BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
-TheSilentReader-
CHAPTER 21: The Test
Two years ago, summer, second semester
Ogasawara Mansion
"Please, I don't want to hear it."
Without hearing Yuuki's thoughts about the matter, she quickly took a step away from him, then walk away. Although too stunned because she knew about it, the Hanadera president immediately applied force upon his legs and quickly caught up with the walking Touko. He then grabbed her by the arm. But that did not stop her from walking. Therefore, he firmly held her arm still, nevertheless making sure that he was not hurting her. He quickly blocked her way. Touko, who was surprised with such maneuver, did not expect Yuuki to be this agile. She expected him to be stunned, like what she did with Yumi-sama before. When she rejected her rosary.
She was entirely different from Yuuki that it was frightening.
A while ago, in the kitchen
While Kashiwagi was mincing some vegetable, Touko just looked at his work. He made her several dishes on various occasions before, but she never had seen him took hold of the raw ingredients and slice his way through them. He would cook, she would eat. It was the routine, until now. She was fascinated by the how encompassing his talents was; she always thought that her older cousin was exemplary in everything. She was disrupted the moment Kashiwagi put all the minced vegetable in a bowl with a swipe of his knife upon the dissecting plate.
Kashiwagi's voice was so low, she had to stretch her neck to listen. He admitted that he deliberately interrupted Yuuki's confession. It was necessary, as it was the right thing to do. Touko was shocked not by his confession, but by the immediate confirmation of what she suspected Yuuki was trying to say. It really was a confession. She almost smiled widely as she thought about it, but as she stretched her pursed lips, she instantly stopped it. There was a reason her cousin was saying this to her. She became suspicious.
"What made you say he was confessing?" She acted innocent.
"From the reactions I got from Yumi, and from the indication of his presence there." Kashiwagi was slicing was so perfectly uniform against the chunk of raw meat.
She hoarsely whispered; she knew she could not fool her cousin, "Why are you telling this to me?"
"Let me say that he will attempt to do it again." He briefly looked away, at Yuuki, who was mixing something in the pot.
"You are saying nonsensical things, Onii-sama."
He then asked her a question he had been craving to ask all this time. "Do you like him?"
Touko went rigid. She was asked by different people by this same question, and yet she found herself unprepared to answer it. It wasn't that she didn't have something to say, it was the truth that troubled her so. "I . . . I—"
"I see." Kashiwagi resumed from his slicing. Then, he took a pan and a cooking spatula, and turned on the electric stove. "Do you want to know his feelings?" He was slowly guiding her to his trap.
"I don't know." For a while, she watched him cook, mixing herbs and spices and vegetable, popping out condiments upon the populated frying pan. Then, she tried to reverse the turn of the conversation; she knew that there was a trap along the way. "If ever I went out with him, what would you feel?" She asked, and instantaneously she found Kashiwagi dropped his jaw. He immediately looked at the smirking Touko, and realized that he fell off her trap. He was then, amused. As a result, he told her the truth. "I'll be a little worried."
"'A little worried'? Not in hysteria? I thought you inherited the susceptibility for immediate agitation from the Ogasawara." She said, joking a little about her legitimacy. Kashiwagi glared at her, not amused by the joke.
"I am not sure how he'd treat you." He pouted. He tried to focus more on his cooking.
"Of the years you've been his sempai, you did not know him that well?"
"It was not a matter of knowing him."
"Well?"
"I just want proof, that he'll treat you well. If he's serious about you."
"Ehh?" But after his cousin's confession about his motives—his attitude towards Yuuki, his strange over-protectiveness for her, his deliberate ways of irritating his kouhai, rewound in her mind in fast forwards. "Don't you think that treating him unkindly, without him knowing your reason is a bit much?"
"I am a very protective brother. I want him to prove himself to you. To make him suffer a little."
"Isn't that harsh?"
"You're not like other girls." He narrowed his eyes on hers.
"Famous line. So, do you want me to test him? To see how far he'll go?"
"Precisely."
"Are you rejecting me?"
"No, that's not it."
His hands were firmly held on her lower arms. Although this was the first time he was too forward that he dared touch her that way, she knew that this was all he could do. She regained morer confidence in trifling him further; she was like Yumi, unable to hurt anyone's feelings. His grip did not even scare her. It was as if his hand was begging her to stay. What she said wad already said, therefore, this was a point of no return.
"I'm sorry." She whispered. Her voice was faltering, but her eyes narrowed down to his, rejecting any form of plea from his eyes. He understood that she did just conveyed what she really wanted. She wanted nothing out of him, and she expected nothing from him. She acted with all her heart. She had the most typical role any actress could portray in a play, but being in the real situation, just like what she did to her Onee-sama, was hurting her more than Yuuki could have ever known. It was a tremendous collaboration of her mind and her body to act otherwise. Yuuki needs to be tested. I want to test him.
Yuuki was wide-eyed with his realization. He could not even look into her eyes. "You did not want to hear how I feel." He cried.
"No, that's not it."
"You rejected me even though you haven't heard anything that I want to say to change your mind." His voice was a pitch lower, as if to suffice an impending choke.
"No, that's not—"
"Yes, that's it. All the time, you knew that I'd do whatever it takes to get to this point, to talk to you about my feelings for you. Then, you'll tell me to get lost, as a prize for winning against me. You should have told me earlier." His face was turned sideways.
She had nothing more to say except, "I'm sorry." She almost regretted that she had lied. That she disappointed him.
"I think I'll retire for the night." He sniffed, then walked away to the direction of his room. She watched him walk, his hands inside the pockets of his pants, his head never hanging down. His footsteps were even, calculated, and their sound resonated upon the hallway with soft taps. As if he was never moved by the moment of rejection and separation. His walk conveyed distance and indifference. She watched him in pain.
He never looked back.
Kashiwagi began to think about his time with his uncle. He was surprised with the length of their talks; he usually only had an hour with him, just to discuss business. He was never talking to him in a much more personal level. But he wondered how he knew that he was supposedly gay? Did Sachiko tell him? What was even more surprising was that the Tooru oji-sama was more than surprised to find him taking an interest with a girl. Not with his daughter, but with another girl. There was something wrong about the logic of this uncle's reactions; he was supposed to be angry and disappointed that Kashiwagi did not find Sachiko interesting enough to be his wife, more so that he was supposedly gay. He felt that the old man knew his pretensions all along. What could be more disappointing for a woman when she found out that her fiance was a homosexual? Isn't that disappointing? He should have told her that he was not interested anymore with the idea of marriage with her—but that was all their parent's doing, was it not? But why that lie? Why that reason?
Now his lies were coming back to get even with him. His feelings were now in turmoil. Even more that he was messing with the life of her brother. Speaking of the devil. . . .
The sliding door was set aside with more force than was required. He turned his head to the direction of the intruder (he was sitting on his futon, not bothering to sleep yet), and seeing him quite cross, her further fanned the fire. "We should talk," he said in a low voice, indicating the importance of the subject matter. He knew that someday, they would talk like men, amidst all misunderstandings they had against each other.
"I'm not interested."
His futon was arranged at a corner of the room, and Yuuki just laid that futon, without even acknowledging his sempai's presence. The I'm not interested was even more insulting for the sempai to asked quite nicely. "It is about Touko."
Yuuki momentarily froze on setting the futon on the floor. As if he was not interested, he replied, "What about her?"
Kashiwagi now was more annoyed with Yuuki's reaction. Yuuki gave an impression that Touko was just another girl, who he happened to seduce just this afternoon. He flinched with Yuuki's sudden bad-boy attitude. But still, this was another facet of Yuuki that he'd seen for the first time. He was never this apathetic. He then put the meat on the bait. "Don't get near to her again."
"And who are you to command me?" He muttered as he removed the thick comforter and let himself dig into the futon. Yuuki covered himself from his neck to his toe, and faced his back to the sempai. He clearly did not want to talk. The perfect timing to test him, then.
"I am saying this as her cousin and guardian. Do not pursue her." Kashiwagi threatened.
It took a long time for Yuuki to reply to such taunt; Kashiwagi almost gave up with the idea of trifling more of this hostility just to capture a reaction from the kouhai. Furthermore, he even doubted if Yuuki was really serious about Touko. He knew for himself that Yuuki was a good man; he never trifled with anyone's feelings (so opposite of him). He thought Yuuki gave up today.
"Why are you stopping me?" Yuuki then, was retracted from his previous sleeping position to an immediate sit, looking at Kashiwagi with wrath in his eyes. Kashiwagi noticed then, that something about Touko or even Yuuki made Yuuki more agitated and dangerous. It was like taunting a caged animal.
He then took his final card out. "Because you don't deserve her."
Yuuki looked at him with wide-eyed. Then, his eyes dangerously transformed into slits. He growled. "What did you say?"
Kashiwagi recited it again as if he was reciting the equation of the line, a pause at every other word. "You don't deserve her."
Yuuki lunged at him with surprisingly blinding speed that Kashiwagi did not even noticed that his back hit the ground and Yuuki gave him two punches from both his red fists. Yuuki was tackling him that when he tried to budge, Yuuki responded with another hook. He was prepared for a fight—a verbal fight with Yuuki, but not this one. Yuuki fist-fighting was so uncharacteristic of him.
"Who do you think you are, thinking that I'm no good? What is it then, that made me so inferior in your eyes? My status? My upbringing? What?" He was growling in rage; he fisted his sempai's shirt.
But this way of talking with a sempai was deliberately rude, his fuse broke too, and he spat out words that he never said before. "You don't know her. You'll just play her!" He then, forced one arm out of Yuuki's grasp and punched him square on the cheekbone. It fucking hurt.
"You don't know anything about me!" Another charge from Yuuki, this time, his fist went straight to Kashiwagi's chest.
The impact made him almost choke both Sachiko's dinner and his breath. "Of-of course I know something about you. That's why I don't feel at ease. Do you think I'll trust her to you, without any thought?" Kashiwagi, who was barely sitting on the tatami mat, tried to kick his way out of Yuuki's tackle, but only a punch to Yuuki's arm was the only thing he could do for that time.
"No, you don't know anything!" Yuuki forced Kashiwagi to sit up, while he was fisting Kashiwagi's shirt with both hands. He was shouting now, and his face was dangerously close to Kashiwagi, good enough for an effective and strong head-butting. Kashiwagi tried not to talk anymore; it seemed that Yuuki would be spilling his guts anyway. But he thought that he would be just insulting and downgrading Kashiwagi; he was not prepared when he saw a dam of restrained tears just threatening to run down from Yuuki's eyes.
"You can't see it because you don't trust me! You must know that I don't play around with emotions or feelings. I don't play with mine, or hers. Touko is very important to me. My sister truly loves her. I love her. Do you think I like my situation now? That everyone still thinks that you're better than me? That I could not fill in your shoes? Because they've lost such a talented and charismatic leader?"
What?
"I always try my best to be like you, sempai, because I know that Touko admires someone like you. I knew from the start that I could not fulfill that kind of fantasy, but I know that if I tried my best, somehow, she'll see me. But she didnt."
His grip upon Kashiwagi's shirt was a little loose now.
"She did not even allow me to express my feelings. No matter how many times I've tried."
What? She—?
"She rejected me. She doesn't even give me a chance. And no matter how I tried, she'd never see me as a man. Are you happy now, sempai?"
He was looking at a defeated and tired man's face. His face was red; he could not even control the tremble upon his voice. He immediately regretted that he went too far with his 'test'.
"I'm sorry."
Upon hearing the apology, he flinched; his face expressed disgust. He then pushed Kashiwagi to the ground. He got up and arranged his clothing. He looked down on him without any emotion, he said, "I'm going to sleep."
Everyone noticed the marks and the purple circles on Yuuki and Kashiwagi's faces upon entering the dining hall. The butler, who was behind the eating Ogasawara patriarch was shocked with the beating, or whatever made Kashiwagi squashed his face. He just announced the young man's presence with a "Suguru-sama," pulling out the chair designated for the man to sit on. The man expressed his gratitude by sitting on it, and said the standard pleasantries to the Ogasawara family and to Yumi Ojou-sama and Touko Ojou-sama, as if nothing was wrong with his face. The butler thought that it was a very wise decision for the young master; one cannot face the host for breakfast with sunglasses on. That would be too rude to begin with.
Yumi-sama was by far the most reactive of the group. No one dared mention them because Suguru-sama was very particular with his looks. He was cross to begin with. No one would trifle with his situation now. He was never this disoriented and less good-looking, as far as his relatives were concerned, but Yumi did enquire about it anyway. The butler even noticed Sachiko-sama's hand almost went straight to her chest, but she immediately stopped it, because Suguru-sama was acting as if nothing was on his face. Yumi-sama, who looked so worried for the man, apologized immediately for intruding into Kashiwagi's affairs, but she was immediately stopped with Kashiwagi's smile, reassuring her that everything was fine, and the horrid inflammation upon his face should be the least of her worries.
The butler then, with Yumi-sama's cue, offered a painkiller, and to relieve Yumi-sama more from such agitation, Kashiwagi accepted.
Man, the young Kashiwagi was so obvious.
But Touko was immediately suspicious. She had not seen her cousin ever since he asked for Tooru Oji-sama's audience, and from the events that happened yesterday, he might have picked a fight with his roommate.
After several minutes, the suspiscion of all had been confirmed; Kashiwagi had a fistfight with the young male Fukuzawa. Yuuki-sama entered the room moments after the butler offered the young Kashiwagi with painkillers. He was as cordial as ever, and he said his usual pleasantries to the Ogasawara patriarch and the Sachiko's parents. Much to the surprise of all, Yuuki gained less of the purple blutches than Kashiwagi. While the Hanadera university student had two near purple blotches on both of his cheekbones, the young Hanadera high school student only had a cut and inflammation on one side of his cheeks. Thus, based on the bruises, aparrently, the Fukuzawa might have won. When the females all inquired about his injury, the males were shocked with Yuuki-sama's popularity. Both the Ogasawara men raised their eyebrows and drew smirks on their lips, while Kashiwagi, in such disappointment, just drank his morning coffee.
Only Touko was reluctant to inquire more about him. She almost stood up upon Yuuki's entry to the hall, but she was like struck with lightning when she saw his face. She tried to speak, but nothing seemed to come out. Yuuki was not looking at her, only acknowledge her presence with a small nod, while the rest of the females he talked some pleasantries.
After Yuuki assured the women that the injury was only because of a fall upon the hallway last night (an obvious lie), it was then the oldest Ogasawara's turn to recall his experiences with the young Fukuzawa. He was quite happy the moment he had seen the boy, that he blurted, "the young Fukuzawa with an iron liver!"
Silence briefly engulfed the whole table, and then the Ogasawara Tooru blurted, "Oh, yes, I really admire your resilience with liquor! You remind me of my young days."
"Aye, aye." The men were praising him about his drinking habits, which made the women glared at both Ogasawara men. Kashiwagi, however, was acting deaf about all this, just drinking again his second helping of the freshly brewed coffee.
"I am so sorry for acting such during our last meeting, Ogarasawa-sama. Please let me say that it was wrong of me to drink in the first place; I was not even at the right age to do so. Please, do so understand my impropriety." He was blushing as he said this. But his tone was a little too forlorn, as if a memory just occurred to him, that he felt uncomfortable.
Touko knew about this memory, and she shortly paused her eating. Yuuki, still, was not looking at her.
"Alright, alright young man," Ogasawara-san said, "I have high regards for you because of that, and let me tell you, I find you very interesting."
Yuuki was shocked beyond words. The old patriarch continued, "Matsudaira-san, Touko-chan's grandfather, had been kind enough to tell me your circumstances . . . you are planning to pursue medicine, I presume?"
Everyone seemed surprised; only Yumi agreed with a nod as she sipped her tea. "Yes, that would be correct." Yuuki said.
"Well, then. I'm sure you already have some schools that you planned to send applications, but please let me help with some recommendations about picking the right school . . . " Ogasawara went on and on. Yuuki, however, gained a smile from Ogasawara Tooru, and when she looked at Sachiko and Yumi, they both signaled him with a thumbs-up.
When the grandfather had finished with his offer, Yuuki thanked the man with a slight bow, "Thank you, Ogasawara-sama, I really appreciate the help."
The old man immediately reminded Yuuki to stopped calling him Ogasawara-sama; instead, call him Ojii-sama, which he forced into Yumi, too, after they first met.
Although the atmosphere was a little livelier then the time before the young men entered, the cuts and bruises were not forgotten by the rest. They were sure that something happened between them, but only few knew the reason behind it. Those who had a good guess about it, Touko was among them.
Touko left the mansion with Kashiwagi, while Sachiko offered the Fukuzawa siblings for a ride home. Kashiwagi, however, offered his car before, but it was immediately rebutted by Sachiko's reasoning. She said that her driving was less unnerving than Kashiwagi's. Knowing Yumi's preference for her onee-sama over him, and Yuuki's hatred because of him, he immediately deduced that his offer was rejected in the first place. He really couldn't win sometimes over Sachiko.
He then took Touko with her. Touko was sitting on the passenger's seat when she asked him softly, "Did you and Yuuki-san had a fight last night?" She was looking at the window beside her, resting her chin on her hands, her elbows locked upon the sill of the closed window.
"Yes."
"Could you tell me what was it about?" She was whispering her words, that he thank for the smoothness of the road, and the silence of the engine of his sports car. He was driving slower than his usual speed, he was pissed off and at the same time, repentant since last night.
"It was about you."
She said nothing but, "Oh."
Meanwhile, back in Sachiko's black sedan, Yuuki was almost unapproachable that moment he sat on the passenger's seat at the back. Yumi, who apparently knew that Yuuki's dam of patience for his sempai had been reduced to bruised knunckles and severed facial skin, did not comment about anything. He would spill later when he calm down anyway. Sachiko, who was driving them, looked at Yumi waringly.
When they got home, he immediately thanked Sachiko for letting them stay at his house even though it was all unplanned. Sachiko noticed that he was not himself anymore; there was no hint of the silent confidence that that is dominant upon his usual gait. What was left was the remorse that sprang forth from what happened last night the moment Sachiko and Yumi left them alone and the fistfight with Kashiwagi that came afterwards. Sachiko knew that Yuuki failed. It was evident on his face; his love rejected.
Yuuki immediately went inside the house, his parents looked worried at the sight of him. The couple looked at Yumi for some hint, however, the daughter just sigh, as if telling that this should not be discussed by now.
When Yumi was saying her goodbyes to her beloved onee-sama, she only said one thing to Yumi that made her think back of the past.
"I wonder how you and Yuuki do it. Touko-chan garnered a tough shell around her heart and mind, but you melt it all the way."
"Onee-sama?"
"It's not hard loving Touko, is it not? What was hard was making her submit to it."
Shimako met Noriko in the bus station and proceeded to the coffee shop that Shimako wanted to try. Noriko, who was very perceptivve of her onee-sama's mood swings, was brave enough to ask her directly about her intension of inviting her. If ever Shimako wanted to go to that café, then she would not ask Noriko about it. Afterall, according to the White Rose, the Red Rose was the one who informed her about the place first. There must be some sort of a hidden agenda behind it. The moment they were comfortably situated in one of the buses, she immediately asked her about the real reason for inviting.
"Is there anything other than being with you?" Shimako smiled while saying this.
"No, that's not it." Noriko smiled with the compliment. "I just felt that there was something else that you want to talk about."
Shimako looked at the window behind them. Her sigh indicated that there was something bothering her. She just said to the next budding White Rose, "Later, in that café."
The coffee shop was rather in a more secluded, quieter place in the city, as it was surrounded by few stores and shops. The atmosphere of the boulevard was so quiet, it was more of a village than a buzzing chaos of markets. Noriko was immediately enamored with it that she commented, "You should have brought me earlier!"
Shimako just smiled.
When they were inside the café, Noriko chose the table nearest to the window. After they have ordered their drinks and some cookies, Noriko did not lose any time beating around the bush. She instantly asked Shimako about what was bothering her.
"I just notice that maybe a petite souer was waiting just before us, to complete our family."
"A petite souer?"
"Are you bothered by the idea? You know that I won't force you into having one . . . ."
"I know, Shimako-san. I don't know it yet,"
"You couldn't find a good first year?"
"Well . . ."
". . ."
"I thought, I would not be looking for a petite soeur, right? I am completely happy and satisfied with just the two of us, but . . ."
"But?"
"There has been a first year that captured my attention."
"Could you tell me more about her?"
"Her name is Imaizumi Yuiri."
"Eh?"
Imaizumi Yuiri?
That first year that Shimako was most curious to see again. The first time that she met the first year was two weeks ago, when the students from the Lillian Kawaraban had been invited to see and document the Hanadera class-rep meeting. At first, her sight passed about her like a breeze.
Now, she regretted it. She should have looked more, to follow her instincts. The first moment she looked at her, she noticed a hind of sparkle in those half-opened, almost sleepy eyes. Noriko must have noticed it too, only that its impact had affected her more than Shimako was. Noriko was very observant; she noticed everything, even things that were supposedly hidden. Maybe that was why Noriko noticed her—because that Yuiri-chan was too unreadable.
"She had these enigmatic eyes. I could not read her."
Then, it was her eyes? She reminded me of someone. Shimako tried to remember more of the time that she and Yuiri-chan had been in the same room; that was in a lecture hall in Hanadera Academy. But all she could think of was Noriko's statement: she had this enigmatic. . . . eyes?
Shimako gasped as she remembered that the girl was rather too silent, and did not interact much with the people around her. She had a camera hanging upon her neck—was she from the Photography club? The Lillian Kawaraban?
"She was from the Lillian Kawaraban, right? She was introduced to us by Tsutako-san during the paper's documentations."
"No, she was not from the school paper club."
So. she talked to her already? "Ara?"
"She's from the Robotics club."
"Who did you know?"
"She told me. The second time we met."
"I see." She was relunctant to ask this; it was not a tradition in the White Rose family to be so adamant in following the rules, even forcing the petite soeur to look for an imoto, which was a sort of a growing tradition in the Red Rose family. Afterall, Sachiko-sama and Yumi-san had that kind of treatment before by their grande soeurs. "Would you . . . like to invite her in the Rose Mansion?"
Their coffees and cookies were served by the waitress. That gave Noriko time to think about her onee-sama's request. It seemed nice, she imagined, to see the first year lurking upon the walls of the Rose Mansion, curious whether she's good in making tea or she should teach her first. It was quite challenging, for Yuiri had this aura that she was not of the lady type. It was quite evident with her choice of club (Robotics club; who cares about cooking or making tea?), and with her hobby. It might be fun being the onee-sama, for sure.
But she gasped as she noticed Shimako just watching her, her Mona Lisa smile plastered on her lips. Shimako was enjoying the sight of her petite soeur imagining herself as the older sister for once. She blushed that she was busted. "I'll think about it." She then smiled nervously.
"I'm glad." Shimako took a sip of her frappe. "Let's talk about something else. How about Touko-chan?"
Then, she noticed, after several attempts of deciphering the smile upon her onee-sama, that introducting Touko as the next topic for conversation with that smile on her face (the Touko topic was supossedly a serious matter; she was always a serious matter), was supposed to be a joke. Noriko then chuckled as she got it. "You have a weird way of making fun of people, Shimako-san. Introducing serious topics with that cute smile. That was just so weird."
"Eh?"
The stressful week had passed.
Several days after Touko made a false move about Yuuki; the Rosa Chinensis en bouton acted the whole week as if nothing happened in the Ogasawara mansion. Yumi did not even approach her about the matter; she knew that if Yuuki would be included in one of their private conversations, there she would just deviate the topic. The grande soeur did not want to be seen by her petite soeur as a meddler (although, in truth, she was), so she kept her worries all in herself.
The last week's newspaper was still a hit even after a week. Mami-san was pouting and complaining about this week's issue of the Lillian Kawaraban; it was not as popular as last week's issue. Students had a thorough read about it, but other than that, nothing more. Yumi-san said that the latest was a good issue, but it lacked the gossip effect (the issue was about a policy that has been circulating upon the school's administration for some time). A first year student also had gained a column on the newspaper—Mami-san gave her the freedom of writing almost everything, but she said that she'll focus more on more serious areas like politics. When Yumi looked at the debutante writer, she was not surprised that her name was Reizei Aikira. The first year gluton.
A week had passed but the Rosa Gigantea en bouton did not yet invite Imaizumi Yuiri into the Rose Mansion. It had been a topic for the past weeks of the time that the boutons would get their petite soeur. The three Roses were talking about it early in the Monday morning, commenting in feigned forlorns such as, "I really want grandchildren now," but they were interrupted by the early boutons from the Red and White family, who happened to be second years. They've heard what the Roses were talking about, and the blushes was evident on their faces. Particularly, the White bouton. When the White Rose sisters walked home, Shimako immediately said that the conversation that morning was not intended to pressure them; it was sort of a conversation among the Roses. She too also said that, she really wanted a grandchild, which made her blush and could not look on Noriko's face. In return, Noriko just pat Shimako's head, smiling, and saying, "In time, in time."
A week had passed, and Touko was still worried about Yuuki. She wanted to ask her Onee-sama about her sister's condition, whether the bruise about his face was already healed. But she did not try. To talk about Yuuki's wounds was to talk about what happened after she defeated him in Go. She attempted on asking Yumi when they were alone. As said before, she never asked. Yumi just said to her (her grande soeur knew what was on her mind without asking), "He was not himself, even after the wounds were already healed." Yumi sighed after saying it. Touko's conscience started to nag her about talking to Yuuki in the next meeting.
Several days after Yuuki visited the Ogasawara mansion, another meeting was held again between the Hanadera and Lillian student council, including the class representatives that would individualy and personally report about their progress in the cosplay/host club to the Yamayurikai. So far, everything was going well. More so, the relationship of both councils had become deeper than before. Surely, with Lillian's upcoming culture festival this autumn, the Hanadera council would be more than happy to help.
Everyone expected something from the Hanadera president. And he was about to give it all.
TO BE CONTINUED
A/N: Oh yeah! Another chapter done! Yuuki was devastated by the blow of Touko's talking, thinking that she really would not entertain any kind of confession from him. She was repeatedly saying "No, that's not it." but Yuuki jumped into conclusions again. What can I say, Touko was beating around the bush, not saying directly what she meant.
NEXT CHAPTER: Yuuki needed to recuperate from the hard blow, while Touko would see how bad the karma after she tested Yuuki.