Alright, so this was not edited. Not at all, but once Miracles79 would send me that version, I'd replace this one with that. Thank you so much for the reviews and I'm really sorry this took so long. Had a tough time with this one, guess you could say the ever known writer's block got to me plus I got busy with summer school then the beginning of a new semester.

Thank you for reading.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters.

Chapter 10

Sei's posture immediately became rigid due to the contact of Youko's sweet full lips against hers, though she immediately relaxed afterwards when her initial shock wore off. She really wanted to keep an eye on their surroundings but her eyes were slowly closing in their own accord. Treacherous body of hers.

Youko is kissing me! Desperately trying to swallow back her moan, she eagerly returned the kiss upon feeling Youko pulling back. Don't want her to get the wrong idea after all, she thought.

What are you doing?—screamed Youko's mind. Oh no, she's going to be disgusted with me! With that thought in mind, she started moving away. But upon doing so, she felt Sei's right arm encircle her waist and the other tilting her chin and she felt the other girl pull her, causing their figures to fully flush with each other.

Wha- Youko's mind went blank upon feeling Sei kissing her back.

This is heaven, both of them blissfully thought.

The White Rose was seriously contemplating whether her sanity is intact or not. Youko, the object of her heart's desire, just bravely made a move on her.

In the meeting room.

And in front of their oblivious friends.

Well, it's a good thing they are busy.

For sure, they will both explode from embarrassment of getting caught, especially by a devilish Rosa Foetida.

Eriko! Well damn…

Gently pulling back, Sei had a huge grin on her face while adoringly looking at a rather dazed Youko. She chuckled a bit. She's so adorable.

"Youko?" she whispered and got a hum as a response. She smiled and cupped one of her love's cheeks. She moved a bit in order for her back to be facing the others. Still in a hushed tone, she said, "We should get back."

Sei saw Youko pout at her words and she nearly died with the cuteness of the action. The beating of her heart skyrocketed and for a minute she worried that her friends would be able to hear it amongst the noise inside the room.

"Do we have to?"

She smiled at the somewhat whiny statement from the usually serious Red Rose. She gave a hearty, breathy laugh while tenderly stroking the girl's porcelain cheek. "You'll be the death of me, I swear." With that, she gave Youko a quick peck on the lips and intertwined their hands before slowly walking back to the still bantering first years. They both chuckled at the scene they were witnessing.

"Shimako-chan!" whined Yumi before turning her attention towards a grinning photographer. She held out her hand as she said, "This is definitely not funny. Tsutako-san, may I please have your camera?"

"What do you need it for?" asked the aforementioned brunette with a sickeningly innocent expression.

"Tsutako-san," threatened Yumi playfully with a small glare while taking, what she hoped was a subtle step towards the girl. Unfortunately for Yumi, Tsutako possesses keen eyes so the girl instinctively took a step back.

"What do you need it for, Yu-mi-san?" Tsutako mischievously reiterated, a smirk adoring her features while taking a few more steps back.

Instead of answering, Yumi paced the room with long and fast strides towards her moving friend. They chased each other for awhile and all the occupants of the room watched in amusement and completely missed the door opening.

Before Yumi could grip Tsutako's arms, she bumped hard into someone. And due to her rather fast pace, she and the person she crashed into tumbled down on the mansion's floor with a loud thud. The room fell silent.

Groaning, the brunette picked herself up and started apologizing profusely to whoever she bumped into. "I am so sorry. I was not looking. I mean, I did not notice and—" her rambling immediately ended when she noticed who it was. She gasped.

She's awfully silent. Rei once again shot her companion a worried glance.

"May I ask why are you glancing at me every once in a while, Rei?" the blunette asked whilst watching her friend from the corner of her eye as they reached the statue of the Virgin Mary.

They both sent a quick and silent prayer before continuing their way to the Rose Mansion.

The blonde sighed which earned her an arched brow from Sachiko. Here goes nothing. She shot a quick sideways glance before focusing her attention once more on the graveled path. "You're awfully silent," she voiced out her thoughts from earlier.

"Silent?" questioned Sachiko as she turned to face her friend.

"Yes. You have been silent ever since we knew Kashiwagi-kun would be visiting today," reasoned the blonde. She slightly cringed upon seeing the hard look on Sachiko's eyes. "Sa—"

"Ah, Sacchan!"

The two maidens whipped their faces towards the source of the voice and saw a waving Kashiwagi Suguru with a wide grin on his boyish handsome features.

Sachiko's features immediately went stoic to which didn't go unnoticed by Rei as they approached him.

"Gokigenyou," greeted Rei with a smile once they stood a few feet from each other to which Suguru returns with a bow and greeting of his own.

"Gokigenyou Rei-san," he stated then turned towards Sachiko with a dazzling smile, "Sacchan."

"Suguru-kun," replied the blunette with a tight smile and an equally cold tone.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, an awkward atmosphere enveloped the three. Rei throwing wary glances between her friend and the young man. Sachiko looked like she was about to lose it at any second while Suguru kept beaming at the two ladies, seemingly ignorant to the tenseness of the situation or simply chose to ignore it.

Rei gave out an inaudible sigh and purposely coughed out loud, "Well. Shall we get going?"

Sachiko nods then turns away. She pauses before saying, "That's a good idea Rei. We better go before Onee-sama gets worried and sends out a search party for us."

With that, she promptly walked away.

Suguru and Rei shared a look before following after the en bouton.

"She isn't too pleased with my presence, is she?"

Rei glanced at her right and saw Suguru with a somber expression on his face. She stopped in her tracks causing the young man to stop as well. She opened her lips to speak but was cut off by Suguru.

"I never meant to hurt her," he said with a look of regret in his eyes when he averted his gaze towards the walking Sachiko. "She deserves better. Someone who can love her wholeheartedly and give her the kind of marriage that is based on love."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because I know that you are aware of our situation. You are one of her trusted friends."

When Rei remained silent, Suguru took it as a sign to continue.

"I rejected her because I know that I can't be that someone to grant her a kind of marriage that's successful and one filled with different memories whether it be good or bad," he looked directly at Rei's eyes, "I do love her but not in the way she felt for me before. She deserves someone far better than me."

Rei could only nod her head in agreement. Suguru's words rendered her speechless. She was about to respond but was once again robbed of the chance to do so because of Suguru's request.

"Help me."

"What?" she looked at him with clear confusion.

Suguru stared directly at her, blue orbs filled with determination. "Help me bring the old Sachiko back."

"What are you two doing?"

The two of them turned their attention towards Sachiko's confused voice. She had an unreadable expression but her eyes shone in impatience.

"If we don't hurry up, we will sure be late for the meeting," the blunette stated a matter of fact.

"Ah, but are we not late already?" retorted Suguru. He got a hot glare as a response and saw Sachiko resuming her walk towards the Rose Mansion. He exchanged a look with Rei before the two of them proceeded to walk in tow with the fast paced blunette.

"I would be happy to be of service but," Rei whispered as she studied her friend's back with a fond gaze, "I have a feeling our old Sachiko will be back sooner rather than later."

The rest of their walk was spent in silence.

Yumi found herself gazing at familiar yet foreign sapphire eyes. Beneath her, a splitting image of a certain upperclassman was what greeted her line of sight. Although instead of long raven tresses, the figure underneath her had short wavy raven locks that were slightly darker in shade.

"Hello," the man said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I don't particularly mind that you are on top of me since you are fairly attractive but I'm afraid I don't get attracted to ladies." The last part was said in a whisper so that only the two of them could hear.

Yumi nervously swallowed a lump that formed on her throat as she hastily got up from their compromising position. She held out her hand and stuttered out an apology of some sort. Well, they all assumed it was an apology since the young brunette was talking so fast that they barely understood her words.

Suguru chuckled and gratefully accepted the help. "Thank you."

"Uh, don't mention it," Yumi squeaked, "It was my fault so uh—"

He was very much amused and entertained by the girl's bashfulness with their situation but took pity on her. The young lad held out his hand to stop the girl from blabbering out more apologies.

"Please, stop apologizing. Believe me when I say, it was a pleasure," he said teasingly and gave a playful wink making poor Yumi's cheeks to redden. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a dangerous glint flash through Sachiko's and Shimako's eyes. He felt confused but he quickly brushed it off.

"Kashiwagi Suguru," he introduced himself to the still flustered girl.

Yumi was well aware that her signature blush was present right now. Internally scolding herself, she shakily shook the lad's hand. "Uh, Yumi. Fukuzawa Yumi. I really am sorry about earlier." She said as she offered a genuine smile at the grinning Hanadera student.

"Ah. Your name suits you perfectly, Yumi-chan," Suguru said as he gently placed a kiss at the back of the girl's hand.

Yumi could feel her cheeks doubling in warmth as she slowly retracted her hand back. She mumbled a few quick words, thanking the man for his compliment.

Suguru grinned but his smile faltered upon seeing the murderous look on not only his cousin's eyes but also on the ever serene Rosa Gigantea en bouton. What did I do? He shot the snickering Rei a questioning look and got a shrug and a shake of the head as a reply.

Interesting. On the outside, he appeared calm and cool while studying the ladies' expressions but on the inside, he was laying out a plan in order to figure out the meaning of both of the girls' reactions to his actions on a certain adorable Fukuzawa Yumi. He also did not miss the intertwined hands of Sei and Youko.

"Welcome, Kashiwagi-kun. We are glad you could make it today," Youko said after giving out her own greeting.

"It's no problem at all."

"Shall we all take a seat then?" the Red Rose asked the whole room in general and saw the others nod in agreement.

"Yes mother. I have just arrived. No. Maybe. What? No. I guess I'd wait at their house. I want to see their reactions, I'm sure it would be entertaining," the figure chuckled, "they always have the best facial expressions. Oh, taxi!" They placed their baggage at the trunk, "alright, I have to go now mother. Yes, I'd be careful. No, I won't cause problems for my dear cousins. Of course. Take care now mother. We'll talk soon. Goodbye."

"Where to young one?" a friendly elder asked them once the door shut.

"To this place please, Sir" was their polite reply as they told him of the address.