A/N: I guess it's about time for this.
Disclaimer: I do not own MSGM or any of its characters. All such honors belong to Oyuki Konno.
And since this chapter is the equivalent of the "hump" chapter, I'll publish it on Hump Night.
I'll also ask very nicely, if you're enjoying the story, please leave me a note and let me know. I love hearing from you. (^_^)
Chapter Seven
Third Evening at Lily Hall
"The difference was so shocking!" Tsutako exclaimed with a shake of her head. She and Yoshino were sitting in the room Yoshino shared with Rei after dinner comparing notes regarding Yumi. "I swear, if I didn't know better I'd say she was bipolar or something. It's like talking to two completely different people!"
"I warned you Tsutako-san," Yoshino nodded emphatically, her arms across her chest and looking like an expert pontificating to a particularly dense student, "when she's painting, Yumi-chan has the confidence of a master, but when she's not engaged in her art it's like she's just waiting for the next blow to fall."
"Warning me and actually seeing it myself are two completely different things, Yoshino-san," the photographer said while still unable to believe the radical change she'd witnessed in Yumi's demeanor during their evening meal. Then she grinned and her eyes took on a particularly wicked gleam. "But you were certainly right about her being as cute as a button. I'd definitely tap that!"
"Tsutako-san!" Shimako squeaked in shock. She'd joined her two friends shortly after dinner had been cleaned up and everyone went their separate ways. Yumi had told them she wanted to spend some time thinking about a few things so they'd left her at the door to her room.
"Well, maybe, maybe not," the photographer smirked, happy to have gotten such an exquisite reaction from the school's angelic miko. "Anyway, I certainly wouldn't mind getting her to pose for me again."
"From what I saw, you didn't get her to pose for you in the first place," Yoshino laughed softly. "You just took your shots as they were given."
"Oh, speaking of which," the bespectacled girl jumped up from the bed she'd been sitting on and moved over to the desk so that she could get at her friend's computer. She quickly pulled the SIM card from her camera and downloaded the photos she'd taken that afternoon. Even before she looked at them she attached the entire folder as a zip file and emailed it to her school account. The other two girls quickly crowded behind her so that they could look over her shoulders at the results.
"Oh, my!" Shimako whispered. "Is that really Sachiko-sama?"
"Better than I'd even hoped for," Tsutako sighed with relief. "It's taken me years, but I finally got some really good photos of our school's princess. And it took Yumi to do it. I'll never allow my own preconceived notions to get in the way of my art ever again. Three years wasted, and Yumi teaches me what I'm doing wrong with just a few words. Talk about feeling like a complete idiot."
"Don't be too hard on yourself, Tsutako-san," the blonde Shimako told her friend. "How many of us have truly seen beyond Sachiko-sama's mask? We've all known her for so long. It just took a fresh pair of eyes to show us what we'd all been missing."
"Uh huh," the glasses girl mumbled as she swept through the pictures she'd taken earlier. "And you don't have to worry. I'm definitely in. I'll help keep an eye on Yumi. At first I was thinking you must have been smoking something she seemed too confident, but after that," she shrugged, "definitely shark bait. It's not like she can walk around school with a paintbrush in her hand all the time; even if that would work. But it's not going to be easy. She didn't say much of anything at dinner, but what she did say was essentially all variations on the theme of 'yes, sempai, whatever you say sempai'. It got to the point I was wondering where her backbone had run off to."
"She only grows one when…" Yoshino started to reply when all three girls became aware of a soft, lilting sound coming from the backyard. It was nearly a race to see who could get to the window fast enough, but unfortunately Yoshino's window faced the wrong direction. So they were out the door and down the stairs at a rush, nearly running over both Youko and Sei in their panic to get there first.
"SHHHH!" Youko admonished them before they stepped one foot into the kitchen. "Don't you dare disturb her!"
"We'll be quiet as mice," Yoshino grinned.
It was a still excited but much quieter group of girls that finally made their way to gather round the kitchen window that looked out on the backyard.
Yumi stood at the base of the sakura tree, violin in hand, swaying gently and playing a sad lament. The little amount of moonlight making its way through the lush foliage was just barely enough to make out her silhouette. In contrast, the music was both bright and pure, if melancholy.
"Elgar's violin concerto in E minor, second movement, Romance," Sachiko whispered to the silently appreciative audience having come last into the kitchen. "She plays the way she paints, with her whole heart and soul, holding nothing back. It's supposed to be accompanied by a piano and for the first time I wish I'd allowed my father to have one installed here."
"Nothing to say you still can't," Youko nodded. "Maybe not a grand, or even a baby grand, but certainly we can find room for an upright. Didn't Eriko say something about Yumi playing the piano as well?"
"And the shamisen," Sei nodded. "Where is our favorite nympho tonight anyway?"
Youko's reply was to nod her head toward the base of one of the ginkgoes where, if you were diligent, you might be able to see a shadow lying on the ground, one arm in the air and seeming to be directing the music.
"Front row seat, I see," Sei chuckled.
"Shhh!" three other girls admonished her.
Seemingly without transition, Yumi moved from one song to another.
"That's Debussy, isn't it?" Rei asked her best friend.
"Hmm, Beau Soir. The Jascha Heifetz arrangement. Also for violin and piano." She seemed to take a deep breath before continuing, this time quoting.
"When the rivulets are rosy in the setting sun,
And a mild tremor runs over the wheat fields,
An exhortation to be happy seems to emanate from things
And rises towards the troubled heart.
"An exhortation to enjoy the charm of being alive
While one is young and the evening is beautiful,
For we are going on, as this stream goes on:
The stream to the sea, we to the grave.
"It's a poem by Paul Bourget and was Debussy's inspiration for the concerto. Debussy was only twenty-one or so at the time." She turned to the younger girls and exhorted them to "watch her" tonight.
"You don't think…"
"No, I don't," Sachiko sighed, "but better safe than sorry."
Tsutako thought for a moment before grinning. "Sounds like a nice night for a good old fashioned sleepover."
-oo-
The depression had come on swiftly during dinner. Yumi couldn't think of what might have triggered it, but it hit her hard all the same. She'd ended up barely saying two words to anyone, let alone their guest, Tsutako. There wasn't enough light to paint, and her shamisen had never been able to pull her out of these sudden fugues, so she gathered her violin from the bottom of her wardrobe and snuck out back where she'd be less likely to disturb anyone. While it was a cool evening, a sweater was all that she needed to fend off the mild chill. Slowly she made her way to the base of the sakura tree where it was darkest and she'd be harder to spot. It was dark enough that she didn't notice a recumbent Eriko lying beneath one of the ginkgoes closer to the side yard staring up at the stars.
A few precious moments tuning and she was off, moving from one melancholy piece to another, the few notes necessary for transition formulating in her mind toward the end of the previous work so that her bow was never still unless called for in the music itself. She didn't know why, but playing upbeat songs had never done a thing to offset her depressions, while sad, melancholy songs actually helped alleviate the crushing emotions. It was as if pouring all her angst into her music allowed her to vent it from her heart and mind, leaving her clear headed once more.
Yumi played for nearly an hour non-stop, running through nine different musical pieces, and only when she finally paused to take a breather and stretch out her arm and neck muscles did she realize she'd somehow picked up an audience.
"Brava," the tall, dark haired girl called out softly while clapping her hands together. Yumi felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and ears and ducked her chin to try to hide her flushing face. "I'm sorry for intruding. I was just taking a walk before bedtime when I heard your violin. That was a truly wonderful performance."
"It's nothing, really," Yumi squeaked in a peak of embarrassment, happy that she was able to find her voice, even if it was muted, "just a little bit of playing around."
"If that's 'playing around' I'd love to hear you when you get serious," the older and only slightly taller girl laughed, her voice sounding like church bells when she finally stepped fully into the moonlight where Yumi could see her properly. She had nearly shoulder length, straight black hair and dark eyes. There wasn't enough light to judge their color, but she thought they were probably brown. "My name is Kanina Shizuka," the girl introduced herself with a slight bow. "I'm a second-year here at Lillian and a music student, primarily voice although I play a little piano as well. You are…"
Yumi's blush deepened. "Fukuzawa Yumi, first-year Peach class. In fact it's my first year at Lillian period, so please excuse me if I should already know of you."
"Nonsense, Yumi-san," the girl gave out that wonderful laugh again. "While I may be egotistical enough to believe that I've become somewhat known here at school for my singing, I'm certainly not the most popular girl on campus. I believe one of your dorm mates happens to hold that particular distinction," she grinned, obviously speaking of Sachiko. "If I may be so bold as to ask, have you signed up for any music classes?"
"Piano and violin," Yumi nodded, seeming to be gathering her feet beneath her again as she became more comfortable with the topic. "I was also hoping to maybe join one of the music clubs, but I don't know enough about them yet to even begin to decide which one."
"Oh, well," Shizuka held up a hand and started counting on her fingers. "There's the orchestra of course, but there's also separate ones for chamber music, jazz, choral music, religious music, traditional Japanese music, there's even one for pop and rock and, if the rumors are true, one somewhat underground group that's into anything to do with metal," she laughed gently, her eyes sparkling. "I myself am actually a member of the opera club. We usually work with the orchestra, dance, and drama clubs to produce one or two performances per year. Last year we did Bizet's Carmen and this year we're considering, among others, Mozart's The Magic Flute. I've always wanted to see if I can handle the role of the Queen of the Night."
"Oh, the soprano coloratura?" Yumi squealed with delight, both her depression and her timidity having flown somewhere else for the moment. "I've never been able to understand how someone could manage a full two octave range, from F4 to F6. The technical difficulties and intricacy of the staccato highs when performed correctly are simply breathtaking."
"Finally! Someone who understands!" Shizuka did a good impression of Yumi's squeal, causing the blood that had finally begun to settle to rush back into her cheeks. "Oh, don't be like that, Yumi-san," the girl laughed. "I was just teasing, though it really is nice to find someone sufficiently familiar with the piece to understand its difficulty."
"I've never played it before," Yumi admitted as her embarrassment slowly faded, "but I've heard it a few times. I especially liked Edda Moser's performance. It only seemed right for it to be included in the music collection sent into space on Voyager I."
"I know! Right?" the black-haired second-year nodded sagely. "And Bach's Brandenburg Concerto!"
Yumi had to grin. How many people knew of the pieces of music sent into outer space on the first Voyager mission nearly twenty years before they'd been born? Had she maybe found a kindred spirit? Shizuka glanced at her watch.
"It's starting to get late," she looked back up to Yumi, "Would you mind if we continued this discussion some other time? While it feels nice, the damp night air isn't all that great for my voice, but I'd love to speak with you again."
"I'd like that, very much, sempai," Yumi blushed again with a slightly deeper bowing of her head.
"Then I'll see you later, Yumi-san," the older girl smiled, bowing herself. "Don't stay out too late. I think your friends will be worried."
"Friends?" Yumi's face scrunched up in confusion. Shizuka's only reply was a glance toward the dorm. Yumi looked to see the kitchen window nearly filled to over-flowing with her dorm mates, each and every one of them smiling or grinning at her.
"Don't keep them waiting, Yumi-san" the opera singer smiled as she turned to head back to the school's other dormitory.
"Y-yes!" Yumi squeaked, much happier than she'd been at dinnertime. Whether it was playing her violin, Shizuka's compliments, the possibility of having found another friend, or realizing that maybe she already had some friends…the reason didn't matter. "Thank you, Shizuka-sama!" she called out over her shoulder as she grabbed her violin case and started running to the back porch and her friends.
-oo-
"Be gentle with her, Shizuka-chan," Eriko called out softly to the school's famous soprano before the dark-haired girl could slip past her, not bothering to move from her reclining position at the base of the tree. While Sachiko might be the school's idol and most popular girl, Shizuka was the darling of the stage for her beautiful, mature voice and had quite a following of her own. And given the girl's inclinations, it wasn't beyond the realm of possibility for her to capture the heart of a certain first-year painter and musician.
"I will, Eriko-sama," Shizuka chuckled. "I wouldn't want Sachiko-san to come after me."
"Oh?" Eriko sat up a bit at this little tidbit of gossip.
"You didn't see the way our 'Ice Princess' was glaring at me the entire time I was speaking to Yumi-san?" Shizuka giggled, going so far as to put her fingers over her lips, her eyes twinkling like twin stars with their own inner light. "I could practically feel her fingers wrapping around my throat, her jealousy was so poignant. I value my voice too much to even think of stepping between those two."
"Crap! How did I not notice?" Eriko sighed, her head falling back to the ground, angry at herself for being so oblivious. She was normally the first one to pick up on these kinds of things and she hated it when she missed the little signs and cues as if it were a serious failing on her part.
"You were caught up in her music, just as I was." Shizuka's tone was placating, and there was some truth in what she said, but still Eriko vowed to be more observant.
"Maybe," the brown-haired third-year sighed. "She was fantastic, wasn't she? She had tears rolling down my cheeks."
"Mine too," the other girl nodded, slowly moving away again. "Watch over her, Eriko-sama. I know I will. She's precious."
"You don't have to tell me that," Eriko laughed, the image of her new portrait forming in her thoughts along with the weeping child she'd scared out of her wits the previous morning. "And thank you. We'll take all the guardian angels we can find for this one."
"Always the mother hens," Shizuka laughed as she wandered into the night, "though she may be stronger than you think. Sweet dreams, Eriko-sama."
"You too, Shizuka-chan," Eriko grinned while wondering what the black-haired songstress had meant. "Stronger than we think? Damn! I must be getting lazy."
-oo-
Shimako looked around her bedroom at the smiling and laughing faces of her fellow first-years. She had already dressed for bed in one of her many pairs of footie pajamas, this particular pair a fuzzy pink and covered with various images of playful kittens. Tsutako was wearing a cotton nightgown she'd borrowed from Yoshino, who was wearing one of her own, while Yumi was wearing a pair of light green, long-sleeved flannel pjs covered in musical notes and stanzas. The pigtailed girl was sitting on one of the two futons the girls had pulled out of storage, her jiuta shamisen in her lap as she quietly plucked the melody to an old tune. With her eyes closed and the slight smile on her lips, it took very little imagination to see the musician as one of Lady Saigō's blind goze from long ago.
As a miko Shimako wasn't unfamiliar with the shamisen herself, having been required to play the instrument for various ceremonies as she was growing up. On impulse she got up and walked over to the corner of her room that contained a long, slender case. All chatter seemed to dissipate when she pulled out her own shamisen and quietly tuned it before returning to take a seat on her bed. The old folk song Yumi was playing was one that Shimako happened to know as well, so at an appropriate moment she joined in, playing a counterpoint to the song that her father had taught her.
Her finger's never wavered, but Yumi's eyes flew open in surprise, turning those wide brown eyes on Shimako. Only a moment later, her small smile broadened into a wide grin.
"I've never played a duet before," Yumi said shyly, her fingers continuing to pluck at her instrument. "The closest I've come is playing my violin along with a recording of my own piano."
"Your instructors never played along with you? Not even for a concerto?" Yoshino asked, surprised. Yumi shook her head.
"I had to learn the piano part first, record it, then add the violin later while listening to the recording." She tilted her head to one side seeming to be trying to think. "I'm not sure I've ever heard myself play a full piece. My tutors never recorded the end result, only the individual instruments. I don't really know why…" Her face wasn't registering much of any emotion, but there was a very slight bitterness in her voice.
Shimako was about to comment, but was interrupted by the other, so far silent occupant of the room.
"Hey, Yumi-san, think you could show me those paintings Yoshino-san was telling me about?" Tsutako was almost comically bouncing on her futon, using the most impressive puppy-dog eyes that Shimako had ever seen. While Yumi most likely didn't realize the 'Ace' photographer was trying to divert her attention away from potentially painful thoughts, Shimako saw right through the bespectacled girl's intent.
"Yeah, let's show her, Yumi-san!" Yoshino joined in the bouncing. With a giggle at their antics, the artist reluctantly agreed, laying her instrument aside. The four of them then trooped into Yoshino's 'assigned' bedroom where Yumi had stored her art supplies for the night.
"Oh, wow," Tsutako whispered as she saw the now two completed paintings – the nude of Eriko and the one of a girl sweeping a cobblestoned path – along with the partially completed picture of the sakura tree. "These are like…wow."
"I know, Eriko-sama's never looked better," Yoshino smirked.
Shimako had seen any number of nude paintings in her years of study, but seeing the naked body of one of her close friends still brought a slight heat to her cheeks. Instead she turned her attention to the new painting sitting on the easel. "Is that Sachiko-sama?" she asked.
"Um, yeah," Yumi blushed. "She just sort of came along, got in the picture and, well…"
"You just had to paint her," Tsutako smirked. "Can't imagine why." The artist's blush just deepened further. "Then again, even I took about twenty or so shots of the both of you this afternoon."
"You got pictures of Yumi-san, too!" the normally braided Yoshino spun to confront her friend, her unbound hair flowing around her hips. "You didn't tell me that!"
As Tsutako and Yoshino heatedly badgered each other, Shimako moved over next to the person in question.
"You don't mind, Yumi-san?" she asked.
"What? About the paintings, or about the photos?" she shrugged, "I'm sure they're not worth publishing, and if she did want to publish them for some reason, I'm also sure she'd ask permission. Otherwise I'm just like Sachiko-sama is in the painting, a convenient model in the right place at the right time." She walked over to the easel and laid a hand against the canvas' wooden frame, not touching the actual painting itself. "I'll ask Sachiko-sama first before I let Youko-sama hang this one anywhere, even if it's just in the dorm. It's simply good manners to get the model's permission before displaying their image."
Yumi's eyes were unfocused, as if she were seeing the scene as it was earlier that day, not the version she'd painted so far. There was a tiny, shy smile on her lips that Shimako found cute. Thinking about Sachiko-sama, I'm sure, the miko figured. Like Eriko, Shimako had also seen the look their dorm mate was giving Shizuka as she was speaking with Yumi. If looks could kill, she just barely kept herself from giggling at the memory of the fire in those deep blue eyes.
"By the way, I saw you speaking with Shizuka-san. I have to assume you were discussing music. That's all that girl lives for."
"Uh huh," Yumi nodded, her lips smiling a bit more at that memory. "She seems like a nice person."
"She is," Shimako agreed with a nod. "Very nice. She's part of the school's choir as well as in the opera club. She has a beautiful voice. Like an angel. She turned down a full scholarship to a music conservatory in Italy last year. Says she's holding out for Paris. Something tells me she'll get it."
"I've no doubt," Yumi chuckled softly, "her laugh is like church bells."
Was it because she was in her studio that Yumi seemed easier to talk to, more confident in herself? Or was it just that she was becoming a bit more used to the company? Shimako didn't know and, for now, didn't care. She'd take what she could get. One day at a time.
"It's getting late, we should probably get back my room," she offered.
Yumi turned to look at her, that pretty smile still gracing her lips. "I've never been to a sleepover before. It's fun."
"Oh," Shimako laughed softly, turning to glance at the two girls arguing over which one of them should be the next nude Yumi painted, "something tells me it'll get better before we're allowed to sleep. Expect to have one or both of them ask you to paint their nude portraits. I'll bet you they end up arguing over whose body would be better as a model."
"They're both beautiful," Yumi replied with a confused look. "Different maybe, but each has their own beauty." She trained her eyes on the girls and truly focused. "I can see both of them already. Yoshino-san as a fierce warrior maiden, naked from the waist up wielding a pair of bloody katana, dead foes at her feet, and Tsutako-san sitting at a desk with only a single lamp, pouring over photos of naked girls late in the evening while wearing just a thin robe that leaves nothing to the imagination, as much a part of her own art as the models in her photos."
Her descriptions and the tone of her voice drew Shimako into the images Yumi was creating in her mind's eye. And she was right, they were vividly 'there,' unable to be turned away from. She didn't know if she'd ever be able to look at the two girls again without seeing them the way Yumi did. It was daunting, frightening.
"Marvelous," she whispered.
"They are, aren't they," Yumi giggled. She then turned back to look at Shimako, her eyes once again focusing, but this time at the miko.
"Don't even think about it, Yumi!" she gasped. "My father would kill me!"
Yumi's real laugh also sounded a bit like bells.
-oo-
Youko couldn't help but smile as she listened to the younger girls having fun and arguing over which one of them looked better naked. Then she heard another laugh, this one somewhat high and tinkling like Christmas bells.
"So, she can laugh as well," she grinned to herself.
"Youko-oneesama?" Sachiko asked.
"I was just wondering what you might look like painted in the nude, Sachiko," the older girl chuckled. Instead of the blush of embarrassment she'd fully expected, the sapphire-eyed princess instead smiled enigmatically.
"Maybe you'll get a chance to see one of these days."
For maybe the first time ever, Sachiko had struck her sempai speechless.