Disclaimer: Nothing's mine but the plot!
A/N: There is repetition at the beginning and end of the piece, and I want everyone to know that I did that ON PURPOSE! Now, on to the fic! =D
Shades of Sapphire
After nearly two years, Yumi knew her onee-sama better than most- definitely well enough to know that the only way to discover how Sachiko truly felt was through her beautiful eyes, the one part of herself that she couldn't hide behind the mask. When she was angry, they would flash with a momentary blue fire, like a lightning bolt on an otherwise peaceful night. Happiness mellowed to a soft, pearly, pale blue silk, and sadness, a single light in a dark, crowded city. And the one emotion and expression combination that Yumi was sure was completely and totally unique to her beautiful, betrothed onee-sama...
...hurt, and Sachiko's eyes would freeze like the arctic.
PGBR
Ogasawara Sachiko had known from the day that she was old enough to comprehend that she would marry her cousin Kashiwagi Suguru. It wasn't as if it had ever been a burden- indeed, she had loved him at one time, but looking back, she wondered if she had ever loved him at all, or if she had merely jaded herself into believing that she did for the mere purpose of protecting herself from falling in love with someone she couldn't ever be with.
Because that had always been the only thing, hadn't it? Her heart had always been the one thing that she alone could control so she sealed it away in ice and promised herself never to let it melt.
And it had been perfectly fine just like that- until she met Fukuzawa Yumi, her petite soeur, the living and breathing proof of why it had been so important to hide behind her mask.
Because sometimes, when she was around the adorable, vibrant girl, something inside of her would relax, and her heart would begin to melt without her noticing at all. Sometimes, when she glanced down to her side to find Yumi smiling brilliantly up at her, she would feel a rush of something that she hadn't in so long.
And then something would happen to break the spell- Satou Sei would leap onto Yumi's back or Yumi would become to friendly with someone for Sachiko's liking- and it was like a slap in the face as she realized how close she had been to falling and she would recover instantly, the ice creeping back up and around the crevices of her aching heart and numbing her over once again.
PGBR
Fukuzawa Yumi let out a long sigh, her face as expressive as ever as she stared out the window, her eyes lidded and her mouth in one flat line. It had been days- almost a week since she had seen her onee-sama smile. She could remember the exact moment that it started, as well.
She and Yoshino, Rosa Foetida en bouton, had been sitting in the Rose Mansion before the others arrived, bored and exhausted from beginning of the year exams, when Yumi had made the fatal mistake of mentioning Sei's graduation present.
Of course Yoshino refused to let the subject drop until Yumi confessed exactly what she had given Sei, and as soon as she told her, the braided girl instantly repeated the news at twice Yumi's volume. With as much impeccable timing as ever, Sachiko had chosen that moment to enter the meeting room with the new Rosa Gigantea, Shimako. Her onee-sama had said nothing on the subject, though Yumi knew that she had heard Yoshino's exclamation by the iciness in which she announced the combined festival with Hanadera.
"...mi-chan?"
"Yumi!"
Yumi jerked up, coming face to face with an aggravated Yoshino and an apologetic Shimako. "Sorry, did I drift off?" she asked dazedly, much to Yoshino's chagrin.
"Yessss," the braided girl said in annoyance. "Class has been over for five minutes now, Yumi-chan."
Yumi hung her head, her face falling. "Sorry," she said once again. "I just haven't been getting much sleep lately."
Shimako frowned, concerned for her usually vibrant friend. "Is everything okay?" she asked slowly, and, not knowing exactly how to word the question she really wanted to know.
"Yeah, you and Sachiko-sama haven't been around each other at all for a while now," Yoshino stated bluntly, rubbing her chin in thought as Yumi and Shimako sweatdropped.
I wonder why..., Yumi thought, and it was apparent that the same thought was running through Shimako's head, though the soft-spoken beauty hid her emotions much better than Yumi.
"You don't think Rosa Chinesis could be jealous?"
The three girls jumped slightly, Yumi more so than the other two, and stared up at Tsutako, who had her camera dangling from one hand as usual. "J-jealous of what, Tsutako-chan?" Yumi asked, confused.
"Of your intimate farewell gift to the previous Rosa Gigantea, of course," she explained, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"H-how did you know about that?" Yoshino looked slightly alarmed.
"I have my sources," Tsutako said, flashing them a peace sign as she turned to leave. "But please consider it, Yumi-chan!"
Once she was gone, Yumi turned her gaze back to the desk in front of her. "Onee-sama wouldn't be jealous," she murmured. "But she never did like Sei-sama much, so maybe she thought it was unladylike..."
Yoshino resisted the strong urge to roll her eyes. Unladylike, she says...geez, Yumi-chan. "But maybe Camera-chan was right," she said out loud to a shocked expression from Yumi and a thoughtful one from Shimako. "You're right in that Sachiko-sama never really liked Sei-sama, but it was worse whenever she jumped you."
"Yes, it makes sense for Rosa Chinesis to be a little jealous," Shimako added thoughtfully, thinking of her own petite soeur and how she would feel if someone, especially someone like her onee-sama, had their hands all over Noriko. She shuddered slightly. "It was obvious that she never liked the way onee-sama was so intimate with you."
"And a kiss is a whole new base!" Yoshino finished.
"B-but why would onee-sama be jealous of me if she didn't like-"
At this, Yoshino literally had to keep her hands by her sides to keep from ripping the braids right out of her head. "She's not jealous of you," she enunciated slowly. "She was jealous of Sei-sama, the way she was always touching you in ways that Sachiko-sama never has. And now that she knows you kissed her, of course she's going to be more than a little frosty!"
"Ano...that was you, Yoshino-chan," Yumi muttered softly, just a little bit shell-shocked by the conclusion that her friends had come to. "And I think she just disapproves-"
"Of course she disapproves. Now we just have to prove to her that she means more to you than Sei-sama," Yoshino said, her voice taking on a thoughtful tone. "Onee-sama told me that Sachiko-sama has some extra business to tie up in the Rose Mansion before the meeting..."
PGBR
"Yumi? What are you doing here so early?"
Yumi spun around at her onee-sama's beautiful voice- her onee-sama, who was frowning at her reaction to her words. "Ano...I thought you might want some company, onee-sama," she said, fumbling over what to say before smiling brightly up at Sachiko, fighting back a blush and failing miserably.
The raven-haired beauty simply let out a short sigh as she was known to do, especially around Yumi-chan. "I suppose it can't be helped," she murmured in resignation before turning back to the stack of papers in front of her. "Please make some tea, Yumi."
"Of course!" Yumi set to work with the tea, and Sachiko continued with the work that she had been doing before Yumi got there for a moment before she heard a squeal from across the room.
"Yumi?"
"Yes, onee-sama?" Yumi turned, giving Sachiko a meek smile. Her onee-sama frowned, instantly noticing that something was wrong seconds before her gaze fell to the hand that her petite soeur was favoring.
"Have you hurt yourself?" she asked quietly as she got up and walked over to Yumi, taking her hand in her own. Yumi blushed heavily at the sensation of the soft, silky skin beneath her fingers. Sachiko raised her eyes to Yumi's and sighed internally at her petite soeur's expression. You really are hopeless, aren't you? "Let me see."
"It-it's nothing," Yumi replied quickly, pulling away from Sachiko's touch because she wasn't sure how much longer she could stand the close contact with the sweet raspberry vanilla scent of her onee-sama intoxicating her senses. "Really, I was just being clumsy."
Sachiko's eyes narrowed minutely and she grabbed hold of Yumi's wrist. "Yumi," she said sternly. "I will decide whether it is 'nothing' or something completely different."
Yumi felt her breath catch in her throat from the implication of her beautiful onee-sama's words. She looked up at Sachiko and couldn't stop her face from falling as she was met with the expanse of ice that she had feared. "O-onee-sama..."
"Do you really prefer her over me?"
Yumi's eyes widened at Sachiko's soft question. "O-onee-sama, I..."
"Are you really so afraid of me that you cannot tell me the truth, Yumi?" Sachiko asked quietly, running her thumb gently over the mild burn on Yumi's palm.
Yumi stumbled over her thoughts for a minute as she tried to find the words because Sachiko's eyes were hardening quickly and she couldn't afford for this moment to pass her by. "She asked me to, onee-sama," Yumi replied. "She asked it as a last favor to her- I didn't want to make her sad."
Sachiko closed her eyes for a moment as a long breath escaped her nose. "No, of course you didn't," she finally said, smiling down at Yumi meekly. "I should have known...and what if I asked you to kiss me, Yumi? Would you spare my feelings in the same way?"
"No."
Yumi's answer was so quiet that Sachiko almost missed it, and most definitely wished she had. "I...see," she said slowly.
"I wouldn't," Yumi repeated quietly, "because it wouldn't be fair to you to pretend that I feel the same for you as I do for Sei-sama."
And Sachiko swallowed, retreating into her fortress of ice because oh, she was crumbling on the inside and then...
"I...I love you, onee-sama." But the words were said with a certain level of guilt, as if her petite soeur was just barely telling enough of the truth to avoid telling a lie. "I-I'm in love with you...not Sei."
And then Sachiko looked up and Yumi was crying, her body wracked with silent sobs. "Yumi..."
"I- I tried, onee-sama, I tried not to, but-"
The look in Sachiko's eyes had forced her to cut herself off- she was being faced with something strange, something she had never seen in her onee-sama's eyes before. And before she could place it, Sachiko drew her to her chest and spoke into her hair, her voice sending warm vibrations through Yumi's spine. "Why did you let yourself hurt so much?" she mused quietly. "I'm sure I'm not worth so much pain."
Just as Yumi opened her mouth to protest like Sachiko had known she would, the beautiful heiress took Yumi's chin in her hand and pulled her petite soeur's head up towards her until their lips met and she reclaimed what was hers.
And it was sweet and salter and wet and beautiful and finally, finally the burn began to fade.
PGBR
When the two broke apart, they rested their foreheads together and Yumi chanced a glance into Sachiko's eyes and was finally able to place the new emotion.
Two pools of deep, liquid sapphire gazed hazily into her own mocha eyes as Sachiko ducked her head down for another soft kiss, sitting down and pulling Yumi into her lap, her hands clutching at Yumi's waist.
Yumi bit down on Sachiko's lower lip after a moment and wrapped her arms around her onee-sama's shoulders as she lowered her head, causing the heiress's lips to rest against her forehead. Taking comfort the rising and falling of her onee-sama's chest, Yumi found herself thinking about colors once again. Or, more specifically, many shades of a single color.
Happiness was soft and pearly blue, like silk, and sadness was dark cerulean and lonely, like a crowded city at night. Anger was a sharp, almost cutting flash of blue, like lightening, hurt was a cracked, frosty, opalescent blue, like ice...
...and love was the color of sapphires shimmering in the night.