A/N: With sincere gratitude to everyone for their support of this fic, and in celebration of one reader's new job and another's promotion, here is Chapter 4.

"Madam, a package has been delivered for you at the front gate," Sachiko's butler announced with a slight bow later that week as she was enjoying a cup of tea out on the estate's patio.

"Don't touch it!" she yelled as she stood up so quickly that her chair overturned with a clatter of metal on stone.

"I'm very sorry, Madam," he said contritely and with a deeper bow, "but I already brought it to your office since it was left leaning against the gates. If it helps at all I have not opened it."

"I'm sorry," Sachiko sighed as she tried to regain control of her recently abused equilibrium. "I didn't mean to yell, Aoki-kun. It is my fault for forgetting to tell you. I thought she would have delivered the portrait to the headquarters building, not to the estate," she murmured, "I wonder how she knew where to find me. The estate's address isn't published anywhere."

She entered her office to find a wooden crate 76cm wide by 107cm tall and 15cm deep. She could not see anything unique in its construction, but she would leave that to Sei-sama and Yoshino-chan. She went to her desk and dialed Sei's cell number.

"Sei, its Sachiko. Yes, it just arrived. No, we have not opened it. You'll call Yoshino-chan? That is fine. Alright, I will see you in about an hour. Thank you," she said as she hung up.

Sachiko leaned back in her desk chair and stared at the seemingly inoffensive crate that she felt, in some way, could change her life. She desperately wanted to open it to get at the portrait it contained, and it took all of her training as both a lady and a business woman to withhold herself from acting on those desires. That did not stop her from regarding the crate for the entire hour that it took for her guests to arrive as she hummed a little tune to herself. The more she hummed, the more relaxed she became. It took her a while, but she eventually remembered the name of the song: Maria's Heart. It had been so long since she had heard that song; since high school at Lillian surely. She was interrupted in her reverie by the opening of her office door.

"Sachan, we're here," Sei announced unnecessarily with her usual boisterous attitude. The tall blonde entered the room followed by a shorter girl with long brown braids dressed in jeans and a white button down shirt, and a smartly dressed woman with short, black hair almost as dark as Sachiko's.

"Onee-sama? What are you doing here," Sachiko asked with a big smile as she quickly rose from her seat to welcome her black haired grande soeur with a warm hug that was returned with equal fervor.

"I decided to come along after Sei called Yoshino-chan," Youko said with a smile, "after all, she is my employee and you are my petite soeur. If this woman, this artist that Sei told me about, is going to be causing problems for my Sachiko, then of course I have to be here to protect you."

"In other words, she saw an opportunity to once again meddle in your life, Sachiko-sama," Yoshino grinned.

A slight cough from the open doorway caught their attention.

"I apologize, madam," Aoki-kun said. "Satou-sama insisted that they would go ahead. May I bring some refreshments?"

"It's alright, Aoki-kun. It would take a better man than you to hold back any of these young women," she grinned. It was a running joke between her and her butler regarding the former members of the Yamayurikai. "Black tea for everyone?" Sachiko asked the room with a smile. At the nods Aoki-kun bowed and headed towards the kitchen and the always waiting teapot.

"Now, let's take a look, shall we," Sei said, suddenly all business as she turned towards the large wooden crate placed against one wall. She walked over and, without touching the object, began inspecting its construction. She was joined by Yoshino who also knelt down and began her own inspection. The brown haired girl pulled out a small toolkit along with a pair of latex gloves that she put on before touching the wood, a small magnifying glass in her left hand.

"Interesting construction," Sei murmured. "I don't think I've seen a packing crate for paintings built in quite this manner. Most need to be gently opened with a pry bar or some other tool, but this one seems to have an opening mechanism built into the sides."

"The wood isn't local either," Yoshino mentioned. "I can have a piece analyzed later, but I would think that most crates are not made from a wood that would normally be this expensive."

"True," Sei replied as the two former Rosa Chinensis sisters looked on with anticipation, "although the contents are usually valuable, the packing container is typically made of much less expensive materials and are typically thrown away after a single use. I would say that this was both custom designed and manufactured."

"It's hard and flat enough," Yoshino said as she opened a dusting kit, "that I might be able to lift a few prints if the person wasn't wearing gloves. But I wouldn't hold my breath given all the hands that this probably went through getting here."

"Oh, that reminds me," Sachiko exclaimed as she rushed around her desk and sat down in front of her computer, "the security cameras are all linked into the computer network. I should be able to access the footage from the front gate camera and see if we can get a look at who delivered it," she explained as her long fingers started tapping keys. It was only moments before she started scrolling through the digitized images taken by the camera this morning. She found the segment of video she was looking for and rewound it to the point where a small, black taxi cab pulled up in front of her gates.

She clicked on the "play" icon and with Youko looking over her shoulder watched as the cab pulled up in the driveway and a figure in a long dark coat with a hood got out of the front passenger's seat. The woman, Sachiko assumed, walked around the rear of the cab, opened the rear door and, with the help of the cab driver, levered the large crate from the back seat and carried it over to lean it against the blackened, carbon steel gates. While the cab driver made no attempt to hide his face, the woman kept her head down so that her features within the darkened hood were never visible. The two got back into the cab after making their delivery and the car pulled away. She and Youko watched it through from start to finish three times before they gave up and waited for the "professional" Yoshino to have a look at it.

It all seemed so cloak and dagger to Sachiko, but she simply knew that the woman she had met on the street a few days ago had been the one to make the delivery. Her heart started pounding again and the tingles were back as she had watched the crate being delivered. It had to be her. She was the only person that made Sachiko feel this way; for whatever reason.

They spent a half hour going over the crate and the camera footage.

"It's definitely a woman," Yoshino declared after watching the video twice from start to finish. "She is trying to hide her face, but you can tell from the way the hood hangs on her head that she is wearing pigtails. See here and here," she pointed out as she froze the image, "these slight protrusions in the fabric on either side of her head? Definitely pigtails."

Sachiko gasped softly. She had somehow known that the woman usually wore her hair in pigtails. Don't try to ask her how she knew it; she just did. It was like knowing that fire was hot and water wet. It simply was. And it frightened her just a bit although she would never let her friends see that.

"Well, if we are done here, then I guess it's time for the great unveiling," Sei grinned as she and Yoshino walked back over to the crate. "You saw how it worked?" she asked the shorter girl. At her nod, each woman placed a hand on one side of the crate and pushed on a slight indentation. With the sound of a releasing catch and a spring, the front of the crate sprang open about ten centimeters before being stopped by a pin at the top of each corner. With those pins removed the hinged front of the crate was gently lowered to the floor.

Yoshino placed each of the pins that had been removed into a plastic bag as Sei-sama gently removed a layer of soft but sturdy packing foam so that the contents of the crate could finally be revealed. The whistles and gasps said it all.

"It's beautiful," Youko whispered.

"Stunning," Yoshino agreed.

Sei removed a couple of small pressure seals at each corner of the painting and then slowly removed it and carried it over to an easel that Aoki-kun had set up near the large bay window of the office while they had been waiting for Sei's arrival.

"Actually," Sei said in a soft, awestruck voice as she stepped back, "it's a masterpiece."

Seeing the original portrait in person, not just a small photograph of it, was like trying to compare an original Rembrandt to a copy shown in a textbook. There was simply no comparison.

"You were right, Sei," Youko said in a whisper, "she's crying. But she's so beautiful in her sadness. Sachiko, you knew it better than any of us; is that the old greenhouse at Lillian?"

"Yes, onee-sama, it is. And that is the Rosa Chinensis bush that I took care of for three years. I would know it anywhere. Did she somehow get a photo of it? I mean, it's not a representation of the bush, it is the same plant. But why did she paint me crying?"

"I've seen that face before, Sachiko," Youko said gently as she put a hand on her petite soeurs shoulder. "You may not remember it, and you may not know it, but I watched out for you for so many years and even though you tried to hide it, I have seen that same pain and sadness in your heart and in your eyes so many times. Whoever the artist is, she has seen it as well. I would say that this is a portrait of you right after your grandmother died in your third year at Lillian.

"And Sachiko, look at your hands," Youko breathed softly.

"Th-that's my rosary, onee-sama," Sachiko whispered while reaching for her throat.

"Yes, the one I gave you when you became my petite soeur," Youko said. "I would know it anywhere because it is the rosary that my onee-sama gave to me and that I passed down to you."

Sachiko reached into her blouse and pulled out the rosary that she still wore every day. She pulled it over her head and held it up in front of the painting. It was obvious to everyone in the room that they were one and the same. Sachiko put her rosary back on and tucked it back into her blouse where it rested just above her heart.

"But something is missing," she said.

"…?"

"…?"

"…?"

Three sets of eyes turned to look at the head of the Ogasawara Zaibatsu as if she were crazy.

"What do you mean," Yoshino asked, leaning forward to get a better look at the portrait. The two other girls looked just as confused.

"I mean exactly what I said," Sachiko said adamantly, frustrated at being unable to properly express what she was feeling when she looked at her portrait, but still having to try to say it. "There is something . . . or someone . . . missing from the picture."

"Oh my god," Sei tried to stifle her gasp. "Look at her uniform, around her waist."

The other three looked closely, but it was Yoshino's sharp eyes that figured it out. "She's being held. Look at how her uniform lays as it goes from her bust line down to her waist and then down to the pleated skirt. It should be hanging straight, but see how there is a slight compression of the fabric around her waist? She is being gently held by someone not shown in the portrait."

"How the hell did you see that, Sachiko," Sei asked, turning to look at the artist's subject. "I'm a professional and I didn't notice it until you mentioned it."

"I-I don't know, Sei-sama. I just felt it. It was like I expected to see something that wasn't there. It was just a feeling . . . I don't know how else to explain it," she said in exasperation.

"It's unsigned," Youko pointed out with a sigh.

"So is this," Yoshino said as she held up a plastic bag that contained a hand written note that she had plucked out of the interior of the crate after Sei had removed the portrait. "The rest will follow. I'm sorry!" it said.

"The rest?" Sei asked, turning to look at Sachiko with a confused look.

"Um, she did say that she would send this one, along with 'some others', when I spoke to her on the street."

"And you just thought to mention this now!" the blonde woman exclaimed, waving her hands in the air. "With just four or five more like this I could hold a showing at my gallery!"

"I'm sorry, Sei-sama," Sachiko said, bowing her head slightly, "I had forgotten until Yoshino read the note."

"'I'm sorry'," Youko said thoughtfully, "I wonder what she meant by that."

-oo-

Sei got her wish two days later when a shipping tube arrived in the mail at the Ogasawara estate. The scene from the previous day was replayed six-fold when the tube was opened and six more portraits, all of Sachiko in six different surroundings, were set up to be displayed around her home office.

Only Sachiko's name had been on the outside of the tube and, of course, there was no return address.

"Probably used a private courier service and had the delivery timed to arrive at the same time as the post. That's why you don't see anyone else on the security video," was Yoshino's deduction. No one else had any better ideas.

"This one was done at the estate," Sachiko said as she pointed to one of the new paintings, "I recognize the lake out beyond the trees."

"This one is of you in front of the statue of Maria-sama at Lillian," Yoshino said.

"This is of you as Cinderella," Sei said after recognizing the dress Sachiko is wearing in the portrait.

"And this one was done at your summer home, Sachiko," Youko exclaimed with a hand over her mouth, "I remember from the times you invited us up there."

"Wait a second," Yoshino said softly, moving first to one side and then to the other of one of the new portraits, "this one was done in the meeting room of the Rose Mansion. I just can't remember when, damnit!"

The last painting was another from the greenhouse, but this time Sachiko was portrayed sitting alone on the short retaining wall that housed some of the plants. Again, she was wearing the dress from Cinderella. She was crying once more, her rosary in her left hand while . . .

"I'm holding someone's hand," she whispered.

"What, Sachan?" Sei asked, coming over to gaze at the painting.

"I'm holding someone's hand," she said more definitively before she moved over to the next one, the one in the meeting room of the Rose Mansion. "Someone is standing in front of me. I'm looking into their eyes," she said as she then moved to the one at the lake on the estate. "Someone is supposed to be sitting next to me," she exclaimed as she moved to the next painting, tears forming in her eyes as she became more and more frantic. "Someone is supposed to be sitting with me at the table," she said of the one showing her summer home, "there are two teacups," she said as she ran to the last one; the one in front of Maria-sama. This one she stopped at and simply stared at the canvas in front of her.

The painting showed that it was early evening, the light from the full moon shown down on her and the space in front of her as she held her rosary aloft, the necklace held wide open as if she were presenting it to the moonlight . . . or as if she were going to place it around someone's neck. She gradually collapsed to her knees, staring at the portrait, the tears in her eyes now matching those shown in the painting. "My petite soeur," she whispered, barely loud enough to be heard in her own ears, let alone anyone else's; but her onee-sama heard her and knelt down to wrap her in her arms.

"My petite soeur," she said a little louder, and then again, with a sob, "M-my p-petite soeur." Finally, with a wail of anguish that rocked the others, "My petite soeur! Where is she? She's supposed to be there! WHERE IS SHE?" she screamed as Youko rocked her and let her rail against her. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY PETITE SOEUR, YOU BITCH!" Sachiko screamed, pounding her knees in frustration and despair.

"There are more in the tube," Sei said quietly as she watched her friend cry in the arms of her grande soeur. "I only put up the ones that I had enough hangers for."

"There's Rei and Nana-chan," Yoshino said as she studied the one from the Rose Mansion, "and me. And there's Shimako and Noriko and even Touko-chan. They are a little indistinct in the darkness, but easily recognizable to anyone that knows them."

"Even Camera-chan," Sei said as she joined the brown haired sleuth in front of the painting, pointing to a short haired, bespectacled figure.

"Now I know what she meant when she said 'I'm sorry' in her note," Youko said quietly as she consoled her little sister. "She knew that this would happen; that Sachiko would realize what was missing in each of these portraits. That's why she was apologizing. Do we know any more about her yet?" she asked of her friends as Sachiko continued to weep in the circle of her arms.

"Not yet, but I want to know how she painted all of these," Yoshino replied angrily. "There was no one else in the room with us at the Christmas party Sachiko's third year at Lillian. I would swear my life on it, and that's where this one was painted. I remember the scene when Sei-sama pointed out Tsutako-san. You can just barely make out the Christmas decorations on the walls. She's either a stalker or psychic, and I would lean towards a stalker."

"No!" Sachiko said vehemently as she finally tried to gather herself together again. "She is not a stalker. That much I know. I don't know who she is, or where she came from, or how she painted all of these, but I know in my heart that she means no evil."

"Sachiko's right," Sei added into the sudden silence, "there is no malice in these paintings. There is love, there is sadness, there is want and need, there is loneliness and there is even despair, but there is no malice or evil intent. I've studied tens of thousands of paintings and artists, from the old masters to the insane. I would stake my reputation that the artist is in just as much pain as Sachiko is. You can see it in the tenderness of the brushstrokes and in the careful choice of colors; in the sunlight and in the oils. She loves Sachiko dearly and hates the pain that she sees in her eyes, but I would swear on a stack of bibles that she was in just as much pain, if not more, when she painted these."

"Onee-sama, Yoshino-san, you are now, as of this moment and for the foreseeable future, on the Ogasawara payroll. Whatever your price may be I don't care. You will find me that woman and you will bring her to me. Hire whomever you need to. Go wherever you need, hell, bribe whoever you need to, but I want to meet this woman again." The head of the Ogasawara Group was back in charge and she would see that her will was done.

"Sei, make copies or take pictures of all of these paintings and send copies out to all of the galleries in Japan to see if anyone recognizes the artist," Yoshino said, taking over.

"Yes ma'am," Sei said with a grin and a salute.

"I'll continue trying to track down the information on the original crate design and materials," Yoshino continued. "It's too unique to not be recognized by someone. I'll get an engineer to draw up some schematics and get them sent out to the crating manufacturers."

"Since it may be a one-of-a-kind design," Sachiko inserted, "I'll have one of my engineers do it and put our proprietary logo on it. That way the design won't be stolen by anyone. Whoever came up with it is a genius and deserves the credit and the proceeds from any sales. Call Suguru. I'll give you his cell phone number and tell him it's my decision. He'll make sure you get everything you need."

"I'm also going to start putting together a private showing," Sei said enthusiastically as she walked around looking at all of the brand new artwork she had at her disposal; each and every one of them a true masterpiece. "It might take a few weeks, maybe a little more or less, but I'll need the time to get these framed and the invitations printed and distributed. I'll invite everyone I know in the art world to come. Oh, this is going to be fun!" she grinned as she rubbed her hands together delightedly.

Sachiko could care less how much "fun" it might be. If it helped to find her this woman, she would pay any price. She didn't know what her friends or her head might be trying to tell her, but her heart was telling her that she needed to find this woman . . . now!

A/N: Again, thank you all so very much for your support of this story. I can't tell you how grateful I am.

Take care,

CX