A/N: All characters from the Manga/Anime are slightly OOC. They ought to be since this is set way past their high school days, and an assumption that they have changed should be at the very least logical.

No copyright infringement is intended. I do not claim to own Maria-sama Ga Miteru and all it's characters.

This story is more dialogue-based, if not soliloquy inspired.

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"Promise me you'll never forget me because if I thought you would I'd never leave"--Winnie the Pooh.

That was the only thing Youko left for her. A note; a page ripped out of a small reporter's notepad that Sei brought along wherever she went. It wasn't even a damn personal note. It had to be a quote from an overweight bear who had an aversion to underwear. The note did not last for a day, as Sei immediately burned it, but the words remained etched in her mind to her dismay. She nursed her drink while she depressingly slumped on top of the bar.

"Long night?", the very attractive bartender inquired with a hint of flirting.

"That's why I'm here", Sei muttered. She stared with a pang of envy at the ice cubes that floated inside the glass; they melted little by little with each full stir. This is exactly what she wished for her to happen--melt in oblivion.

"It must be my lucky night then", the bartender cooed. "And to think I almost switched shifts with another employee"

Sei frowned and lifted her head to get a good look at the other girl. Bartenders are supposed to flirt a little with their customers. The bartender smiled playfully and winked at her as she prepared another drink for another seemingly depressed customer. "You're new here, aren't you?" Sei asked. Her eyes still gazed at her drink as she carefully thumbed through the glass.

"Just got in last night". Sei noticed the girl spoke with a certain weak brogue. Though she's not surprised since this bar has been a watering hole of ex-pats from America, it was quite unusual to have a Caucasian bartender, let alone with a non-American accent.

"Scottish?"

"Irish, actually"

"Same difference", Sei said.

"Like the Koreans, Japanese, and Chinese?"

Sei smirked. "touché. So what's an Irish doing in Tokyo?"

"I used to...be in the fashion industry...I just got sick and tired of that life. So I just woke up one day and decided, it's time to leave" Images of Youko flashed in Sei's head. She just packed up and left as well. She wondered if that's exactly how Youko felt. Waking up one morning and got sick and tired of her.

"The fashion industry is a dog-eat-dog world, an environment that would have made Thomas Hobbes proud", the Irish girl interrupted. "Man is a wolf to man, the philosopher wrote. And a model's career fits like a glove with Hobbes' view that life is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.I was at the peak of my career, but I damn well knows that my 15 minutes are ticking loudly. I wasn't going to go down the road that other models took, washed-up, and begging for jobs. I've got the money, I figured I'll find another life where 25 years old isn't considered old"

"Easy as that?" Sei asked absentmindedly. Her thoughts were focused on the fact that this girl had just debunked her notion on models. Quoting an Enlightenment philosopher was impressive.

"Got no one left behind", the girl replied.

Sei pursed her lips. Those words hit hard. Youko had someone whom she left behind. But that didn't stop her.

"Caitlyn Byrne", the bartender said as she leaned against the bar, extending her hand.

"Can't be more Irish than that", Sei retorted as she shook Caitlyn's hand.

The girl laughed. "Well, yes. It would be terribly weird if my name was Elizabeth Jones"

"Truer words were never spoken. Satou Sei"

"Heartbroken?"

Sei's eyes narrowed. "Clairvoyant?"

"A very attractive girl, I say, early 20's? Alone in a small bar, taking whiskey and Coke"

Sei smirked and nodded her head in agreement. "I'm impressed"

"And I'm curious" Caitlyn asked as she poured another shot of Johnny Walker and mixed it with Coke. She expertly slid the glass on top of the bar and accurately stopped in front of Sei. "So...what's your story, Satou Sei?