Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-sama Ga Miteru. I just like to fool around with the story and characters. For fun. Not for profit.
A/N: Hey! Hao jiu bu jian! (Long time no see!)
Seems a few of you really liked this idea. I actually do too; small world! Thanks for the reviews Koryandrs, Isomniac1970, Jen, and random guests! I really appreciate them! I'll take your ideas down on my list and see what we can do! ^.^
On with the show!
The One-Thousand Faces of Yumi Fukuzawa
Happiness
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ha·pi·ness
/ˈhapɪnɪs/
Noun
The state of being happy
Synonyms
contentment –pleasure –satisfaction – cheerfulness
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"You know, Yumi-san's a really happy person."
The other members of the Yamayurikai looked up at Yoshino's declaration in mild surprise. The Rose Mansion wasn't usually a place for random conversation; there was usually a starting topic or something of the like. Just the fact that a random topic about one of the students that frequented the building being 'happy', with no introduction whatsoever, was enough to surprise everyone into stopping all of their activities. After a moment of reigning silence, they realized that the second year girl wanted someone else to join in the conversation, as she apparently wasn't going to elaborate.
"Yes. I am usually taken aback by how happy a person she is." Shimako chose to speak up from her seat beside Noriko. "Her positive attitude is a large benefit to the atmosphere of the Rose Mansion."
Yoshino nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. I am happy that you agree, Shimako-san." She said, a little too smugly. Sachiko raised her eyebrows in concern to the younger girl, and chanced a look to Rei, who shrugged, pleading ignorance.
"What are you trying to say, Yoshino-chan?" Sachiko asked, fighting but not quite winning to ignore the conversation that somehow became centered around her petite soeur. The girl shrugged and sent a smirk around the room.
"All I'm saying is she is a really happy person. She has a really nice face that shows her happiness to everyone." She put her finger on her cheek thoughtfully. "I wonder if we could do something to commemorate our happy Yumi. Something that we could-" She paused, choosing her words. "Have to always remember her happy expression." The meaning was clear enough now that everyone in the room fully understood what the girl was driving at.
"You want to capture her expression of happiness." Sachiko said. It wasn't a question.
"Absolutely." Came the response. "I mean, as far as I can remember, we haven't gotten her happy face into our collection. I think we are quite overdue. Wouldn't you agree?" Yoshino cast her eyes around the room, her face just as serious as it was alight with the sense of adventure.
"Alright." Sachiko said, letting out her breath in a sigh. "It seems you are set on this goal." She narrowed her eyes toward the younger girl. "Because it was your idea in the first place, would you be so kind as to come up with a plan?"
Yoshino clapped her hands together happily and leaned over to her bag. Ignoring everyone's stares, she rummaged through the satchel at her feet for a few moments, and then dug out a slightly crumpled sheet of paper. "Ah! There you are, you little guy!" She said, slapping the paper on the table. "Already accomplished, Sachiko-sama!" Apparently, from her preparedness, she hadn't intended to take 'no' for an answer.
Sachiko, followed by the others in the room, leaned in to look at the paper. Once she had-
"What… is this?" Sachiko said, blinking hard. The plan was, aside from very clearly rapidly put together, very crude and mainly comprised of drawings – doodles really. There were scribbles for bushes and trees, and little stick figures, both short and tall, at different parts of the paper. Each stick figure had arrows coming from them and small scribbled words written around them, each one explaining where the person were to go and what they were to do. A tall figure with short scratchy hair was labeled 'Rei-baka' in the corner. It was clear to all that Yoshino, aside from still as snippy as she ever was, was not very well artistically-endowed.
Sachiko eyed her own figure, a clear 'Sachiko-sama' written above the long-haired doodle. "And why do I look like a ghost?"
"Well, I was watching 'Ju-On' last night and…" Yoshino shrugged, coloring a little. "You know what? Nevermind. The important part is here…"
With that, Yoshino set about explaining her plan to the Yamayurikai. Surprisingly, the plan was well-thought out and played to the strengths of each person there. A very different outcome from the crude drawing presented at first. Somewhere in the back of Sachiko's mind, as Yoshino talked of her plan in a determined voice, she felt at ease knowing the Yamayurikai would be in good hands next year.
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Sachiko stood beside a tree alongside the long, ginko nut laden pathway between the school and the front gate. She had always hated the smell of ginko, and made it a point to pick a spot well enough away from the majority of the blasted things. Try though as she might, she couldn't find a spot free of them. Normally, she would have avoided the pathway altogether, only stopping to pray to the figure of Maria-sama on the way to the front gateway of Lillian. However, the plan called for her to wait there for Yumi.
Today was the day they would put their plan into action. Today was the day Sachiko, with the assistance of the other members of the Yamayurikai, would capture her petite soeur's expression of happiness. In truth, Sachiko didn't have to do anything besides stay with Yumi during the plan. Even so, Sachiko couldn't help but feel a stir of excitement when she spotted Yumi trotting out of the entryway of the school towards her. Yumi's chocolate brown eyes scanned the wide area and, widening as she found Sachiko, quickened her steps to approach her.
"Onee-sama! How were afternoon classes?" Yumi asked as she stopped in front of Sachiko. Opening her mouth to form an answer, Sachiko heard Yoshino's voice in her mind, dictating what to say in order for the plan to succeed.
"They were fine." Sachiko said softly, her voice coming out as tired as she could make it. "Today was a particularly trying day, in truth. We had a lot of writing to do and my hand cramped up halfway during exercises." She held out her hand, gesturing with it. "Luckily, I can write quite well with my left hand, as well as my right. So, I was able to finish perfectly fine." Yumi's face went from worried to elated, her face relaxed and she let out a breath.
"That's good to hear! Although I'm sorry to hear that you are tired…"
"Oh, do not worry, Yumi." Sachiko shook her head with a smile. "Seeing you is enough to brighten my day. Why, even my hand feels much better. Here." To make her point, Sachiko stepped in front of Yumi and started to straighten her younger sister's scarf, as she always did. Yumi smiled happily, basking in the older girl's affection.
"Hehe, thank you Onee-sama!" She said with a wide smile.
As Sachiko pulled the ends of Yumi's scarf tight, she chanced a look at her wristwatch. "Oh, is it that time already?"
Yumi blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Do you need to be somewhere, Onee-sama?" Her voice fell slightly in pitch as she spoke, clearly disappointed. Sachiko opened her mouth to respond when, exactly on cue, Rei and Yoshino approached from wherever the two had been hiding only moments before.
"Yumi-san! Sachiko-sama! Gokigenyou!" Yoshino called loudly, but still politely. Yumi and Sachiko both turned to face the two new arrivals.
"Gokigenyou." Sachiko and Yumi mirrored each other.
"Are you two doing anything?" Yoshino asked, not wasting any time. Sachiko shifted her eyes towards her younger sister, who was blinking rapidly in thought.
"Uwah…. n-no. Why?" She slowly responded.
"We are going to a café Rei-chan found last weekend." Yoshino said, nodding her head towards her cousin standing beside her. "She said it was cute, and had good cake. We were going to go, just the two of us… but then I thought to myself, 'Hmm… who do I know that also loves cake?'" She held up her hands towards Yumi, whose face lit up happily. "Yumi-san likes cake! So, what do you say?"
Yumi's smile widened; she did love cake, after all. She looked from Yoshino to Rei, who nodded in return. "I think you will really like it, Yumi-chan. You should come." The older girl said, a kind smile on her face. Yumi slid her eyes from Rei back to Sachiko, who looked back at her expectantly. Suddenly, Yumi's smile eased off her face as she looked at Sachiko.
"Uh… but Onee-sama was-" She faltered, looking a little uncomfortable. Sachiko knew that Yumi was worried about her. She was worried that Sachiko had someplace to be, something to do. She would not have looked at her watch and mentioned the time otherwise. Sachiko knew that Yumi wanted to go and try some cake… but she also did not want to go and leave out her grande soeur.
"Gokigenyou, everyone."
Sachiko turned a solid ninety degrees towards the new voice to see Shimako and Noriko making their way towards the group. She returned their greeting with a nod and a 'Gokigenyou' of her own, and glanced at Yumi out of the corner of her eyes. The younger girl was shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"Are we going to the café?" Rosa Gigantea asked as she stopped in the midst of the group.
"Rhe-! You know about that?" Yumi breathed, her voice shocked. Shimako blinked and put on a well-practiced visage of surprise.
"Yoshino told me earlier this morning. Apparently, we are all to go this afternoon. It sounds nice." She looked towards Noriko, who nodded happily. "Noriko and I love cake." She said, turning her face back towards Yumi with a bright smile.
"I… see." Yumi said, her face a mix of emotions.
Sachiko knew exactly what the younger girl was thinking. Many months of learning about Yumi Fukuzawa; learning about her wants and likes and preferences taught Sachiko a lot about the girl. Yumi was a great person. Yumi cared about her friends deeply. She would go to the ends of the earth for her friends. If there was anything she could do, she would do it. At the same time though, Sachiko knew that she herself was just as important to Yumi as her friends. She was her grande soeur; her 'Onee-sama'. She understood exactly that Yumi cared about her on a different level than her friends because she had been the same, was still the same, with her own grande soeur, Youko. Yumi wanted to please everyone. To Yumi, being happy was being with everyone.
Additionally, she also loved cake.
Clearing her throat to get everyone's attention, Sachiko placed a hand on Yumi's shoulder. "Yumi." She said. Slowly, the younger girl turned her brown eyes to look up at Sachiko. Her face held many different emotions; anxiety, expectation, happiness, sadness… too many for Sachiko to really isolate. What she needed was for Yumi to get rid of the unnecessary feelings, leaving only happiness. Then, and only then, could they capture her expression.
"Onee-sama?" Yumi's voice came out just above a whisper.
"I love cake too." Sachiko said with a smile. "I would love to go with you. With everyone. Shall we?"
Yumi's body trembled with surprise, not quite believing what she was hearing. For her grande soeur to ignore a prior engagement, usually something important, to spend time with everyone including Yumi? "But… what about your-"
Sachiko silenced Yumi with a shake of her head. Releasing her shoulder, Sacihko stepped away from Yumi to spread her arms out around her, gesturing to all of the other roses and their soeurs. "I would much rather spend time with everyone, you most of all, than something not as important as that."
All of Yumi's anxiety and apprehension disappeared immediately from her face at once. Her shoulders picked up, and her head raised to her full height. Her eyes seemed to glow brightly as she sucked in a deep breath, letting it out as she released her nervousness.
"Yea, what she said!" Yoshino said in her usual determined voice. "So, you in?"
"Of course!" Yumi said with a laugh, her hands clapping together in front of her. Sachiko felt, in a sudden rush, that this was it. The face Yumi had just made was her happiness. Going to spend time with her friends, with Sachiko… not having to worry about putting anybody out and anyone having qualms about being there, everything was perfect. She was happy. Happy to have friends. Happy to have Sachiko.
She was perfectly happy.
Click. Snap.
Expression captured. Mission accomplished.
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"I must admit-" Tsutako said as she entered the second floor meeting room of the Rose Mansion, waving a manila envelope around in front of her like a flyswatter. "This has got to be one of my finest developments. The sheen, the gloss, the positioning, the lighting; all of it is exemplary." She stopped in front of the table so that everyone could clearly see her. Sachiko raised an eyebrow at the girl's brazen attitude upon entering the room, but chose to overlook it. She did, after all, presumably help them in succeeding in their plan.
"So you were successful, then?" The raven-haired girl asked. The other girls in the room held their breath, all equally waiting for the expected news. It had taken four days – a little longer than the girl usually took with her developments, but Tsutako had finally let Shimako know during lunch that she had finished developing the picture of Yumi. Yumi had been out of the room at the time, luckily, so Shimako had immediately gone to notify the other members of the Yamayurikai, and to have everyone meet that afternoon. Another stroke of luck caused Yumi to have cleaning duty in the music room. They had all the time in the world to view the fruits of their labor.
Tsutako sent a satisfied smirk around the room and, with a flick of her wrist, sent the yellow envelope skittering across the wooden table, stopping just in front of Sachiko. "Take a look. I think you all will be plenty satisfied."
Sachiko reached out and grabbed the envelope. As she unwound the string that secured the contents, she threw her eyes around the room. Shimako watched her with a clear look of excitement (at least… what passed for excitement with Rosa Gigantea), mirrored to the letter by her petite soeur, Noriko. A couple seats down from them were the Rosa Foetida sisters, Rei and Yoshino. Rei, vastly different from her cousin, wore a tightly controlled face of suppressed humor. Yoshino, on the other hand, made no attempt to hide it.
"Let's see it, let's see it!" She breathed, barely keeping herself in her chair. Her hands clenched and unclenched on the table in front of her. Sachiko shook her head, suppressing a sigh, and reached into the envelope, feeling for the photograph. She found it, and pulled it out. She turned it over-
"Ah…" A quiet sigh slipped past her lips.
Tsutako had indeed not lied. The picture was exemplary. Yumi was in the exact center of the photo, her wide smile drawing all attention to those who would look at it. The bottom of the picture started at the bottom of her uniform's top. Her hands were in front of her chest, her fingers intertwined with themselves. Her shoulders, by contrast, were held back, causing her chest to lean forward. The young woman's face, a face that clearly showed her best features, was the flawless representation of what Sachiko saw every day in her petite soeur.
She was laughing. The brightest laugh Sachiko had ever seen Yumi give. Her eyes were wide open, shining brightly in the light, and the skin around her cheeks was tight as her mouth opened, giving a full view of two rows of white teeth.
All in all, it was quite a perfect picture of Yumi's brightest, happiest laugh.
Sachiko handed the photo off to the others silently, barely catching their individual responses to their successful endeavor. In her mind, she continued to hear her petite soeur's laugh. She continued to see her smile. She continued to feel the girl's happiness and love as she knew that, every day, she would be in Yumi's heart.
When she returned to her home, Sachiko would lock this picture away with the others. She would occasionally take them out to look at. When she was feeling lonely, when she felt like seeing Yumi's face, or when she wanted to feel better about herself, she would look at the girl's face. The face of the girl whom she loved and loved her in return, and immediately knew that no matter where she was or what she was doing, Yumi was always with her.
And that made Sachiko happiest.
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Yayyy! Happy! Happy would be one of the most -normal- expression I'll do, I think. I have done some thunkin and here is a list of expressions I want to hit:
Embarrassment, Happiness, Annoyance, Devastation, Love, Thoughtful, Sleepy, Anger, Fear and Enlightenment.
Tell me what ones you like best and I'll make em happen! Also, if you think of an expression that isn't here, let me know! I'd love to add more to the list!
Peace!