Yumi groaned.

She'd just closed the door of the Career Guidance office, managing only to escape by the skin of her teeth. She hadn't answered a single question properly, as far as the teacher in that office was concerned.

What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses? She'd tried hard to examine her skills over the past couple of weeks but nothing came to mind. She wasn't involved with any clubs or activities, like Touko-chan, who was now president of the Drama Club even though she was only in her second year, or Yoshino and Nana, who were both in the Kendo Club. She didn't have great athletic prowess, or any talent for journalism, so joining the Lilian Kawaraban would be out of the question, and she could only cook basic foods. Touko, Yoshino-san and Nana-chan are so lucky to have these abilities, she thought begrudgingly. And Shimako-san... Well, Shimako-san doesn't need a specific skill, she's just good at whatever she turns a hand to!

Yumi blew a stray lock of hair from her face in irritation, sulking. The only thing she seemed to be good at was hanging back and not getting in anyone's way, and her grades had stubbornly remained blissfully average.

Disappointed, she stopped by Maria-sama and asked for guidance. Everyone seemed to have found their place in life except for her, and she was becoming startlingly aware that she would not have the shelter of Lilian Girls' School over her forever. She didn't want to become a burden to the rest of her friends by having them worry about her but she also didn't want them to leave her behind.

'Hello, Yumi-sama! I knew I'd find you here. You are always asking for something, aren't you?'

Yumi smiled at Touko-chan, grateful for her interruption. It was becoming a wonderful habit of hers, interrupting her older sister just in the nick of time to stop her from getting lost in her discouraging thoughts.

'Yes, Touko-chan! I am always asking Maria-sama to make you call me onee-sama, as you should!'

They both laughed together, and Yumi's racing mind settled down a little as she held an arm out to her petite-soeur.

She supposed that, really, she should be concerned that they hadn't removed the honorifics when speaking with one another, after all, Yumi frequently referred to Touko as 'Touko' in her head. There was something between them, though, that suggested it was irrelevant right now, and she was certain that in the future there would come a time when it would happen naturally, so she didn't want to force the issue. She enjoyed the banter they shared surrounding the subject; it reminded her of her relationship with Yuuki, the playful teasing of one sibling by another, and Yumi beamed as she thought how it made Touko the sister that wasn't actually born into the family, but found her way there eventually.

Very different to onee-sama and I, she acknowledged. Of course, it wasn't that she didn't feel close to Sachiko-sama, far from it... But it was different. Something she couldn't quite put into words. Like, if she tried to imagine Sachiko-sama as her older sister, by blood, there was something inside Yumi that told her she wouldn't feel the same towards her.

She tried a comparison, as she had with Yuuki and Touko.

There were certain traits that Yuuki and Sachiko-sama shared, such as the inability to control their respective tempers when backed into a figurative corner. When Yuuki got angry, it was just a pain. But when onee-sama got angry, there was only pain in my heart because I hated that she wasn't smiling... She wondered if that feeling would carry over if they were blood siblings?

But, it isn't a pain to me when Touko-chan's angry either... Unless it's over silly things...

The faces in Yumi's mind started spinning and morphing into each other then so she shook off her thoughts. No point in giving myself mental motion sickness...

'What is Auntie cooking tonight then, Yumi-sama?' Touko asked, linking her arm into Yumi's. 'I hope we have Koshi-Hikari rice again! She makes that rice so tasty, even though it's such a generic st-' She clapped a hand over her mouth and flushed red at her insensitive words, staring at Yumi in apology. It seemed she hadn't forgotten last summer.

Yumi smiled kindly. 'Don't worry, Touko-chan,' she said. 'I know that you are really complimenting my mother.' They'd walked a little way towards the gate already, heading for the bus stop. Yumi winked at Touko-chan and signalled for her to keep walking. 'Besides, the less she spends on rice, the more fried chicken she gets that you like so much!'

With a little skip, Touko followed Yumi out of the school grounds. 'Yumi-sama knows me well.'

Yumi's heart warmed at how friendly they had become over the past few months. She had been worried at first that on becoming Yumi's petite-soeur, Touko would still be hard on the outside with her, despite her true fragility. She was especially worried that she would regret revealing her secret, and close herself off again as she did before.

But now they sat together on the bus, talking all the way home about foods that they both love to eat, or plays that Touko-chan wants to perform, or Kanako-chan's upcoming basketball game, and Yumi discovered her fears were unfounded and that she just had to let Touko be who she was. It was different to her own soeur relationship with onee-sama, but it was right for them. Touko-chan didn't need the co-dependency that Yumi and her grande-soeur shared, but for Yumi to stand back and give her the freedom to show more of herself to the world, little by little.

She thought of Shimako-san and Sei-sama, feeling the birth of understanding stir inside her somewhat. Theirs was a bond that she'd been unable to comprehend for the most part, but now she was beginning to get it.

The gift of freedom to become, and the silent encouragement of friendship.

'Thank you so much, teacher!'

Her bright little eyes were shining with thanks. Sachiko beamed down at the little girl.

'And in English you say...' she asked playfully, raising her eyebrows.

'Th-thank you, Miss!' came the enthusiastic, if slightly halted, reply.

Sachiko's little student turned and ran over to her father, clutching the lollipop desperately to her chest as though it were a priceless heirloom. She tugged on his sleeve in the doorway, showing him what Ogasawara-sensei had given her for doing such good work, and he ruffled her pigtailed hair proudly.

'Thank you very much for taking her on as a student, Ogasawara-sama,' her mother said, bowing politely. 'She has always shown a lot of potential at school. We wanted to find a good tutor of English to broaden her horizons.'

Sachiko watched the little girl happily running down the garden path, waving the sweet and looking at the flowers.

'You are thinking of her learning abroad?' she asked.

'Yes, Miss. We wouldn't want to force her to go, but if she chooses to in the future, we'd like to prepare for it.' They continued talking on their way down to the entrance gate. Sachiko followed the child with her eyes, marvelling at her energy.

Upon entering education, Sachiko found from a young age that she had a talent for languages, English being her forte as she'd had a private pronunciation tutor come to her home at her father's request, giving her an edge over other students her age. It was one of the few useful, conscientious things he'd arranged for her. At least, she'd thought of it as such until she found out that it was to aid her in inheriting the family business with Suguru-san, who had received the same tutelage. It wasn't because of the arranged marriage- she'd known from a very young age that she was betrothed to him- but to Sachiko, it had cheapened what she'd originally thought of as an encouraging gesture of pride from her father.

When she entered university she decided to volunteer as an English teacher in Lilian Girls' Elementary School to put her talent to good use. She'd thought of it when she was still in high school, but with her duties in the Yamayurikai, she didn't want to overstretch herself. At university, she'd forgone joining the student council or any other extra-curricular activities within its grounds so that she could find time to teach.

It had turned out to be an excellent decision. The first time she stood in front of their attentive little faces, teaching them English translations of nursery rhymes, she knew that it was what she wanted to do. The world was a blank, open book for these children and she wanted them to have wonderful things to write in it.

'Thank you again, Miss,' the older woman said to Sachiko, bowing once more. 'I know Ogasawara-sama must be very busy with her studies and her extra work, so we can't tell you how much we appreciate your taking the time to tutor our little Ami-chan.'

Sachiko waved at Ami through the car window as she was being safely buckled into the backseat by her father. Her brown bunches bobbed up and down as she grinned and waved energetically back with her sweet-holding hand, the stubby little six-year-old fingers gripping it tightly. She was the friendliest little girl Sachiko had ever met, wanting always to make the other students feel happy and helping them if ever she could. She would talk to all of them, even those who were obviously different to her, without so much of a nod to it.

'She reminds me a lot of someone who is very dear to me,' Sachiko admitted, still waving as Ami's mother made her way to the passenger seat. 'You are very lucky to have such a special daughter.'

'Thank you, Ogasawara-sama,' she said. 'She is very lucky to have a teacher who is so approachable and kind.' She climbed into the car and closed the door.

Sachiko was shocked. Not once in her life had someone coloured her as 'approachable'. She slowly brought her hand down from where it had frozen in surprise in mid-air and turned back up the path.

'BYE-BYE, SENSEI!'

'Ogasawara-sensei' laughed quietly as she heard Ami-chan's goodbye from behind her, inelegant but completely from the heart. She began to make her way back home under the pink sunset and grinned all the way at the accompanying thought.

Yumi, it seems you're not so unique after all.

'Hello, we've come home!' Yumi called from inside the front door.

She took Touko-chan's satchel from her, placing it together with her own next to the small table in the hall, as her petite-soeur hung up their jackets.

'Ah, Yumi-chan, didn't I tell you to take your umbrella today?' Her mother appeared brandishing a hand towel and pointed it at Yumi. 'It could have been raining today.'

Yumi giggled and bowed. 'Please forgive me, okaa-san, but it wasn't raining today.'

'And what if it did and you had caught cold?' Her mom raised an eyebrow, smiling now.

'But I didn't, I caught the sunshine!' Yumi laughed and went over for the resulting hug.

It was something they had played when she came in from school as a child. It used to end with okaa-san asking for a ray of sunlight before the welcoming cuddle, but it had been shortened as she got older and they'd played the game less. This was the first time in many months that her mother had initiated this childishness, but Yumi was pleased. It meant that she missed her.

'Dinner will be ready soon, Yumi. Perhaps start your homework until then?' Okaa-san suggested.

'Okay,' Yumi said and turned to Touko-chan who stood in the hall uncomfortably. 'Come on Touko-chan, homework before dinner!' she said, oblivious, and took her by the hand, leading her upstairs.

The desk wasn't big enough for them both to work at, so Yumi graciously bequeathed it to Touko for her math work and she sat back against the headboard of her bed, reading the chapter of her history textbook that had been assigned this morning.

After a few minutes, she heard a quiet voice.

'I've never seen anyone act like that at home.'

Yumi looked over to her petite-soeur from the book. She was sitting delicately with her hands clasped on her knees, a pensive expression dark in her eyes. The desk had remained untouched.

'Touko-chan? You're not going to do your homework?' Yumi asked, confused.

'It's still in my satchel, in the hall,' she answered quietly. A little huffily, she added, 'You didn't give me much time to get it, Yumi-sama.'

'Oh, I'm so sorry, Touko-chan! I'll get it for you now!' she squealed, and got up from the bed. Just as she turned the handle, she heard Touko's voice again.

'I've never seen someone with their mother like that. It's... different to how I was raised. And Sachiko-sama. And all others in our family...'

Yumi let go of the door and walked softly to the desk. She placed a calming hand on her little sister's shoulder and Touko-chan looked up at her with a combination of wonder and pain, breaking Yumi's heart. She reached around and pulled her into a hug, happy to feel arms embrace her in return. Touko-chan is still so fragile, she reminded herself. She fought the urge to say so to her petite-soeur, knowing that Touko would probably distance herself this evening if Yumi were to mention it; she still shied away from things that illuminated her real character.

Yumi pulled back first and smiled down at Touko-chan with a wink. 'Well, you'd better get used to it, Touko-chan!' she said loudly, and skipped over to the door. She turned back and gave a big thumbs up to her soeur. 'This is your family too, now!'

Touko visibly relaxed and Yumi nodded to herself in satisfaction as she exited the room. Sharing time was over and, this time, she'd managed to come up as the victorious party against Touko-chan, unlike the other morning by Maria-sama. She shook her head with a grin as she descended the stairs, remembering the badinage to get Touko to call her onee-sama. She picked up the satchels and told them as they all went back up, 'Now it's Touko-chan one, Yumi-chan one! Was it this difficult with me, onee-sama?'

'Oh, is Sachiko-sama here?'

'YAAHH!' Yumi tripped on the last step and her face hit the carpet.

Yuuki laughed heartily. 'Hahaha! Yumi-chan! You're so comical!'

'Yuuki! You surprised me!' She brushed down her uniform and the satchels and shot him a sidelong glare. 'And you shouldn't laugh at your onee-san!'

Suddenly, she remembered his words. 'Yuuki! Did you say onee-sama was here?'

He coolly rested a hand in his pocket and leant against the wall. 'No, I asked if she was here. I heard voices from your room.'

Yumi fought her disappointment. It had been silly to be so shocked at thinking onee-sama was here. She had never come over before, and she wouldn't turn up uninvited anyway, especially without Yumi. Besides, Yumi wondered to herself, what is there to be worried about if she did?

'Who's in your room, then, Yumi-chan? Has Yoshino-san come to visit again?' He made a move to open Yumi's door.

'No, it's Touko-chan I was talking with. I'm just bringing her homework up because I forgot it.' She blushed. 'Yoshino-san is at Kendo tonight, anyway. She told you her practice nights. One of them is Wednesday.'

Yuuki and Yoshino-chan had found a common ground with Ikenami Shoutarou whilst Lilian and Hanadera collaborated on their school festivals the previous year. Continuing from there, they'd found they shared many interests and a solid friendship had developed. Now when Yoshino came to visit, Yumi would find that it was because she wanted to spend time with Yuuki just as much as she did with Yumi. She clasped her hands hopefully in her heart, secretly hoping for more. It had hit her suddenly one day as they were talking that they would be such a good match, especially considering Yuuki's laidback nature. Yumi had observed that one needed to be fairly easy-going if they wanted to be with Yoshino-chan from her sisterhood with Rei-sama.

'Touko-chan!' Yuuki's hand stopped. He backed away from the door, blushing. 'Oh, then I... uh... I should leave you to that work.'

Yumi paled. 'But... but Yoshino-chan?' she said quietly to herself, and then snickered at his unintentional revelation. Honestly, Yuuki was so transparent.

'Yuuki-chan, don't be so silly,' she teased, slapping him playfully. 'Touko-chan will be happy to see you.'

He tried to wriggle away from her as she pushed him back towards the bedroom. Boys are so silly, she thought to herself. He was hard to manoeuvre, though. He'd gotten taller and heavier over the last few months.

'Yuuki-chan! What have you been eating! You're so heavy now!'

'Yumi!' he exclaimed, and shrugged her off, folding his arms in a sulk. 'Hmph! I could say the same about you, onee-san,' he drawled. 'You're not so light on your feet anymore either!'

An indignant fire flamed within her. 'Don't you call me fat, Yuuki-chan! How can you say such a thing to your older sister? How mean!'

'I didn't call you fat, Yumi, you're putting words into my mouth, just like always!'

'What do you mean, like always?'

What had begun as simple teasing had now spiralled into another sibling vaudeville. He must really be quite conscious of Touko-chan, she observed.

'Hmph!' he huffed, turning his head away.

'You're just annoyed because you think Touko-chan is listening!' It was a low blow that Yumi regretted as soon as she said it; as easy-going as Yuuki was, he could have a temper when it came to sensitive issues.

His face flushed scarlet with embarrassment and anger, but he quickly recovered. So quickly, in fact, that she could tell he had something special to say up his sleeve. Thankfully, a shout from her mother stopped him in his tracks.

'Yumi! Yuuki! Be quiet and come downstairs. We have another visitor.'

Brother and sister turned in unison. 'Eh!'

They hadn't heard the knock on the front door over their arguing, but there, stood in the open doorway, was their second dinner guest of the evening.

Yuuki beat her to it.

'Sempai!'