A/N: As I was listening to a song entitled Fighting Temptations, I thought, why not write something related to the title? Don't mind the lyrics because I don't know ;)

And so as I was lying in my bed, I thought about how the story would go. At first, I wanted to write only about Sachiko and Yumi but then I thought again, why not try including the others as well? So here it is. The first one is about Youko.

My 6th story!

Read at your own risk!

And, I don't own them, okay? ;)

"Fighting Temptations"

---Arvendell---

Chapter 1. Youko's Resolve

Mizuno Youko was a calm, collected, and intelligent young woman. Those characteristics alone had always made her stand out from the rest ever since she was just a child. People looked at her with awe and admiration. People thought that no one and nothing could shake her. Only a few people knew that despite that calm and cold appearance, beneath was a caring woman and a loving friend. And no one knew that still underneath, was a woman in struggles to keep her love best hidden to everyone and mostly to the person she was in love with. No one knew. Well, maybe except for one person. She suspected that her beloved little sister, Ogasawara Sachiko, knew about her feelings but kept it to herself. Perhaps she too, understood Youko's situation.

Being in love to a person who was in love with another was hard. But Youko had painfully learned to set them at the depths of her heart. Although there were still times that she wished that that person loved her back. She knew that she cared for her, and loved her, but only as a friend.

Satou Sei.

The name that could shake Youko's resolve.

Satou Sei whom she loved in secret.

Satou Sei whose heart had been sealed away along with Kubo Shiori's departure, the person she fell in love with when they were in high school.

Youko sighed.

When she left Lillian to pursue her studies in a law school, she thought that finally she could keep her mind off Sei. But she was wrong. Certainly, law school had kept her busy. But it didn't stop her from thinking about that person. How was she faring? Was she all right? Thoughts like that.

And so when she had some free time, she came back to Lillian, not the Lillian Girls Academy but to the Lillian University. Although she would have also love to see Sachiko and the others, she chose to see Sei.

Their meeting had been a pleasant surprised. Sei was delighted to see her. She had smiled that flirting smile of hers and took her hand and led her to the University Cafeteria. They had a nice chat. Her mind settled. She could see that Sei was doing fine. She was even secretly jealous to learn that there was someone who was close to Sei.

However, she had to be happy for her beloved. And so she smiled when that person was introduced to her.

Katou Kei.

A quick look was all she needed to see that the woman was a good person. Thus, despite her heartache, she was glad. Now that Sei was moving on perfectly well, she had to move on, too. Right at that moment, she decided that she would now focus on her studies and her studies alone.

When the time came, she bid her goodbye to Sei. The latter was clearly disappointed and insisted that she should stay the night at Sei's apartment. She refused. The sooner she could get away from there, the better.

Sei said firmly that if she didn't want to stay, she'd take Youko to the train station. She wanted to refuse again but Sei seemed to know it ahead because she took her hand and never let go until they reached the latter's apartment, which was just near the University. Sei went inside without letting her go, picked what she assumed as car keys, and then led her to the parking area where a yellow car stood alone. She gave up trying to fight Sei and got in the car with a sigh.

The car ride was quite eventful. Sei drove like a mad woman. As she clung to whatever her hand stumbled upon as Sei's car zoomed fast, she didn't noticed that they were not heading to the train station but in fact, away from it. She only noticed it when Sei stopped the car and she finally gathered her wits. She looked around and noticed that they were in a park.

"Sei, wherever did you learn to drive like that? More importantly, what are we doing here?"

Sei flashed a mischievous grin.

"We're here because I'm kidnapping the future lawyer Mizuno Youko."

She glared at the blonde woman.

"Come on, Youko. You're always busy. And when you finally come for a visit, you'll leave shortly. That's just so unfair."

Who was being unfair here? Youko wanted to scream. Nevertheless, she remained calm.

"So tell me, Youko. What is your problem?" Sei asked after a moment.

"Problem? I don't have any problem, Sei, except that I won't be able to make it home on time if you don't take me back to the station now."

Sei laughed before her expression turned serious.

"I'm not joking, Youko. I know you. You never do things without a purpose."

"Purpose? Well, I'm just looking for a chance to meddle on your affairs, that's all," she said in half-truth.

"Indeed. But I can see that there's more to it, Youko my dear."

When she kept quiet, Sei probed deeper.

"You wouldn't want to hear it, Sei, so you'd better take me back and not ask any more questions."

Something indefinable crossed Sei's eyes as she regarded her for a moment before she turned the engine of the car.

"Sei…"

"I'll take you back. Don't worry," Sei said with a smile.

"I'm sorry, Sei."

"What are you saying sorry for? Come on now, Youko."

She was hurt by such nonchalant response. But maybe, it was better this way.

During their ride to the train station, she and Sei were unusually quiet. They bid each other goodbye and as she was about to turn away, Sei reached out and kissed her cheeks and smiled feebly.

"Take care, Youko."

And then Sei was gone. It took Youko a lot of willpower not to run after her.

Youko sighed for the second time. They hadn't communicated since then. Even if she badly wanted to, she didn't try to. What was she going to say? Should she confess and then scare Sei away? Maybe it was better this way.

With renewed resolve, Youko opened her book to study some more.

A/N: Please tell me what you think. I haven't written anything about the others yet, except the chapter for Sachiko, although I have some ideas already about the other characters.

30 January 2008