(This fiction is based on the characters and settings created by Oyuki Konno)
Penalty Game
When she saw the final results posted, Yoshino stomped her foot on the ground. "How could we have lost?"
I walked over breathless from finishing the color relay. "I'm sorry Yoshino-san. It's my fault. I did come in last after all." I said contritely.
"Don't blame yourself Yumi-san. You tried your best." Yoshino said as she put her arm around me. "But what will you do about Your bet with Kanako?"
"I'll have to follow through with it." I said, "Hopefully it won't be that bad. I better go and find out. See you." I waved as I left to find Kanako to fulfill my side of the bet.
I finally found her at the other end of the athletic field. I went up to her and said, "Congratulations, you did a great job Kanako-chan."
"Thank you, Yumi-sama. You did well also." Kanako stated.
I sighed and gathered up my courage to ask, "What is it you want me to do to bay off the bet?"
Kanako smiled at me and said. "It's not that difficult a task Yumi-sama. You must go out on a date with me."
"Eh, a date?" I stammered, showing my surprise.
"Yes, a date." Kanako repeated. " I will leave the date and time up to you." With that statement, Kanako turned and walked away.
The next morning, before school, I told my friends, Yoshino and Shimako, about my side of the bet.
"A date?" Yoshinio said, "Well that isn't do bad."
"Eh, " I exclaimed blushing, "The only dates I have ever been on have been with onee-sama. I'm nervous."
"It will all work out, Yumi-san. You will see." Shimako added soothing me with her serenity.
"If you say so." I said sounding skeptical.
I met up with Kanako after school, as she was heading home. I asked her if this Sunday was a good time for her and asked, "Where are we going?"
Kanako replied. " I was thinking the amusement park. If that's alright with you?"
"That's' fine." I responded and headed to the Rose Mansion. This isn't as bad as I thought. I actually love the amusement park. I've being trying to get Sachiko, my onee-sama, to take me for a while now, but she keeps putting me off.
Over the rest of the week, I found myself looking forward to Sunday. I wanted to start my relationship over with Kanako anyway; And the amusement park would be a fun, enjoyable way for us to get to know each other.
*** Sunday ***
We agreed to meet at the train station at 10 am. I arrived a little after 9:30. When I got there I saw Kanako lost in thought, pacing. She didn't even notice me until I went up to her and greeted her. "Hi Kanako-chan. Were you waiting long?"
"No." She replied, "I just got here a few moments ago myself. Are you ready?" she asked smiling.
I grinned back. "Whenever you are."
We boarded the train that would take us to the amusement park.
We arrived at the park and queued up to get our tickets. As I pulled out my purse to get money to pay, Kanako said, " Don't worry, Yumi-sama I got it."
"Kanako-chan, I can't let you do that. I can pay for myself." I told her.
Kanako shot back, her eyes showing frustration. "But I invited you. I should pay."
"Let's not have a repeat of the 'bread incident'. I don't want you wasting all of your money on me." I told the younger girl. " If you insist on this, then I am leaving." I added as I turned to step out of line.
The taller girl grabbed at my arm to stop me. " I don't think that it's a waste." She said softly, as I turned back to her. When I looked, I could see tears forming in the corners of her eyes.
"Tell you what, " I said. "Let me pay for my entrance fee, and if you really want to do something for me, you can pay for lunch." I added. Kanako brightened at that and agreed.
We finally mad it to the attendant, paid for ourselves, and entered the park. I felt giddy with all the sounds and bright colors around me. I looked over at the long-haired girl next to me and saw that she was happy also. " What do you want to do first?" I asked.
"Whatever you want to do is fine by me." She replied.
"Let's ride the haunted house first." I stated. I grabbed her hand and started running toward the ride. We didn't have a long wait in line and soon we were getting into the car. The car started moving and when we mad it through the doors, we were enveloped in darkness.
When the first ghoul popped up in front of us, Kanako shrieked and grabbed onto my arm. "Kanako-chan, It's not real." I giggled as I took her shaking hand in mine. "Don't worry, I'll protect you." I added as I leaned into her.
"Thank you," she said and gently squeezed my hand. It felt nice. I looked over to check on her and I noticed her gazing at me. I turned my head and blushed. We spent the rest of the ride holding hands, shrieking and giggling every time something jumped out at us. When we exited the ride, I looked at the girl next to me. She was beaming with happiness.
After the haunted house, ,we walked around and rode some other rides: the merry-go-round, the spinning teacups, and the bumper cars. I looked up at Kanako to see how she was enjoying herself and our eyes met. I blushed and felt my heartbeat quicken as our gazes locked. I looked away quickly, knowing my face was beet red.
"What's wrong, Yumi-sama?" Kanako asked me, concerned.
"Oh, nothing." I replied with a sigh. "Would you like to get lunch?" I changed the subject.
"Sure, let's go." She said and we made our way to the food stalls. Once there we decided to eat western and got 2 hamburgers, fries and drinks. I thanked Kanako after she paid. She looked at me and smiled brightly. My heart sped up when she looked at me. I am really starting to like this girl, I thought to myself.
While we ate we talked. We talked about school, what music we liked, thing we didn't like. I found out quickly that Kanako didn't like talking about her family, so I didn't press the issue. We talked more about the events coming up this year at school. "Kanako-chan, can I ask you something?" I queried.
"Sure, Yumi-sama." she affirmed.
"Why did you choose a date?" I asked.
"Well, ever since I yelled at you in the greenhouse, before the Handeran Festival. I have been wondering what the 'real' Yumi-sama was like. I figured this would be a good way to find out. She answered.
"And what do you think so far?" I followed up.
"I like being around the 'real' Yumi-sama better. She is much more approachable now." She responded smiling at me.
"I like being around Kanako-chan too." I said as my face turned red.
I felt really comfortable around Kanako. More so than when I am with Sachiko. I don't know if it is because she is younger than me, or the fact that her feelings aren't locked up in a vault, or maybe the softness in her eyes as she looked at me. But I was truly enjoying myself.
We cleaned up our lunch debris, and continued walking around the park. We went on the roller coaster together, laughing and screaming as we swooped up and down. When we got off the coaster we sat for a bit to relax. Sitting on the bench I turned to her. "Kanako-chan, I really like spending time with you, think we can be friends again?" I asked, looking down fearing the answer.
Kanako reached out to cup my cheek, raising my head as she responded. "I would love to be you friend, Yumi-chan. I was worried that you would have hated me after the bad things I said to you."
"I was hurt for a little while after that, but I just knew you misunderstood who I was. And I wanted to resolve things between us, because I missed your presence. That's why I proposed the bet. Win or lose we were talking. And if we were talking, I had a chance to rectify the way you saw me." I told her.
"I'm sorry I hurt you." the younger girl apologized and put her arm around me. "I don't want to do that again. Do you forgive me?"
"Of course I do. We're friends now. Right Kanako-chan." I replied as I wrapped my arms around Kanako and gave her a big hug.
Kanako and I walked around the park a bit more, until we cam to the arcade, a row of booths having everything from video games to games of skill. As we walked down the lane, looking at the prizes we could win, I saw this cute pink teddy bear with a red rose on the collar. "Look at all these bears, Kanako-chan. Aren't they cute?"
"Why don't you try and win one Yumi-sama." Kanako suggested.
"I think I will." I said as I placed the money on the counter in front of me.
The object of this game was to throw a ball, and knock down three sets of cans, stacked in the shape of a pyramid, with three balls. The man behind the counter took the money and gave me three balls. I took the first ball and threw it at the first set of cans. I only knocked the top can off it. The second ball I threw, missed horribly. My third ball ended up knocking the rest of the first pyramid over. "Oh well, I never have been any good at these things." I sighed.
"Let me try." Kanako said as she placed more money on the counter in exchange for three balls. She threw the first ball and it hit dead center of the stack of cans. The stack didn't survive the onslaught. Kanako moved to stand in front of the next pyramid. She threw her second ball, and that stack came crashing down. She took a deep breath as she aimed for the last remaining pyramid of cans. She threw the third and final ball at the stack. She jumped for joy as the last set of cans fell over.
"What will it be young lady?" The stall attendant asked.
Kanako looked at me and asked, "Yumi-sama, which bear would you like?"
"You won it; It should be your choice." I told the girl next to me.
"Oh, all right, I'll pick." Kanako stated. "I'll take that pink one with the rose." She told the man as she pointed to the exact bear I spotted earlier. The man reached for where she pointed, and handed her the bear.
Kanako then handed me the bear. "Thank you, Kanako-chan" I said smiling, " How did you know that was the bear I had my eye on?" I continued.
"I think I am beginning to know how Yumi-sama thinks." She teased me and my face turned red.
"Thank you again Kanako-chan." I told her. She grabbed my hand as we walked away, with my new bear under the other arm.
At the end of the lane was a photo booth. " Come on, Kanako-chan! Let's get some pictures" I exclaimed as I dragged her into the booth. I fed my money into the machine, pulled Kanako close to me, with our cheeks touching. The flash went off and our pictures were taken. "Let's get another rest for Kanko-chan!" I said and repeated the process. Within minutes our strips of pictures came out of the machine, and I handed one to Kanako.
I looked down at the pictures. We both looked extremely happy together. It warmed my heart to see the joy and excitement in Kanako's eyes. I watched the taller girl looking at her pictures and noticed a tear forming in her eye. "What's wrong Kanako-chan?" I asked concerned.
She wiped her eyes and said, "Nothing Yumi-sama. It's just been so long since I have felt truly happy like this."
"I'm glad." I said smiling at her. "Let's try and do this again sometime. OK"
We walked around the park a little longer, then decided to call it a day. We were both tired. We left the park and boarded the train heading home. We sat next to each other on the ride back. I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember was waking up with Kanako's arm around my shoulder, and my head on her chest. I got up quickly, turning my head to hide my embarrassment, "I'm sorry." I cried, " I didn't mean to fall asleep on top of you."
"It's OK, Yumi-sama. I dozed off also. It felt nice having you near me." She told me, as he cheeks turned pink.
After we got off the train, I turned to Kanako and said. "I had a wonderful time Kanako-chan. Thank you."
She turned to face me. "Yumi-sama, if you still need help at the Rose Mansion, can I come help?" She asked.
"I would love the help, Kanako-chan." I responded.
Kanako quickly leaned over and kissed my cheek. I was taken by surprise. "Thank you for a wonderful day Yumi-Sama." She said as she ran off.
I rode home on the bus thinking of the younger girl. I looked down at the strip of pictures we took and smiled. I could still feel the light touch of Kanako's lips on my cheek. What does this mean? I wondered.
I got home, washed up and went to my room. I sat on my bed and hugged the cute pink teddy that Kanako won for me, as I thought about my feelings for the younger girl. We had a great time together at the park. After today I felt that we became really close. I'd feel really sad if she stayed away. I was very glad she would be helping us out. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on my door.
"Yumi, you have a phone call." My bother Yukki said as he handed me the phone.
"Hello, this is Yumi." I said as I brought the phone to my ear.
"Hello Yumi, how was your date with Kanako?" My onee-sama, Sachiko asked.
"Onee-sama, how did you know?" I answered her with a question.
"I have my sources." She chuckled. "So how was it?"
"I had a great time, onee-sama. And I think Kanako-chan did also. I really liked being out with her." I relied.
A moment of silence then Sachiko went on. "That's good."
"Can I ask you something onee-sama?"
"Sure." She replied.
"How did you know that you wanted me to be your petit soeur?" I asked.
"It just felt right in my heart. Are you thinking of asking Kanako to be your soeur, Yumi?" Sachiko said flatly.
"Would it upset you?" I replied
"If she is the person your heart tells you is right for you. I would accept her as your petit soeur." My onee-sama told me.
"Thank you for your advice onee-sama. I have to make another call. Can you meet me by the Maria statue before school tomorrow?' I asked.
"Sure." She agreed. "See you tomorrow Yumi. Good night."
"Good night onee-sama, I'll see you tomorrow." I said as I hung up the phone.
I picked up the phone again, called Kanako, and asked her to meet me at the school gates tomorrow morning.
The next day as I got off my bus, I saw Kanako waiting for me. As I approached her she smiled and said "Good day Yumi-sama."
"Good day." I replied and I took her hand in mine. "Come with me." We started waling up the path. As we approached the statue of Maria-sama, I could make out Sachiko standing there waiting for me. When Kanako saw her, I felt Kanako's hand stiffen and tremble. I squeezed it gently and told the younger girl. "Don't worry Kanako-chan, everything will be fine."
When we arrived at the statue, we both greeted Sachiko. Then I spoke up. "Onee-sama, I would like to make Kanako-chan my petit soeur. May I have your blessing?"
Sachiko looked over at a very surprised Kanako and asked her. "Would you like to be Yumi's petit soeur?"
It took Kanako a second to regain her voice, from the shock. "I w-would love to Sachiko-sama." She replied to the older girl.
I turned to Kanako. "Would you be my soeur?" I asked holding up the rosary Sachiko gave me not quite a year ago.
Kanako smiled at me, bent down and placed her head through the loop of the rosary. As she straightened I could see a tear in Sachiko's eye. She noticed and wiped it away quickly.
"Is there anything wrong, onee-sama?" I asked.
"Nothing." She said as she smiled at me and my new petit soeur Kanako. "Let's get to the mansion." she said as she turned and led us down the path.