Lessons

*Smack*

"Sssss…", Yumi hisses, but doesn't remove her hands from the piano. The skin on her knuckles is raw from being smacked by her piano teacher repeatedly.

"Play it correctly."

"Yes ma'am." Yumi begins playing once again. Her teacher walks behind her, listening. This time Yumi makes it through with no mistakes.

"Good. You are improving. We are done for the day. Go to your next lesson."

"Thank you." Yumi bows and runs off to her next class. For the instrument of her choice, Yumi chose the flute. She always believed it had a beautiful sound. It wasn't hard to learn, because the notes of the flute were the same as the piano. Although, it was hard to play, when your piano teacher smacked her fingers so much, it hurt to move them, but she pushed through. Once all her music lessons were through, Yumi changed into a kimono to practice for her last class, tea ceremony. Yumi faired pretty well in this, having studied a little with Sachiko and Sayako-oba-sama one weekend. Sachiko thought she would be bored, but Yumi enjoyed it. When the class ended, Eiji came into the room informing Yumi she had a visitor in the foyer. Yumi thanked him and headed off to greet her guest. It had been a week since she had last spoken to anyone.

"Yuuki!" Yumi sees her brother standing in the middle of the foyer.

"Hey Yumi." Yuuki smiles at his sister.

"I would run to you, but I'm afraid I'll fall with this on." Yumi giggles. Yuuki walks over and gives his sister a hug.

"They still haven't taught how to stop being clumsy I see."

"Ha ha, very funny. Let's go to the living room." Yumi leads her brother to a more comfortable setting. Once they are seated, a maid comes in.

"Would you like some tea before dinner for you and Fukuzawa-sama, Yumiko-sama?", the maid asks.

"That would be very nice, Himeko-san." Yumi gives the maid a gracious smile as the maid goes to prepare the tea.

"Yumiko?", Yuuki questions.

"It's my name for this world, so when I attend events and Onee-sama is present she won't come looking for me." Yuuki nods in understanding. The maid comes in with the tea.

"Will you be staying for dinner, Fukuzawa-sama?"

"No. I just came to drop off a few things, and then I will be going." They maid nods and leaves the two to talk. Yumi picks up her cup of tea. "What happened to your hands!", Yuuki exclaims.

"It's nothing."

"Nothing? Your knuckles are about to bleed." Yuuki grabs Yumi's hand gently to get a better look.

"It's just punishment for messing up the piano piece. It really isn't as bad as it looks." Yuuki brushes his hand over a knuckle and Yumi winces. He gives a "really?" look. "Okay, it hurts, besides that, what did you bring me?"

Yuuki sighs and let's go of Yumi's hand. "Sachiko-san came by the house yesterday. She has given your script, which has all of your lines highlighted. She says to have them memorized soon." Yumi picks up the script and flips through it. She grimaces. So many lines. "I also have the music and lyrics for the songs. The Lillian music club was happy to record it for Rosa Chinensis en bouton." Yuuki hands her a CD and some sheet music.

"These lyrics are beautiful", Yumi comments.

"Yeah, they're pretty good. I heard a majority of the work was done by Eriko-sama."

Yumi's eyes widen in surprise. "Eriko-sama! Really? She and Rei-sama are more alike than I thought."

"Next Wednesday, we will be having the first joint meeting at Hanadera, so the whole cast can get to know each other. Will you come? Everyone would love to see you."

"I will speak with Obaa-sama and see if I can move some things around on my schedule."

A knock is heard. The siblings turn to see a maid. "Dinner is ready Yumiko-sama. I would be extra careful getting home Fukuzawa-sama. It seems to have begun raining and I heard it will continue throughout the night."

"Thank you, Himeko-san." The maid nods and exits.

"I better go. Mom should be done preparing dinner the time I get home." Yuuki stands up and Yumi joins him.

"Thank you for coming by Yuuki. It's great to see you. I will try to make it next week." Yumi hugs Yuuki, and then escorts him to the door. "Please be careful getting home." Once Yuuki has left, Yumi goes to the dining room. She takes a seat at one end of the table and waits for her grandmother, who comes in several minutes later. Yumi stands and greets her then they both sit down. After their meal is given to them, Utako starts up conversation.

"How have your lessons been Yumiko?" Yumi places her silverware down and wipes her mouth.

"They have been difficult but manageable. Thank you for asking Obaa-sama."

"I see your brother stopped by."

"Yes ma'am. He brought me some materials to study for the play, given to him by my Onee-sama. They will be having the first joint council meeting next Wednesday. I would like to rearrange my schedule to fit it."

"Of course. I will call your tutors and have one of your classes moved to a later time."

"Thank you Obaa-sama." Yumi goes back to eating.

"This Saturday, there will be an event that we will attend. It's a small gathering. I've already heard the Ogasawaras will not be attending, so you should be fine. I will be introducing to several of my colleagues. Here, you will put your social etiquette class to the test."

"Yes, Obaa-sama." They finish the meal and Himeko comes for their dishes. "Tell the cook he did another amazing job for me please, Himeko-san."

"Of course, Yumiko-sama." Himeko smiles and walks back to the kitchen with their plates.

"Excuse me, Obaa-sama. I have much studying to do." Yumi bows and takes her leave.

She changes into a nightgown and puts on a robe. Yumi sits in her room and studies her script. She mostly scans through the pages and gets the gist of the story. She wants to go through the music, so she decides to gather her things and go to one of the music rooms downstairs. Their walls are pretty much sound proofed so she wouldn't disturb anyone. She enters the room and closes the door. She decides to keep the lights off. Even though it's raining, the moon offers enough light for visibility. Looking at the window, Yumi can see the raindrops cascading down the window. I'll start with the shortest one and try to get a feel for the emotions behind the character. Yumi looks through the music sheets and plucks out one of the songs. She walks over to the CD player and pops the CD in. She sets the player to the correct track and listens to the music, then joins in at the point the sheet music indicates.

I know there's someone, somewhere,
Someone who's sure to find me soon

(Yumi's voice rings throughout the room.)

After the rain goes, there are rainbows

(Yumi walks towards the window and looks out, watching the rain fall. She smiles slightly. How fitting.)

I'll find my rainbow soon

(Yumi walks to the center of the room and closes her eyes.)

Soon it won't be just pretend
Soon a happy ending

(Tears roll down Yumi's face.)

Love, can you hear me
If you're near me
Sing your song
Sure and strong
And soon

Yumi opens her eyes and looks up at the ceiling. She wipes her eyes and chuckles lightly. Eriko-sama is too good, but then again so are all Onee-samas. They always seem to know. Yumi goes through each song several times and cries every time. Once she was finished practicing, she was extremely tired and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

The week continued as usual, except her piano teacher didn't hit her hand, to have it healed by the weekend. That doesn't mean she will not start it up again after the party. Yumi had the most trouble in her academics. In school, her grades were a little above average, but these classes are extreme. Her schoolwork is easier than before, but the homework from the tutors is a killer. She manages to pass though, with plenty of studying. The week had finally passed and it was the night Yumi would have to seriously socialize with the high class crowd. She was nervous, but she held the image of her Onee-sama in mind to boost her confidence.

One of the maids fixed Yumi's hair. Dirty blond extensions were put in and curled along with her own hair. Another maid put light make-up on her, to really bring out her natural beauty. Once her face and hair was all dolled up, her gown was brought in. It was a light blue, sparkly, spaghetti strapped, floor length gown. Yumi gasped when she saw it. It was beautiful. She stood from her seat and walked over to it. She reached out and touched the dress. It's so soft. Yumi brought some fabric up to her cheek and lightly rubbed it there. She sighed contently. The maids giggled and Yumi jumped back from the dress, looking down and blushing, causing the maids to giggle even more. Once they settled down, the maids helped her into it and had Yumi check her yourself out. Yumi gasped again as she stared at her reflection. "Is this really me?" Yumi touches her face to be sure. The door opens behind her.

"You look beautiful Yumiko-sama", Eiji compliments. The other staff members agree. "Shall I escort you to the foyer? Ojou-sama is waiting." Yumi nods and takes his arm.

"You look gorgeous Yumiko", Utako says once Eiji brings Yumi in front of her.

"Thank you Obaa-sama." Yumi smiles brightly. Eiji leads the way to the car and helps the ladies into the car. It's a short drive over to the event.

As soon as Yumi and Utako enter, all eyes are not so secretly glancing their way. Yumi feels a lump forming in her throat but just stands tall. Several figures walk over to them.

"Good evening Utako-sama. Who is this lovely young lady?" The man glances over at Yumi.

"Good evening. This is my granddaughter, Shigemi Yumiko." Utako smiles at the shocked faces.

"Granddaughter?", people begin to murmur.

Yumi takes a deep breath and places a perfect smile on her face. She makes a slight bow. "Good evening everyone. It's a pleasure to meet some of Obaa-sama's acquaintances."

"I wasn't aware you had any grandchildren."

"Yumiko is a new addition to the family. It is wonderful to finally have some company. Yumiko", Yumi looks to her grandmother, "why not go make some friends?" Yumi nods in understanding and excuses herself from the adults.

A few steps away from her grandmother and people are already swarming her, asking her a million questions. She tries her best to answer them all with a forced smile. "I'm a second year student at Lillian", "I'm sixteen, but will be turning seventeen very soon", "I hope to one day help Obaa-sama with the company", I am currently single", "I like to sing". The back and forth questions and answers were beginning to wear her down, until someone jumps in.

"Oh, Yumiko-sama, I was looking all over for you." A tall boy with red hair grabs her hand. "Your grandmother is looking for you. Please let me take you to her. If you will excuse us", the boy says politely to the people. Yumi also excuses herself and apologizes for leaving them without all their questions answered. The boy leads her outside to a garden. "Sorry about all that. New people, especially brought by Utako-sama, are something special."

"No, it's fine. I now understand why Onee-sama learned to avoid people so well. Thank you for helping me….."

"Kazumi, Kurosaki Kazumi."

"Well thank you, Kazumi-san." She gives him the first true smile of the night and he is dazzled by it.

"I-it was a p-pleasure Yumiko-sama." He blushes and clears his throat. "So you attend Lillian huh?"

"Yes. Where do you attend, Kazumi-san?"

"I go to Hanadera." Yumi continues to smile at him, glad to have a calm conversation. "We better go back inside, before people wonder where you have disappeared to." Yumi agrees and they head back in. As soon as she is in sight, people slowly make their way towards her and she stiffens.

She looks to her new friend. "Would you like to dance Kazumi-san?" He sees the people coming and offers his hand.

"Gladly." She takes his hand and they head out to the dance floor. Having practiced with Sachiko her first year and began lessons this year, Yumi danced beautifully. She was a true sight to behold. Yumi and her partner looked at each other the whole time, enjoying each other's company.

"You have beautiful eyes", Yumi spouts randomly, after staring into his eyes, noticing the alluringness of his red eyes, several shade darker than his hair. Kazumi blushes. The dance ends and Utako beckons Yumi over to meet several more of her "friends".

Overall, the night wasn't so bad, although Yumi was pretty tired when the party ended. "You handled yourself well Yumiko. I am proud." Yumi doesn't answer. "Yumiko…" Utako looks to her granddaughter and sees she is asleep. A smile crosses her face. She pats Yumi's head, being careful to not wake her up. So innocent, just like you Yuuichirou.

The next day, Yumi goes back to her classes. Her piano teacher is allowed to punish her again, so Yumi decides to wrap her hands to cover her already injured knuckles, but the bandages offer little protection to the next blows applied to her fragile fingers.

Hanadera…

"It's an honor to work with you all", Yuuki says. They have all finished introductions, except for the person missing from the empty chair on the Lillian side of the table.

"It's always a pleasure. Shall we get down to busi…." There is a knock on the door.

"Come in", Yuuki says. The door opens and a beautiful girl is on the other side. Her long legs extend from underneath her white skirt. She wears a light grey t-shirt with a white cardigan and a patterned scarf. A long necklace adorns her neck, white gloves cover her hands and her hair is down, just brushing her shoulders. She is wearing light make-up. The room gasps at this beautiful creature.

"I'm sorry I'm late." Yumi bows and apologizes. The Lillian side jumps up from the chairs and exclaims the many forms of her name. Yoshino rushes to hug her.

"We've missed you." Yumi returns her hug.

"I've missed you all too." Yumi looks at Touko and Sachiko and smiles.

"Glad to have you with us Yumi", Sachiko says.

"Welcome back, Onee-sama", Touko greets. Yumi walks her and gives each of her seours a hug.

"Glad to be back."

"Nice to see you again", Shimako and Rei say. Noriko gives her a smile.

"We've already gone through introductions and were about to begin", Sachiko tells her. Yumi nods and faces the Hanadera side of the table from her seat.

"I'm sorry for my tardiness. My name is Fukuzawa Yumi, Rosa Chinensis en bouton, please take care of me." She reaches across the table to shake the guys hand across from her. She looks into his eyes and smiles. He stares at her mouth agape. "You have beautiful eyes." Yumi freezes and her eyes widen in recognition. She stares at the guy in front of her. Tall. Red hair, short in the back, kind of long in the front. Beautiful red eyes. You have got to be kidding me. Yumi swallows. "Kazumi-san…", she whispers.

The song in this chapter is Soon-Thumbelina. It's such a good movie. This is one of my longer chapters and the next one will probably be even longer. Thank you for reading and please continue with the reviews.