I don't own MariMite.

Chapter IV. Disaster avoided

"Get real!"

"Excuse me?"

Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, I means that I think you're kidding!"

"Oh? Well, I am not kidding, if that is what you're thinking. If you agree, both of us will benefit from it, I'm sure of that."

"I know how you will benefit from it, but what's in it for me?"

"Don't you want to learn how to behave like a lady?"

Yumi stared at Sachiko in disbelief. "Not particularly, no?"

"Perhaps you do not see the benefits of it now, but when you're older, you'll be grateful that you've had that guidance. In the course of your life, you will find yourself in situations where such behaviour is required. If you can't act properly then, what will you do?"

"I don't know, make something up? Come on, you're assuming that I'll go to fancy parties and stuff like that in the future!"

"It's better to be prepared than to find yourself helpless, not knowing what to do."

Yumi fixed her gaze upon Sachiko, staring in her eyes a good ten seconds or so before slouching a little. She had not seen one hint of humour in those dark eyes, if ever they showed a glint of it anyways. "Oh my god, you really are serious about this, aren't you."

"I don't quite understand why you have been doubtful of my intentions before; I have been serious right from the start of this conversation."

Yumi could still not remove the expression of disbelief off of her face. She was a bit in a daze; this was the least she had expected when she had noticed Sachiko approach her when she was on her way to the Rose Mansion to have lunch with Yoshino and the others.

The path where that happened had been, at that particular point, the only road to the mansion, and Yumi had seen no escape to avoid the girl. When Sachiko had made halt before her, Yumi had immediately recalled the last time she had had an encounter with the third year, although it had happened more than a week before.

After Sachiko had inquired Yoshino to leave them, so they could have a conversation just with the two of them, Yumi had still been fairly clueless about whatever this was all about. Until Sachiko had opened her mouth and dropped that bomb on her.

"Although we are not soeurs, and I have no desire to enter that relationship with you, I still have a strong desire to guide you in a way, but don't misunderstand me when I say 'guidance'; that guidance is not the same as an onee-sama gives her petite soeur. Guidance in a soeur-relationship has many aspects to it, but I wish to only guide you in one particular way; I wish to train you, make you conscious about your manners and demeanour, so you will have no difficulties behaving properly according to the situation."

Sachiko had said it all like a speech she had learned by heart. At first, Yumi had been staring at the girl for quite some time in silence, until she had managed to utter one word.

"Wha..?"

To that, Sachiko had immediately replied with, "This is not the correct way to react on something, and it's certainly not the way a well-educated person would react on things."

And as a reaction to that, ignoring the unintentional insult in Sachiko's words, Yumi had found her voice back. "Wait. Hold up. Rewind here. So, I think I understood, but let me say it aloud. I think I heard you telling me that you want to teach me how to become a lady."

"It is not teaching, because teaching requires actual lessons, whereas I shall merely be pointing out your manners if they are ill-fit, a bit like before, but unlike before, I would have your consent." Sachiko had then made a slight bow with her head. "I would, of course, do so in a manner seen as acceptable for the both of us. Last week you have given me the strong hint that you would, in fact, not change your ways if I kept reprimanding you. That is, of course, not what I desire. This guidance would mean I would not so much reprimand you, but more counsel you—of course, with the intention that you would follow that advice. In other words, I would not only point out the habits that are not fit for a student of Lillian Jogakuen, but I would also inform you of what would be seen as the proper way to behave."

And then Yumi had replied with, "Get real!"

And so here she was, still looking at Sachiko, still not completely believing it wasn't a total joke. She couldn't utter a word; she could just stand there, before the third year, thinking that this whole thing was absolutely a new experience in her life, and she didn't really know how to react on it. Well, of course she knew that she would decline this absurd proposal, but the absurdity of the situation was still trying to sink in fully. At this point, she wasn't annoyed by Sachiko, not really; she was more having a strange sense of awe, because the girl seemed quite determined in making her behave more as a 'lady'. Perhaps Sachiko had suffered a blow on the head as a child, Yumi thought in slight amusement. That could really explain her way of thinking.

It was Sachiko who eventually broke the silence that had lingered on and on since Yumi entered her state of daze. "I do not expect an answer from you right away. I shall give you time to think about my offer, perhaps we can agree the deadline as a week from now?"

Yumi shook her head lightly, like a dog does to get the water out of its ears. "No, don't bother giving me a deadline," she said. "Because I already know what my answer is. But, uh, before that... I guess I should thank you for offering me this?" Then she put a hand on Sachiko's shoulder as a sign of... well, she didn't really know herself, but she felt it needed to be done. Like some sort of comfort for what was about to come.

Sachiko didn't shake off the hand although she had flinched a bit at the touch; instead, she merely stared at Yumi in polite confusion.

"Thank you for taking the time and proposing this to me, and I'm sure it is meant well," Yumi continued with more confidence, her hand still resting on Sachiko's shoulder, "but I'll have to decline. Sorry."

"Why is that so? You haven't given it much thought yet," was Sachiko's reply on the rejection. She was frowning slightly.

Yumi let go of the girl's shoulder and shrugged. "It's not something that requires much thought to come up with an answer, at least not for me. I couldn't possibly do this."

"Could you please elaborate on that?" Sachiko seemed calm, but Yumi could sense how the girl's aura was giving out cold vibes now.

"Okay. For starters, I think it's just weird," Yumi said. "I suppose it's sort of normal at this school, with the soeur-system, but I've never heard of such a thing before I came here." That was definitely an important reason, but the other was even more important. " Secondly, it just isn't me. I'm not the type of girl who lets herself being guided. Seriously, with knowledge of everything that has passed between us now, could you imagine me being guided in a way?"

There was a short moment of silence before Sachiko replied. "I can't answer that. But I had hoped you would at least consider it if I asked it directly and made my intentions clear. I was hoping you'd understand."

"Understand what exactly?" said Yumi, the one frowning a bit now. "That you want to change me into a typical Lillian student? What's there to understand about?"

Sachiko looked at Yumi incredulously. "Why, my intentions behind it, of course! I wish to preserve Lillian's image as a school for maidens, nothing more; surely you did not think I would go through all this trouble for some other reason, whichever it may have been?"

Truth to be told, that idea had not crossed Yumi's mind at all. She had merely thought that Sachiko was an annoying meddler who liked to irritate her just because she wasn't like everyone else, someone who wanted to dominate her; she had thought it was something personal, while in essence, it really wasn't; Sachiko would have reprimanded any other student who stood out in the 'wrong' way, just because she wanted to preserve the school's image. It shed a new light on things, but it still didn't mean she wanted to be guided. And she was also of opinion that Sachiko's ways to ensure the preservation of the school's image sucked.

"Okay, yeah, so you want to preserve the school's image, I get that now," said Yumi. "But it still won't change the fact that I don't want to be guided."

"If you knew how important it is for me, you might," Sachiko muttered softly, as if to herself. Then she sighed and closed her eyes as to compose herself. When she opened them again, Yumi saw how the eyes stood determined now.

"I don't plan on giving up, just so you know," Sachiko said. It surprised Yumi a bit to hear so much resolution in her voice. "I will have you adjust to the customs of Lillian Jogakuen."

Yumi could barely suppress a groan; she wasn't looking forward to whatever Sachiko had up her sleeve. And it was only about a month after the beginning of the new school year; there were still plenty of months to come. Then, however, an idea hit her as sudden as lightning. Something that might end the dispute in the long run.

"And I'm sure you can't make me," she said matter-of-factly. "But to avoid any more quarrels, why don't we make a compromise for the time being?" Sachiko raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you clearly want to push through your will, but so do I—and we both have reasons for that. So why don't we try to understand each other's reasons first?"

"What do you mean? And what is your reason? You haven't given me one," Sachiko replied. She was looking sceptical, but she didn't seem to completely dismiss the idea, so Yumi continued.

"I have, well, kinda, but you don't understand." Sachiko opened her mouth; Yumi raised a hand to indicate she wasn't done speaking yet. "So what I'm trying to say with this compromise, is that you try and make me understand your motivation, and I will try to do the same; this way, we both have an idea of what drives us to make the choices we make. And that could lead to answers. It could lead to solutions."

Yumi grinned a bit; she felt like she was acting kind of grown-up now, she couldn't remember ever trying to solve a problem this way. But this was a situation she couldn't possibly end physically, like giving Sachiko a black eye so she'd leave her alone, because it was, well, not appropriate. She hoped by making Sachiko realize why she was the way she was, the girl would accept it and leave her alone with her ways and habits.

"I don't expect an answer from you right away. I'll give you time to think about it, perhaps we can agree the deadline as a week from now?" said Yumi when Sachiko didn't answer, teasing her a bit by copying her words.

"That is not necessary," Sachiko replied, maybe somewhat harsher than she had intended, not entirely insensitive by the light provocation. "Your idea sounds very fair to me. How shall we do this exactly?"

Yumi shrugged. "Oh, that's up to you. I mean, you decide on your own how you want to make me understand, and I decide on my own how I want to accomplish the same with you. But let's agree now that until both of us have done our part, we both leave each other alone, unless it's absolutely necessary, okay?"

Again, Sachiko didn't answer immediately, but she eventually nodded her head in agreement. "Fine. What is the deadline? I won't wait months until you finally decide to make a move—that would only disadvantage me."

Yumi smirked. Clever Sachiko. "Okay, how about the deadline is a month from now? We have a month to do our thing, and after that month, we evaluate how the situation is, and hopefully we can come up with a solution then."

"That is an acceptable deadline. I believe we have confirmed ourselves an agreement." Sachiko bowed her head slighty, but her face stood determined again, although it seemed somewhat different than before.

"Great. Good luck, and I guess I'll see you around, then," Yumi said. She bowed her head in a ladylike fashion too, as a sign of truce, or maybe it was mock, and walked passed Sachiko in the direction of the Rose Mansion.

No doubt Sachiko would try her very best to make her understand and thus change her view on things, but Yumi couldn't see how the girl could accomplish that; she was actually more confident in her abilities in making Sachiko understand her ways. Yet the most important thing was that she had managed to avoid something unpleasant, although she could not imagine how the following month could be entirely free of unpleasant experiences.

A/N: I noticed that it takes just a bit more time for me to update every time. I'm trying to be constant between updates, but there are always some things coming up. Besides, I've updated way too fast in the beginning, I can't really imagine keeping up that pace anymore. :p

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