Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from Maria-sama ga Miteru. And it's probably best I don't.
A/N: ~~~ = Time passing. "Dialogue" "Inner thought (from Sachiko's Point of view)"
Thanks to my readers. And for meatiecow, Chinensis' Fan, chkim218, geniogene, kurakami, and romancejunky: Reviews make it very rewarding to write, a sincere thanks for being awesome.
Questions: meatiecow, Chinensis' Fan, and geniogene all wanted to know if Yumi has "changed".
Answer: Read below ;)
Rated M for adult themes, avert your eyes little ones.
Sachiko's P.O.V.
One Thousand Years
Chapter 7: Joy & Acceptance
Yumi ruffles her brow. "Dracula, like the Dracula in the vampire movie." Now my face displays a confused look. "I have no idea what you're talking about Yumi..."
"A movie… I'm sorry Yumi, I don't think I've heard of it. I haven't really had time to do fun things like watch movies, and Yumi… what's a vampire?" My face turns optimistic. "Maybe I'll get to watch a movie with Yumi." Yumi snakes her hand around mine, our fingers intertwine while she looks up at me.
"… vampires, uh… drink blood!, like you did… and um… other things." Yumi mumbles, she is noticeably uncomfortable. "Vampires are like that too?" Yumi's cheerful disposition fades away.
"Lets think about that later Yumi, why don't we just focus on us right now?" I say while leaning closer to her. Yumi reaches her free hand up to her mouth, It touches the single sharp tooth which resides there. She gives a hitched yelp. Yumi squeezes the grip of our joined hands.
"Sachiko… I'm scared." She says. "That wasn't there before. Did I do that?"
"Scared…" I search for the words. "Please Yumi, please don't be." Yumi's heart skips a beat. "I won't let anything hurt you. Don't be scared."
"I know… When Sachiko is with me I know everything will be okay." Yumi says, her voice sounding sincere. She pulls away from me. The separation brought with it a horrible feeling of loss. "Why did she leave me?" To my joy the separation is only temporary. Yumi's head comes to a rest on my leg. Her body is lying in a line off to my side. A smile and two sparkling eyes greet me from below. "I just wanted to get comfortable, do you mind if I use you as a pillow?" She says, her smile growing in size; the mood is no longer grim.
"Not at all." I say in a silly manner. Her soft head does wonders to my self control. The warm swirling feelings returned, and I curse my lips for ever letting Yumi escape. "Everything of Yumi's is soft and perfect…" Somehow I manage to reach out and skillfully run my fingers through her hair. Her ribbons remain on the nightstand, previously discarded after our visit to town. My fingers continue unrestrained. I trace a line from Yumi's ear to her chin.
"Mmm…" Yumi's throat purrs without the aide of moving lips.
"Yumi, have you any idea how beautiful you are?" I ask. The feeling residing within are taking control of my actions at an alarming rate. My cheeks are burning and my heart does it's best to break free from my chest. As does Yumi's in kind. We stare into each others eyes. "Is she maybe feeling what I'm feeling?" Overwhelming urges begin to fill within me. Yumi's eyes widen and her mouth opens a little, she appears caught in shock. The cause of this shock being the location of my wondering hand. Against my knowledge it had jumped the gap from her chin to her chest. I remove my blunder before it causes any more damage. The violation was not very serious, my palm merely caressed her collar bone. "She wouldn't be mad about that right?" Unfortunately as I pull away my finger runs against a very sensitive bud adorning her curves. "Great, Yumi must think me a lecher." I mentally scold myself for not feeling regret.
"Sachiko." She says in a soft unfamiliar tone. I do my best to hide the various feeling threatening to decorate my face.. "I need to change the subject. Now."
"Yumi please, lets go back to talking about-" My voice is shaky, Yumi takes notice.
"You can tell me." She says lovingly. "What you're feeling that is." I drop my guards. "How could I ever be dishonest with her?" I sit silently, uncharacteristically searching for the right words. The love within starts to boil over.
"It's just I feel…" Through some torture I am hyper sensitive to the strawberry Yumi-ish smell that dances in the air. I can feel it, almost taste it, it warms me from the inside out. The heat bearing down on me is so intense; I can't breath. "I feel too hot, too hot everywhere." I swing me legs out from under Yumi. The floor looms as I stagger off the bed. I tear at the curtains until I have the handle leading to my room's balcony. Eyes closed I slide the door open and burst into the cold. My shaking hands hold onto the stone railing. These feeling are new and powerful, they do their best to trick me. My heart continues to pound while I gasp for air. Forgetting my setting I make a big mistake; As my eyes open they catch the second story view. My gut clenches as my head becomes faint. "It's so far dow-" My vision fades to black as I fall backwards. I should be landing on the hard ground, instead it's soft. "No." Rather I have not fallen to the ground at all. Yumi has caught me in her arms. She pulls me back up, I am still unstable on my own; So Yumi supports me in her arms, her hands gently holding my waist. "Is she aware of what this contact does to me?" If that wasn't bad enough, from her position behind me Yumi mouth is roughly at my necks level. She is so close to me each of her soft exhales send a shiver down my spine.
"Sachiko…" She whispers. My knees are going weak; the heat building in my cheeks is quite dubiously that of embarrassment. "Such an overwhelming feeling of affection, why would she do this? Surely she knows this behavior is prone to a reaction!" I am awestruck when Yumi picks me up in a bridal fashion. I could never imagine Yumi doing such and action or even being capable lifting me in such a way. Regardless, she carries me with ease; it doesn't take long before I'm being lowered to my bed. This contact has quickly dissipated the queasy feeling in my stomach.
Something is wrong, looking up at Yumi I can tell in an instant. She towers above me, the moonlight at her back. Her small and pointy tooth hangs over her bottom lip's smile. Above her mouth her eyes are glazed over. Even more strange the one above her fang is not it's usually hazel-mocha color, it's purple. Yumi plants her knees to each side of my joined feet. I am stunned and unmoving. My eyes widen in sight of her boldness. Yumi crawls the length of my legs, stopping she leans back on her heels as well as my stomach. It has come full circle, once again I find my body reacting to thoughts of Yumi. My mind still puzzles over her questionable actions. "Is this Yumi maybe being... seductive? No. Something is wrong, that's not Yumi."
"Yumi?" I ask. She doesn't respond, an angelic smile still plasters her lips. For a while I absentmindedly remain beneath her. Then to my relief my protective instincts kick in. "What am I thinking. She deserves better from me." I finally realize how dangerous it is, letting Yumi mesmerize me with her beauty. "It's a shame, I could have just ignored it…" I grab Yumi's forearms and sit up. She slides down my stomach. Now I'm looking down into her eyes; they are still gorgeous, even when appearing hypnotized. "Yumi!" My words are firm. Yumi stares blankly for a moment. She gives a few rapid blinks. I watch the glaze disappear from her eyes. Furthermore the eye above her sharp tooth changes, hazel once again. It could be said before the smell and energy of the room was buzzing, but that feeling is fading rapidly.
"S-Sachiko?" She says as if pleading for something. Quickly the color drains from her cheeks.
"Yumi?" I ask. She slumps down into my lap. "Yumi!?" She wraps her arms behind my back and puts an ear to my chest. She briefly pulls tightly around me before her arms go slack.
"I don't know what came over me, your not mad right?" She asks nervously and out of breath.
"No of course not, I was just worried. Are you… okay? Yumi tell me please."
"I… Yes…" Is her answer, this quickly changes. "No… but I think- I just felt a little funny when I caught you is all. I'm sorry."
"Please don't be sorry Yumi." Her labored breathing worries me. I can feel it within her as well. Yumi is not well, the way her heart strains with each beat. The feeling of stress and exhaustion.
"I am really-" She starts.
"Tired." I Finish. Yumi gives a weak nod.
"Why?" She asks.
"I don't know Yumi, but I can feel it. I'll protect you." I say while running my hands through her hair. "We're going to sleep now Yumi." My words are soft. Her frail body is in no shape to argue. "I'll be here when you wake up. It's very late anyways, lets go back to sleep. We can continue talking after a good nights rest." I say with smile. "We're not the far from sun up really, and the only real rest I've had since yesterday was our cat nap." Yumi extends her arms in hopes of lifting herself off me. Try as she might her little frame won't budge under her own power. "What a change, so quickly, so suddenly Yumi was deprived of all her strength, was it because I panicked before? Or maybe she just got embarrassed for sitting on me in such a provocative manner. Everything is cryptic lately." I move my most precious person to an open plot of bed.
"Sachiko… I love you."
"And I reciprocate that love, more than you can know." I say while giving a quick but loving kiss. My eyes turn back to the open sliding glass door. "I wouldn't want you to get a cold Yumi, I'll only be a second." I whisper before tip-toeing out of bed. "Do not look over the railing." My eyes track the floor for safety.
The trip to the door and back is successful and uneventful. Moonlight peaks through the gap were curtain edges meet, the moonlight is rather soothing. "I still hate heights, but as long as it's just the menacing thought and not the real thing, I can bare it." Back at the side of the bed I bring my gaze up. My everything jerks in awe of the vista before me. She sleeps on her side. Her legs are pulled close to her chest; the lazily discarded sheets are wrinkled beneath her. Her top arm is folded into the shell created by her chest and bed itself. Her other arm lay outstretched, pointing toward myself. Her fingers are relaxed, curled into the bedding; every bit of exposed skin gleams in the moon light. Her face is most stunning of all: half bathed in soft light, half darkened, her lips are parted just enough for soft breathing, strewn and stray hairs over her closed eyes. I lean over just enough to cover her with a free blanket.
With soft steps I make way to a new resting place. I wouldn't dare disturb the angel gracing my bed with her presence. I pull an elegant chair away from my equally adorned desk, noiselessly It's new location a small distance from Yumi. I sit on the chair in a reversed fashion, using my arms to cushion the backrest from my chin it's rather comfortable. My view of Yumi is unobstructed. "Just as it should be."
What must have be hours passes in an instant, I start to drift away to the dreaming world. Yumi's sweet smell coupled with a memory of her soft lips serving to calm my thoughts. The gentle touch of moonlight, a narrow band across my exposed shoulder, the last external feeling I have before consciousness is no more.
My severed mind takes time to make sense of the city I loom over. My feet are planted on a rooftops elevated edge. The skyline of a nighttime Tokyo bustles before me. Wind strikes the side of my bare figure. Where cold should be, there is none. Wrapped in my arms, pulled into my grasp, I shield an equally bare Yumi. The harmless wind chill a wonderful excuse for a tighter embrace. I enjoy the warmth against my hands. Dark clouds overtakes the sky blocking out the soft moonlight. The airs begins to pull against our huddled embraces. Ribbons of black spring from my flowing hair, behind us they twist and bind together. In to existence a bed covered in a pitch-black colored silk sheets appears. An aroma of rose engulfs our bond. Time slows as we fall backwards is bliss. We land flawlessly center of the shimmering dark bed. The feel and warmth of Yumi against my chest is magically complemented by rose peddles raining down from the heavens. My heart gives a single powerful kick, I am breathless until it's followed by another. Then like a dam breaking my chest starts rapidly heaving up and down. The sweet smelling Yumi lain atop me rises and falls with my increasing heartbeat. Yumi brings her cheek to her shoulder exposing a splendor of smooth skin. The beauty wise beyond her years seeming understanding sooner than I. No later is my mouth now aching with excitement. Without delay I sink my teeth into her delicate skin. Blood wastefully pours out, but is soon trapped as I clamp my mouth tight. Yumi writhes in my grasp. As soon as the taste reaches my tongue the clouds above us begin to part. Yumi starts to fade away as the sun takes it's place where the clouds once were. Yumi is but a memory in the wind as I tear at the blankets, the sun bears down on my shoulder, I desperately try to shield myself from the unpleasant sun. The blankets do nothing as the heat on my shoulder rises. Irritation turns to pain when I hear a voice cry out. My world morphs into blankness.
"Sachiko!" Yumi cries. My vision still but a blur of what the world holds.
A/N: Requests, kind words, criticism, and questions are all welcome. Thank you for reading.