Tainted with Crimson

Chapter Nine

Yumi was glad that she had stayed at home that day for she and Yuki had bonded again. They were now on their way to restore their previous relationship. The brown-haired girl giggled slightly as she span around looking at her reflection in the mirror. The girl smiled as she thought she looked at least half decent and decided it was high time she faced the world again. Only this time she was going to face it with a smile. She made a mental note to check on her music teacher and how she was coping with everything that had been told to her. After all, she was the initiator of the Crimson replacement project as Yumi liked to call it, and the girl knew that her secret was tough burden to carry. Even knowing the truth was hard enough. Yumi could not imagine what it was like to think that your favourite singer was dead and then to find out that one of your students was said singer and was in fact alive. The girl sighed. Everything was far too complicated. She could not deal with everything alone and needed to share it with someone. She decided it was high time she made some real friends. Yumi was determined to be honest and not hide everything. She smiled as she nodded to herself once more before exiting the house after having said goodbye to Yuki.

The sun was shining and the birds were singing. Soft wind started playing with Yumi's hair and she giggled slightly again as she felt the gentle touch of said wind on her cheeks. It was refreshing to see a glowing sun after a terrible rainstorm. The girl then closed her eyes and immersed herself into her thoughts. She was absorbed by them that she did not notice two figures coming from behind her and surrounding her. She opened her eyes and yelped falling on the ground. Yumi whimpered in pain but heard laughter from above her. She looked up at the girls and slightly glared at Yoshino for not catching her and having the nerve to laugh. But her glare quickly died down when she saw the warmth and concern in said girl's brown eyes when she asked her if she was okay. Yumi replied with a nod and tried to get up but was instead offered a hand by both girls. The pigtailed girl was slightly taken aback by all of this but accepted their help.

Soft laughter could still be heard from Yoshino but Shimako shot her a look which indicated that the girl was dead serious when she had told her friend to stop laughing. Yoshino sighed and decided it was time to give Yumi a break. The pigtailed girl was glad and thanked Shimako who only blushed and nodded. Both Yoshino and Yumi then started laughing much to Shimako's dismay and her face became even redder with embarrassment. After a few good minutes of constant laughing from Yumi and teasing from Yoshino, Shimako had had enough and she told both of them off. The two girls were surprised by their friend's harsh tone but decided to stop. Yumi was thankful that the walk to school was a long one and decided to change the topic from Shimako's embarrassment to her singing career.

"How is your career going Shimako-san?" Yumi questioned to which Shimako could only gape. The girl then blushed and shook her head indicating that it was not going well. Yumi knew how hard it was to surpass someone who had become a legend. The pigtailed girl pitied but mostly empathized with her friend's situation remembering how hard it had been for her to become successful and famous. And maintaining your place as number one was even harder. Yumi then decided to think of a different topic which was much more favourable for the three of them.

" How is school going for you two?" Yumi asked and noticed the sly smile Yoshino was wearing but immediately faltered when the topic was changed. The pigtailed girl then saw the relieved look Shimako's eyes were holding. Yumi sighed as she immediately guessed

what was going to happen if the subject had not been changed. The girl wondered how these two had even become friends considering how different they were when it came to their behavior but then remembered how different she, Angel and Anastasia had been but that was exactly why they had become such great friends and an even greater band. The girl quickly dismissed her first stupid question and focused on the conversation.

" Sachiko's been giving me a hard time for the performance. Rei is trying to help but is not doing a great job at it." Yoshino answered truthfully. Yumi was a bit confused about who this Rei person was and how Yoshino could talk about their teachers as though she and they were friends. A slight tinge of jealousy shot through Yumi when she heard how her favourite teacher was addressed to by Yoshino but dismissed it quite quickly.

Wait…favourite teacher? Since when is Miss Ogasawara my favourite teacher? And why do I find the sound of her first name so appealing? Have I really started to like her in an inappropriate way?! Oh God please no. I can't like my teacher. This just sounds so wrong yet it feels so…so…so…

" Yumi-san?", Shimako asked while Yoshino waved a hand in front of Yumi's face. The pigtailed girl gasped slightly and her face became such a wonderful display of everything going on in her head that the braided girl beside her could not hold back her laugh. Shimako covered her mouth with her hand and laughed quietly. Yumi blushed but soon laughed nervously thinking what their reaction would've been if they knew what she had actually been thinking about.

Speaking of the devil Sachiko Ogasawara decided to make her appearance just when Yumi had started to recover from her embarrassment only to be thrown right back in its clutches. The brown-haired woman looked stunning as always. The wind had decided to play with her silky strands waving them back and forth making her appear even more beautiful. Sapphire eyes appeared guarded but if you looked closely enough, you would be able to see warmth in them and genuine concern. Right now though, something else could be seen in them. Was it….mischief? Yumi could not quite tell what it was but was glad when the woman's attention was attracted by Yoshino and not by her. The pigtailed girl was worried and pitied her friend but she did ask for it when she spoke so openly about none other than Ogasawara Sachiko.

Seriously sometimes I wonder how Yoshino-san has survived for so long with such directness and brutality. Honestly is not there anyone who can control her?

As if on cue another woman appeared out of nowhere. Her fair was an astounding combination of honey brown and golden blond. Her eyes were blue but a lot darker than Sachiko's. Yumi thought she could even see grey in them but decided her imagination was just playing tricks on her again. The pigtailed girl had laughed at Yoshino and Sachiko's conversation, which still resonated through her mind.

"Am I really such a strict and awful teacher, Yoshino-chan?" Sachiko had asked. Yoshino seemed affected by the harshness of the woman's tone and was ready to retort something not quite "nice" or polite but thankfully Rei had appeared just in time to put chains on the braided girl's mouth or would tongue be more appropriate.

Yumi giggled as she witnessed Yoshino's slightly annoyed and embarrassed expression when Rei scolded her for acting and more importantly almost saying something rude to a teacher and said teacher being none other than Sachiko. Yumi was getting confused with the

whole situation and the black-haired woman's next words.

" It is alright, Rei. Yoshino-chan was only being Yoshino-chan."

Sachiko had laughed lightly when Rei had scolded Yoshino for probably the millionth time that week. The music teacher had then decided to put an end to Yoshino's embarrassment noting she had had enough torture for one morning. The blue-eyed woman then noticed Yumi and smiled genuinely at her and received an equally true and warm smile in return. Both of them were too caught up in their "moment" to notice Shimako walking into the school grounds probably a bit annoyed by Rei and Yoshino's argument or should one call it pointless and most of all unneeded blabbering. These fought a lot sometimes and it was mostly about nonsense. Sachiko wondered why they did it so often but decided not to dwell on it too much for it obviously had little to no effect on their relationship. The music teacher then remembered she had class with her three wonderful students also known as Sophia, Yoshino and Shimako.

Sachiko quickly averted her eyes from Yumi and bid Rei and Yumi goodbye requesting Yoshino to follow her. She noticed how the girl was starting to protest but reminded her that they had to rehearse and was more than glad when the braided girl reluctantly went ahead of her. She then followed her student and immersed herself into thoughts about how interesting it could be if Yumi was part of that group. It was true that Sachiko was more than tempted to hear the girl's voice. She knew that it was not going to be the same as it was three years ago. She even considered the option of Yumi having a regular voice as she had not used it for so long but then dismissed all of those useless imaginary situations and musings. She sighed and braced herself for another tough rehearsal.

Meanwhile Rei and Yumi had introduced themselves to each other seeing as none of the other three had thought of doing it before they had left. Rei was quite surprised by Yumi's story and regarded her situation as quite troublesome. After all, being home schooled for three whole years and having to go to a musical school and prestigious one like Lillian at that was quite hard. The music teacher regarded Yumi's character for a second. From their brief conversation before they had parted, she had managed to come to these conclusions: first of all, Yumi was hiding something. There was no doubt about that. Second, she was quite nice and polite but a cold exterior would show its ugly head whenever the topic music was discussed which brought back again the first conclusion – that the girl had something to hide. The blue-eyed woman then went through all of her observations of Yumi and a smile graced her lips. She then smirked and only one word could be seen or heard if one peeked into Rei's mind at that moment:

…Interesting…