Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"What now?" Yumi asked, unable to stay silent. She didn't understand why Sachiko was doing this. She knew that having a long distance relationship was quite risky, but it wasn't impossible and the girl knew that they could at least give each other a chance. They could try. It was fair. But Sachiko was intent on taking that away from them and ending things before they even began.

Sachiko remained silent for a while. She felt anger rise in her the minute she thought of Yumi leaving her, but then the rational part of her mind kicked in and alarming bells started ringing. She wasn't doing this for herself; she was doing it for Yumi's sake. And the woman knew that no matter how much it hurt, she had to be persistent and end things before they could become far too complicated and above all – before any of them got too emotionally attached.

"You will leave."

"What?" Yumi asked in disbelief.

"You will accept the offer. You will go to Los Angeles and do what you love. You are going to live the life you deserve Yumi." Sachiko explained, praying that the girl was not going to make things difficult. It was already far too painful.

"Sachiko….I….I don't want any of that if it means not having you in my life." Yumi said, deciding that telling the truth was her best option.

Sachiko smiled at the girl's sincerity and mentally cursed herself for allowing Yumi to break down so many of her walls. Sachiko had already fallen in too deep. She was wrong. This wasn't painful. It was unbearable.

"Yumi, there is something I need to tell you." The raven-haired woman began.

The pigtailed girl gave the other her undivided attention.

"I gave in my notice today." Sachiko confessed. She swallowed hard when her ears picked up the soft gasp that escaped Yumi's lips. It was all too hard but she had to do it.

"I promised that I would work here until the end of the first semester. That should give them enough time to find if not a permanent, then maybe a temporary substitute." Sachiko continued.

"What are you going to do once January ends?" Yumi asked.

"I am going to visit my family and try to establish some form of relationship with them. It has been a long time since I last saw them. And I hope that they have cooled down during my absence. It will make things a lot easier if my assumption turns out to be true." Sachiko answered.

"Indeed." Yumi replied. She knew how painful getting disowned by your family could be. Despite the confusion and pain that were still suffocating her heart, she was happy for Sachiko. That was a big step for the black-haired woman.

"I should get going. Merry Christmas Yumi." Sachiko said in a cold and distant tone. After that she kissed the girl's cheek and left her in the cold winter night all alone with a heart that was breaking just as it had managed to heal part of itself.

*/*/*/*/*

A silent tear fell down Yumi's cheek as snowflakes of various shapes descended to the earth. Some of them got tangled in Yumi's hair. Another part of them joined her salty tears and failed to cool down her skin. The tears were burning her cheeks, reminding her that she had yet again played the dangerous game, called Love, and had got burned once again.

She had found her angel again. Sachiko was everything she could ever wish for. She was talented yet stubborn; she was independent and had a fiery temper, which she managed to almost always keep under control. She was graceful, elegant and beautiful. She was intriguing and captivating. She was one of a kind. And Yumi knew that no matter how hard she tried she would never be able to find anyone like her.

Just as that realization hit her she remembered something Rei had told her about Sachiko. The blond woman's words were burning in her mind and Yumi wanted to kick herself for not realizing sooner what Sachiko had been doing all night.

It was during one of the breaks during rehearsals when Rei and Yumi had that important conversation. Sachiko needed to get something from her office and Sophia offered to help her. Naturally the raven-haired woman accepted. Shimako and Yoshino sneaked away to spend some quality time together aka make out.

Yumi chuckled at the thought. Those two were so different yet they fit each other perfectly. They were like two sides of the same coin – one could not be whole without the other.

Yumi found her mind drifting off elsewhere. It had once again fallen captive to a certain black-haired beauty's magnetic gaze and breathtaking smile. The pigtailed girl could not help but heave a contented sigh. That didn't go unnoticed by Rei, who chuckled silently, before asking:

"How have things between you and Sachiko been?"

Yumi choked on the water she had started drinking. Her face was now red from nearly suffocating. The color was a product of her embarrassment as well. After all, Yumi's face did betray if not all, then most of what she was feeling.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Yumi asked.

Rei chuckled once again and decided to be more direct because obviously that was the only way she was going to receive a satisfactory answer.

"Have you two confessed to each other yet?"

Yumi's cheeks were still burning from the previous question but somehow they managed to become even redder from the second one.

"N-no."

"But…?"

"We did kiss." Yumi mumbled.

"I see." Rei replied, smiling. She then decided that it would be advisable to tell Yumi a little something about Sachiko because if things were going to work out between them, Yumi needed to be informed of this.

"Listen Yumi-chan, there is something you need to know about Sachiko." Rei began, unsure how to form her next sentence.

Those words gathered Yumi's attention. The red hue from her cheeks managed to completely disappear and now her mind was focused entirely on what the woman before her had to say.

Rei sighed and after reopening her eyes, she said:

"Sachiko doesn't trust you completely."

Yumi was surprised by the brutality of that statement. Normally Rei would be more considerate and careful when it came to telling somebody something similar. But now it seemed she had decided to be blunt and, though it hurt, Yumi was certain the other was doing this solely to help her and Sachiko.

"It is not that she doesn't want to trust someone, the problem is that…" Rei stopped, not knowing how to continue. Luckily for her, Yumi guessed what the reason for Sachiko's defensiveness was.

"Her wounds are still fresh."

Rei was taken aback by the accuracy of Yumi's statement. It surprised her how well and easy it was for the pigtailed girl to understand a situation that involved Sachiko. She inwardly smiled. Finally her best friend had found someone she could trust.

"There is something else you need to know. Sachiko may not show any sign of affection towards someone, only very rarely, but know that when she cares deeply for someone, she would do anything to help them. Even if it means being in excruciating pain."

Yumi hadn't understood Rei's words back then, but now she did. Sachiko didn't want her to leave. She was merely doing what she thought was best for Yumi. Even though it was breaking her heart, she wanted the pigtailed girl to live her dream. But something told Yumi that there was more to Sachiko's actions than selflessness. Of course, she still distrusted her. And though the statement hurt Yumi greatly, she couldn't help but smile. Because even though Sachiko didn't feel fully comfortable around her, she still felt something for Yumi and that was enough to give the girl the confidence and courage she needed to go after the one she held closest to her heart.

*/*/*/*/*

Yumi ran as the snow started raining heavily. It was getting harder and harder to see and the temperatures were dropping lower by the minute. The girl was beginning to freeze and she still had found no trace of Sachiko. However, that didn't deter her from her mission. She was going to find the one she loved if it was the last thing she did.

What was only minutes felt like eternity to Yumi. She had been running outside in that atrocious weather for quite a while and the snowstorm was beginning to take its toll on her. It was too hard to see or even breathe. The only thing around Yumi was snow and snow covered buildings. Even the light from the school building was too dim and did little to help her current predicament. Yumi would've kept going if she hadn't started coughing right then and there. It made her body jerk and shudder. The sound was so horrifying that it would make one think she was suffering from tuberculosis.

Soon after the coughing started to dissipate until it disappeared completely. Yumi had to sit down in order not to fall face down from the force of the cough. She started taking huge amounts of blissful chilling to the bone air. The coldness of it engulfed her lungs and cooled them down for awhile until it created another coughing fit. Yumi was now choking. Tears were running down her cheeks. Breathing again turned out to be a problem because now she was suffocating. She held onto her throat and tried to scream, call someone, beg for anyone to come to her aid but there was only a mere shadow in the darkness of the night.

The coughing didn't cease this time. Its force was so strong that it knocked the poor girl down to her knees. Soon her body fell on the ground and crimson blood painted the paleness of the girl's hand and the whiteness of the snow. Yumi's eyes widened in horror at the sight before her, but she wasn't given any time to dwell on such a minor problem because after only few seconds she was jerked into another atrocious coughing fit. This one didn't let go. It became stronger and stronger until it took the last breath of freezing air left in her bleeding lungs.

Suddenly darkness started to overcome Yumi's tired eyes as she fell down to the ground completely. Before her eyes closed for one last time she heard someone calling her name. The last thing she saw was a blurry figure, emerging from the whiteness of the snow and hovering over her, before death welcomed the suffering girl into her embrace.

The End.