile that lit up the entire room.
Author's Note:
This is the sequel to Cinderella. If you have not read it first I strongly suggest you do so or you may not understand what is happening here. As with Cinderella, I am working with subtle changes to the original story and how it unfolded. I have all but the last chapter already written and so I can say that like its predecessor Cinderella, The Glass Slipper will also only have six chapters to it. I hope you'll enjoy my altered retelling of the story we all know and love. Perhaps I should say "Stories" as while it is a Marimite story it is also very much a Cinderella story as well.
Japanese Words Used:
Shinai - A split bamboo sword used for Kendo practice
As always, though certainly not required, I do appreciate any and all reviews, comments and Private Messages. Please let me know what you like and what you disliked.
Kind Regards,
EJ Daniels
All characters within this story, unless otherwise stated are the sole property of Oyuki Konno the original writer of the Maria-sama ga Miteru light novel series.