Disclaimer: I do not own Maria-sama ga Miteru and its characters. Credits to Konno Oyuki-sensei. Also, I 'borrowed' the use of the word 'Institute' from Cassandra Clare's shadowhunter novels.

Chapter 13: Truths and Lies

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It was safe to say that Yumi's assumption that morning had been correct; that her onee-sama would worry about her all day. Sachiko-sama accompanied her to the Milk Hall that morning for breakfast. Sei-sama's mood didn't change even after they arrived at Lillian, but still, they asked her to inform Youko-sama that they would be missing that morning's meeting. Their senior ignored them of course, but at that time, Yumi knew that Youko-sama would figure out the reason why Sachiko-sama didn't show up at the Rose Mansion with Sei-sama.

During lunch, her onee-sama arrived at her classroom a few minutes after the bell rang. She accompanied her in buying lunch at the cafeteria, ignoring the adoring gazes of the many freshmen, and a few sophomores and seniors, who were Sachiko-sama's fans. Yumi thought of it as a little fan service (though her onee-sama's face remained stoic the whole time they were there), to see the admired 'Star of Lillian' so up close. Yumi knew her onee-sama hated to be stared at like that, hence her indifferent attitude.

As part of 'fan service', Yumi distanced herself a little from her onee-sama, only to have her beloved senior grab her arm and pull her closer. Yumi pouted at this. It's not like she would suddenly fall to the ground unconscious. She knew this was her onee-sama's thoughts because her senior instructed her to take vitamins and to eat more because according to Sachiko-sama, she was looking paler and paler by the day, as if she could just faint any second.

After buying food, they proceeded to eat at the old greenhouse. Sachiko-sama's smile returned once it was just the two of them. They talked about mundane things, mostly about the upcoming Lillian School Festival.

Yumi was done with her lunch when she decided to mention the play.

"Youko-sama mentioned that the Yamayurikai will be having a play."

"Yes, we'll be having 'Cinderella' this year."

"I am so excited to see you as Cinderella, onee-sama."

The older girl turned to face Yumi.

"Why would you be excited about that?"

"Well, I would like to see you in a dress- "

"You just want to see me in a dress?" Sachiko-sama laughed. "You should have just asked. I'd be happy to dress up for you."

At the expression on Sachiko-sama's face, Yumi pouted. "You're teasing me, aren't you?"

Her senior then playfully pinched her puffed cheeks. "And what if I am?"

Yumi froze. Should she act like how she did in her memory?

"Yumi?"

No. I probably should not.

The warning bell rang, signalling the end of lunch break.

"I guess we should head back." Sachiko-sama said.

Yumi just smiled and nodded her head.

She was in the act of gathering her trash when her onee-sama suddenly stood up and walked towards the door. With her back to Yumi, she said in a soft voice.

"I am so glad that you were able to remember me, Yumi. You were my dearest friend. The only person whom I ever opened up to." Her onee-sama's voice was sincere and solemn. But since her senior's back was to her, Yumi wasn't able to see the expression on her face.

"And I am happy that despite losing your memories, we still became soeurs. I am glad to have you back in my life Yumi, whether as the 'you' now or the 'you' before. To me, you are still my Yumi."

And after that, Sachiko-sama suddenly exited the greenhouse. But Yumi could just make out the red tinge on her onee-sama's ears. And she knew that it was the same for her, because Yumi could just feel the warm blush spreading on her cheeks and neck.

Ogasawara Sachiko-sama appears to be uptight and indifferent to most people, but not to Yumi. To her, Sachiko-sama is the warmest, sincerest and most caring person, and not the 'ice princess' most people thought her to be.

With that in mind, Yumi rushed to follow her beloved senior. And as she caught up to her, she grabbed her hand. Sachiko-sama was momentarily surprised at her action, but squeezed her hand tight nonetheless.

"I am glad to be your petite soeur and close friend too, onee-sama." She happily said.

And from the side, Yumi could see her onee-sama's smiling face and blushing cheeks.

Please Maria-sama, I hope this peaceful happy life with onee-sama never ends.

But it seems like her prayer was not loud enough for Maria-sama to hear.

That afternoon, Sachiko-sama had some things she needed to do, so she was not able to pick Yumi up from her classroom. Instead, they just agreed to meet at the Rose Mansion for their Yamayurikai Meeting.

Unknown to Yumi, it was the chance that one person was waiting for.

Just as she finished up with her cleaning duty, she was approached by a student who seemed to be her senior. The girl had short black hair that reached up to her shoulders. She was pretty, but her eyes and her gaze was somehow unsettling for Yumi.

"Fukuzawa Yumi-san, do you have a moment?"

Yumi and her classmates were already out of the science room, which was designated for them to clean, when the person arrived. Her classmates told her that they would be the ones to return the cleaning log to the faculty room because they still had club activities that afternoon. So after one final 'gokigenyou', they left.

"I think we should discuss this somewhere else, so no one will hear us." The woman said with a smile.

Yumi was hesitant to speak with her for some reason, so she said. "I'm sorry, but I have a Yamayurikai meeting. May I ask what it is you would like to speak to me about?"

The woman regarded her for a moment, seemingly thinking of what to say. She then moved closer and whispered to Yumi's ear…

"I can help you recover your past memories."

Yumi's eyes widened in surprise.

Contrastingly, the girl smiled.

"It seems I got you interested. But this conversation is something that should be done elsewhere. Please come with me."

She then proceeded to walk down the corridor, without even checking if Yumi was following her. And there was no need for that. Because not a second later, Yumi's feet involuntary followed the woman.

They soon reached the music room and the woman entered, held the door open for her and closed it shut afterwards. The place they were in was sound proofed and was indeed a good place to have a private conversation.

The woman then proceeded to sit down on the piano bench, while Yumi remained to be standing. She had no intention of staying long because her onee-sama would surely be worried if she was late for their meeting. But she just wanted to hear what this woman has to say.

"First of all, I wanted to introduce myself. I am Kanina Shizuka, a second year student here at Lillian."

Yumi just nodded her head, knowing that there was no need for her to do the same since clearly, the woman, Shizuka-sama, knew who she was.

"Are you familiar with the Society, Yumi-san?"

Society?

The word seemed to tickle a certain memory, as if she'd heard it from someone, but she decided not to push herself to remember. Because whenever she did, it was always followed by an attack. And she didn't want to have one now.

She shook her head. "No. I'm afraid I haven't heard about it."

The girl looked at her for a moment, before continuing to say, "I am a member of the Society since I turned sixteen, the age when we are considered to be adults."

Yumi just nodded her head.

"But unlike for you and your friends, the gene did not manifest in me. But it did in some of my relatives and it may in future generations to come from my lineage. It is safe to say that we belong in the same race."

Yumi wanted to retort and say that it hadn't manifested in her yet. But in the end, just chose to keep her silence.

"So what does the Society do?"

"The Society, led by the council, is formed to ensure our safety and maintain the secrecy of our race."

Yumi nodded her head in understanding, but this was not the information she was expecting to get when she came with Shizuka-sama earlier. So she proceeded to ask, "You said you can help me get my memories back. How?"

"That would be an arduous process which would require the aid of experts."

"So you're saying that you lied and you really can't do anything." Yumi was somehow braving to speak her mind. Recovering her memories was no laughing matter and she didn't appreciate being led on like that.

"Oh, I can surely help you. But not here and not now. I would need for you to come with me."

Yumi was taken aback. Is this person serious? Did she think she will go with her because she simply asked?

"The headmistress shouldn't have kept what you were a secret and brought you straight to the Society in the first place."

What?

"She claimed that she didn't know about it and didn't intentionally hide it. She may have stayed away from the Society for a long time, but still, she remains to be one of us and therefore, should have understood the consequences of her actions."

Yumi was surprised that this woman was able to speak about the headmistress of Lillian like this, seeing as she too is a student of this school. However, she was not going to point this out because the more important thing that struck her was…

"What do you mean by what I am?"

Shizuka-sama smiled a sad smile, "Say Yumi-san, can I confirm a few things about your past?"

I thought she was the one who's going to give me information.

And as if reading her mind, her senior said, "I just wanted to know how much you know."

Yumi didn't nod her head to agree and just continued to stare at the woman.

Probably sensing that Yumi would not be saying anything, Shizuka-sama continued to ask, "You lived in the country side with your parents. Away from the cities, right?"

Quite a generic question. Yumi thought.

"Yes, that's correct."

"You had regular bouts of headache and nausea and some other symptoms, which I assume you now recognize."

Yumi bit her lip. Shizuka-sama had been correct to say that. She indeed realized just a few days ago what her previous symptoms were.

"Judging from your expression, I am assuming that is a 'yes'." Her senior momentarily smiled. "Has anybody told you that you have a very expressive and transparent face?"

Yumi involuntarily blushed.

"So I guess that is another 'yes'?"

Shizuka-sama's expression became serious once more. "Anyway, when you had your attacks, did they inject you with a serum, an 'antidote' as they would say, and it helped alleviate the pain and eliminated all of your 'symptoms'?"

"…"

"But did it also cause for you to lose some of your memories?"

"…"

"And your parents would just fill in the details for you, telling you what happened during the day and what you did the previous days? And you believed everything that they said."

The room was enveloped in silence for a moment. Yumi was at a loss for words. The fact that this woman knew so much about her was scary. These were the things that only her parents knew about. And somehow, she was starting to believe that maybe, Kanina Shizuka-sama was telling the truth when she claimed that she could help in getting back her memories.

"Around two or three years ago, you were involved in an accident, right? One that caused for you to lose far more memories than before. What did they tell you about it?"

"Car accident." Came her curt reply.

"That wasn't written in the journal." The woman mumbled, seemingly talking to herself.

"What journal?"

Shizuka-sama's expression turned more serious, "from your foster parents' of course. They kept everything that happened in a journal. After all, what they did was extremely dangerous. So as scientists, it was important for them to record each observation."

Scientists?

"What exactly did they do?"

Yumi immediately regretted asking. She wasn't even sure if this person is making it all up, although the longer they conversed, the more convinced Yumi was that Shizuka-sama was telling the truth.

Also, Yumi was thankful that she was not having a headache upon having this conversation. Maybe because Shizuka-sama hadn't said anything to trigger her memories. Because so far, everything that she was hearing was either something that she already knew or something she hadn't heard before.

"You didn't know Yumi-san? The serum they used on you is a prohibited substance. It could kill a normal infected, not to mention it has an adverse effect to the person's memory. It was created for one specific purpose..."

Shizuka-sama paused and shook her head, "No. Mother said it was created for a specific type of individual. But it had only been tested once, so many years ago, and it failed."

Surely, her senior mentioned some other important things, which she really did not understand. But what registered to her was that this person was accusing her parents.

"What are you trying to imply? That they injected me with a drug that could have ended up killing me?"

"Not only that, Yumi-san. I am saying that they filled your head with false memories, to make you believe that you had a normal and happy life…that you were normal."

"No. That's not possible."

Shizuka-sama looked straight into her eyes, as if trying to read her mind. And after a few more seconds of holding her gaze, her senior finally said, "You felt it too, didn't you? That there was something wrong with you and your life. That it was far from the perfect life your parents painted it to be. But you were just so nice, too nice for your own good, to ever question them."

Yumi wanted to get angry. This person was literally slandering her parents, the people who took her in and cared for her. But she just couldn't. Because difficult as it may be to admit, she had been right. It was a thought that Yumi had chosen not to entertain, but a thought that had always been at the back of her mind.

"They did it to protect you. It's all written there. I would like to tell you more about it, but it would be best to hear it directly from my parents. Or better yet, for you to read the journal yourself."

It was like bomb after bomb was dropped onto her head. Her mind was revolting. She wanted to shout, to ask this person to stop it with the lies. But then again, she found it too difficult to refute what she was saying.

So instead, she answered. "Why are you telling me all this? What benefit will the Society get by helping someone like me?"

"I did mention that our purpose is to keep our race safe and to maintain our secrecy. We are doing it for these reasons. Also, someone from the council have great interest in you and wanted to ensure that you live through all this."

Live through all this? Yumi echoed in her mind. Does this mean, I could die?

But Shizuka-sama seemed to be oblivious to her inner musing and just went on to say, "That is why I need you to come with me, at least before you fully awaken. My parents would be able to explain it better. Your friends at the manor wouldn't know how to handle you once it happens. Your awakening is definitely different from theirs. It would be the first time they would encounter someone like you in the manor. Only the headmistress knew about someone like you, and even she is unsure of what to do once you completely turn."

"But I haven't turned yet. There is no guarantee that I will."

All this talk about her awakening, about her being different and seemingly special compared to her friends, was starting to scare her. Not to mention a confirmation of her dreaded feeling that her foster parents had lied to her all her life.

"Why do you have their journal (in case it really exists, Yumi thought)? My parents'? Are they with you?"

"They went to us on their own, admitted to their crimes and are now in the main Institute."

"Why would they do that?"

"For you, Yumi-san. They asked us to help you."

She didn't know what to say. After being told that her parents drugged her and lied to her (apparently for her own good), this woman is now saying that they voluntarily surrendered and confessed everything, again, for her sake?

"Are they okay? My brother, Masamune-kun, how is he?"

"They are fine. Your brother has turned and now lives in an Institute for boys. He is after all born out of Mr. and Mrs. Kobayashi, who belongs to our race. But your parents, they will be punished."

"What kind of punishment?"

"The council has been kind enough to just exile them. They were taken to a research facility somewhere in the far north."

"Can I talk to them?"

The only way for Yumi to confirm this woman's claims was to speak directly with her parents. But admittedly, after hearing everything, she didn't know if she would actually be able to speak to her parents like she did before.

"If you come with me, we could give them a call. But just to be clear, Yumi-san, once you go to the main Institute, there's no turning back. You won't be able to come back to the manor nor to the life that you have now."

Yumi froze.

Leave everyone…even onee-sama…

That was a very difficult decision for her to make. She just couldn't leave everything behind and come with this stranger, could she? And to make matters worse, Shizuka-sama even said, "Also, you can't tell anybody about it. Not even your onee-sama, Sachiko-san."

"Why?"

"Because your very existence is something that hasn't been seen or heard of in the past half a century. And if word got out of what the council is doing, there would be an uproar. There are still some who believes in the old ways."

Yumi's heartbeat seemed to have stopped.

"What do you mean?"

"Normally, the latent gene awakens when someone becomes an adult. But for you, Yumi-san, the gene wasn't dormant. We believe you were born awakened."

Yumi suddenly found it difficult to breathe.

"A normal infected would awaken to a strong thirst for blood. But assuming they chose not to suppress it, they would be okay. But in your case, imagine years and years of unquenched thirst and hunger suppressed by the serum…"

Shizuka-sama let her words hang in the air, allowing for Yumi to take it all in, before she continued.

"So if I may correct myself, what we are actually dreading…is your re-awakening."

- - o 0 o - -

A/N: I would like to applaud one reader who guessed correctly that Yumi is a "pure blood". Since I enjoy writing this story so much, I am actually a few chapters (drafts) ahead, and I was in the process of writing this chapter when I read that comment, so I was quite surprised when a guest guessed it correctly.

I just felt like posting this chapter earlier than I originally planned since there were some who really wanted to know what happened next. But you will have to wait a little longer for the next one. ^_^

Good day and please let me know your thoughts.

...

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A school festival at an all-boys school was not much different than the one she had at her public middle school. She had only said those words because she knew her onee-sama wouldn't allow her to come, despite it being too obvious that her beloved senior was relieved that Yumi was now beside her.

Suguru-san was standing at head of the group, while Yumi and her onee-sama were the furthest from them and were at the tail end. Her onee-sama's face was a mask of displeasure, compared to her usual stoic face. Maybe being around unknown males was that much uncomfortable for her.

Yumi reached to grab her onee-sama's hand and gave it a quick squeeze. This made the older woman look down at her and her expression momentarily softened.

"Think of happy thoughts onee-sama."

"Happy thoughts?"

"Yes. What is the thing that makes you happy the most?"