(Note: Except the characters from Marimite, the author owns all characters. All events or occurrences, figures, or establishments in the following selections are purely fiction and have no connection to the original story.)


Hey, have you heard?

That line. Yumi has been hearing this line since she arrived a few minutes earlier. A new student is coming to class today. It was an unusual time for Lillian to accept transferees more than a month after school opened, and this information has become a buzz among students.

A new student? Now, what was Lillian thinking? Yumi wanted to join all the other girls for idle talk, but --

Click!

Yumi put her pen down and lifted her head. Tsutako… she had done it again.

"You're supposed to be the curious type," the bespectacled student wondered as she put down her camera.

"I want to… really," Yumi said, sighing. "But…" Wait. She paused, looking about. Someone seemed to be missing in action. "Where's Mami-san?"

"Mami-san? Oh, she wanted to get a closer look."

"Closer… look?"

Tsutako shrugged. "I don't know. She has people to look into that for her. But… ah, I don't know," she said in a rather perplexed tone. "That's her after all." She then looked about. "Yoshino-san and Shimako-san, are they --?"

The class suddenly quieted down.

"Eh?" Yumi uttered. Her classmates seemed to have gone tongue-tied and frozen on their places. They were all looking toward the door. With Tsutako, Yumi looked to the same direction.

A new face in Lillian uniform was at the door. She stood tall, coffee-brown mess of hair worn down to her shoulders. Dark, gentle eyes shielded by round-edged rectangular frames. A firm, deadpan expression on her face showed as she looked across the room. She turned to Yumi's direction, then meeting her eyes.

Yumi stared back. The new girl's eyes were gentle, but they seemed to pierce right through her. They seemed to see right through her… like her Onee-sama's. The new girl's eyes reminded her of her Onee-sama's.

The new girl stepped aside as the teacher and the Head of the Academy entered the classroom. The Head of the Academy gestured the new girl to enter. The girl approached, head slightly tilted toward the floor.

"Everyone, please settle down," the teacher said. "Everyone to their seats."

The girls quickly and quietly sat down.

The Head of the Academy cleared her throat and began to speak. "Everyone, here before you is a new student from France. She will be joining us starting today…"

"She looks so dignified in our uniform," Yoshino whispered from behind Yumi. "I wonder why she came in just now."

"Me too," Yumi whispered back.

"My name is Sawada Hitomi," the new girl said in a deep, calm voice. "I'm pleased to meet you all." She bowed courteously.

'She doesn't speak like she's from France at all,' Yumi said to herself. But then, how do people from France speak? Her face formed another expression at the thought of this.

"Please feel free to ask questions before Sawada-san takes her seat," the teacher said.

"What school did you come from?" asked one.

"I'm from the Mnemosyne Academy of the Arts," Hitomi answered.

"Mne… Mnemo…" Yumi mumbled.

"Mnemosyne Academy of the Arts," Tsutako whispered. "It's a prestigious arts school in France for boys and girls."

"Boys and girls…?" A school for boys and girls. Yumi was curious of how it was studying in one.

"What's France like?" asked another.

"When did you come to Japan?" someone asked from the back.

"Were you born in France?"

"What's it like studying in your old school?"

"What do you do there?"

The questions came flying toward Hitomi, one seeming to overlap another. What's, why's, when's… they all came to her without pause or a moment to answer each one. And then, almost everyone began to speak.

"Now, now, everyone, settle down," the Head of the Academy said, breaking all conversations. "Class is about to start. Please reserve your questions for Sawada-san for next time."

The teacher directed Hitomi to the seat on the left of Yumi. "Please make yourself comfortable on the vacant seat next to Fukuzawa-san."

"Thank you, Sensei," Hitomi said, bowing courteously to the teacher. She approached the seat next to Yumi and settled comfortably on it.

"Ah, Fukuzawa-san," the teacher suddenly called Yumi.

"Hai!" Yumi answered.

"Please give Sawada-san a tour of the school grounds during your free time."

"Yes, Sensei," Yumi said. 'Free… time.' She was not supposed to feel uneasy about this as she was Rosa Chinensis en bouton. But somehow… why is it? Something about the new student seemed to make people seem to wonder… wonder the same way as they did toward Rosa Chinensis.


Noon. Lunchtime.

'Ah, finally…' Hitomi sat on the bench, sighing to her relief. Finally, she had lost them. Finally, she was alone. It was only her first day in Lillian, but the news of her transfer had spread like a deadly plague. She has not even known all her classmates' names, and then, girls from the other classes and batches have started approaching her. This was not Hitomi had in mind when she came to Lillian, when she came to Japan, more so… Then again, she was from a foreign land. Who was she kidding?

'This is no longer Mnemosyne, Hitomi,' she said to herself. 'It's a different world here…' Very different. One, it was not arts school. Another, it was an all-girls' school. And lastly, here… she would be plain Sawada Hitomi, just as she wished. No more than that. Really? She has lost faith in that now. She was assured of that once, twice, but somehow, why was it that someone manages to uncover her secret?

Hitomi sighed. She thought that if she continued all those thoughts, they would lead to one after another, causing the chain she did not wish to touch at the moment. She then lifted her head toward the blue sky as she released the invisible weight on her shoulders. It was then she remembered what her father and her grandmother have always told her, that even if people were born as they are, they share the same sky. This principle will guide her onward the course of life, her life as she will succeed them one day. One day… Hitomi sighed again. Her worries may have subsided now, but they will come back. It was up to her… if she will try to live as chance has given… or if she will spend the next few years worrying as she did previously.

The light from above passed through the lens of her bifocals to her eyes. 'Will things be different this time?' she asked. 'Please tell me…' And it was then she felt a light, cool breeze brush against her warm cheeks.

"You're new here, aren't you?"

Slightly startled, Hitomi turned to her right. A lady in a light green and yellow dress was sitting next to her. The headband that pushed her short, brown hair showed the prominence of her forehead.

"You are…?" the lady asked again.

Hitomi moved an inch away from the lady. She did not know her, and she was asking for her name. She was slightly relieved the lady did not know her at all. But…

"Did I scare you?" the lady asked.

Hitomi sat still, holding her stare at the odd lady next to her. Still, she kept her silence.

"My name is Torii Eriko. I graduated last year," the lady introduced herself. "And you are…?"

"Sawada Hitomi," Hitomi finally spoke. "Second Year Pine Group. I'm pleased to meet you… Torii-san?"

Eriko giggled.

Hitomi gave Eriko a rather perplexed look. She did not know whether the lady next to her laughed because she had a funny way of saying it or if she said it the wrong way.

"Oh… I'm sorry if I seemed to have forgotten my manners," Eriko said, smiling. "It's fine if you'll call me that. You were so interesting from afar. I thought I might…" She paused as she turned from Hitomi. "Get a closer look…?"

Hitomi relaxed on the bench as she turned from Eriko. Eriko seemed so strange, but somehow… Hitomi found a spot of relief.

"Your eyes are grey, aren't they?"

"Yes," Hitomi answered shyly.

"They're beautiful," Eriko said.

Hitomi turned from Eriko. The compliment seemed to rouse the uneasiness that had just died down in her system.

"You have a scar on your forehead."

Eriko's words struck Hitomi. No one was to know about it. Her hair covered the scar, so no one would notice it. The air must have revealed it a little. But if so, Eriko must have been close enough to see it. 'Had Torii-san been that close enough to see it?' Hitomi asked herself.

"It's all right… I won't ask."

Hitomi said nothing and looked to the sky again. Torii-san had an odd way of approaching her, but somehow…

"You look the part, Sawada-san," Eriko suddenly said. "Lillian could use someone like you…"

Someone like herself… Hitomi put her head down and wondered what Eriko had meant.

"Sawada-san!"

Hitomi looked to her left. Fukuzawa-san…? Upon recognizing who was calling her, she stood from the bench.

"There you are," Yumi said, stopping near Hitomi. "We've been looking for you."

"I'm sorry," Hitomi said, bowing.

"No, no, it was my fault," Yumi said. "I… um… lost track…" She paused, her face forming a rather animated expression. "Ah, anou…" she quickly added. "I can give you a tour after class. It's much better that way, isn't it?"

"Yes," Hitomi nodded. "Thank you."

"What were you doing here?" Yumi asked.

Hitomi turned around. The bench was now empty. Torii-san… where did she go? "Nothing… I just wanted time alone."

"Ah, I see," Yumi said. "We'd better go back now, or we'll be late."

Hitomi nodded and walked with Yumi back to class. And while, she did, she wondered where Eriko had gone.