Sachiko stood in front of a familiar biscuit colored door. Light shined through the stained glass window and filled the hallway with a gentle glow as she closed her eyes and listened carefully, waiting to hear the light chatter of familiar voices on the other side.
Silence.
Sachiko chuckled quietly to herself as she opened the door and stepped into the empty room. She didn't know what compelled her to do that. The Yamayurikai that she had been part of had long since graduated from this place, giving way to the next generation of students, and many more after that. Everyone she knew had moved on with their lives and were far removed from the bonds that tied them here.
Everyone except for herself.
With a sigh, she ignored the wistful feeling that gathered in her chest and instead reached into her coat until her fingers grazed against a familiar bundle of papers. She pulled them free as her gaze lifted and traveled slowly across the empty room. She was surprised, pleasantly so, to find that not much had changed since her time as Rosa Chinensis.
Even the tea set I left behind is still here.
Her gaze continued across the room until they settled onto two chairs at the far end of the table. She stared at them for a long moment, caught off guard by a sudden tightness in her chest, before she brushed the feeling off and moved to stand behind the chair nearest the door. She trailed a hand lightly across the top of it, and a fond smile appeared on her lips as she remembered the girl that often used to sit there.
The wistful feeling returned along with a growing wetness in her eyes as she remembered the happy times spent within these walls.
Sachiko shook her head, I came here for a reason, she reminded herself as she clutched tighter to the papers in her hand. She needed to let go of everything that tied her to this place. Now was not the time for tears, now was the time to put the past behind her and move on, just as everyone else had.
With that thought in mind she gathered herself and pulled away from the chair. Instead, she walked over to the center window and opened it, allowing for a cool spring breeze to flow into the suddenly stuffy room.
She looked over the serene landscape of the empty school grounds, and found comfort in the beautiful scenery and quiet atmosphere. As a student she had always appreciated the calm that came with this late afternoon hour. The emptiness gave way to an almost otherworldly feel with how drastically it differed from the busy school day, and the change in atmosphere was something that she had always found peace in.
Sachiko leaned forward when a familiar pathway caught her eye. She followed the path upwards, past the line of Ginkgo trees, and then further out until it curved left and out of sight towards the statue of Maria-sama. She stood there for a long while, staring longingly, as if waiting to catch sight of a girl with ribbons in her hair. This was a habit she developed sometime during her second year of high school, and it was a habit that she found herself easily falling into again.
What am I doing?
She tore her eyes away from the pathway and instead stared blankly into the late afternoon sky, suddenly feeling aggravated with herself. She needed to let the past go. Her frustration doubled when her vision blurred and she felt the fresh flow of tears threatening to spill over once again.
"Yumi," she whispered, leaning forward and grasping onto the window sill. Yumi had been gone for 10 years. Her grasp on the window tightened and her knuckles grew white. 10 miserable years. Her eyes glazed over as she briefly remembered the call she received one night from the Fukuzawa household.
Fear gripped her the moment she raised the phone to her ear.
At first, she couldn't tell who was on the other line. The loud sobbing and muffled words coming from the receiver made it nearly impossible. It wasn't untill the voice cleared enough to call out her name that she realized who it was, and even then she barely recognized it as the younger of the Fukuzawa siblings. It was so thick with emotion that she couldn't make anything of what he was trying to say, and that quickly rose her into a panic.
"Yuuki please!," she begged, "I can't understand what you're saying. P-please speak clearly so that I may understand what is happening."
Her heart pounded in her chest as she listened to the boy struggle to control his breathing. While she waited for him to gather himself, she sent out a quick prayer to Maria-sama. She prayed that whatever this was, whatever was happening right now, that it had nothing to do with the person she so desperately wished to be speaking to instead.
Leave her out of this.
Maria-sama, please.
Please don't say her name.
Yuuki was taking too long. Fear and anxiety gripped at her so tightly now that she felt the bile rise from her stomach in distress. Sachiko's mouth watered, but she swallowed it back and clutched the receiver tighter with both hands when silence settled onto the other line. For a moment the only sound that filled her ears came from the painful beating in her chest as her mind ran through every terrifying scenario that would cause Yuuki to act like this. It was to her horror that as much as she hated herself for thinking like this, and as much as it made her sick to her stomach, her mind couldn't help but center these scenarios around the one person that brought so much joy into her life.
Sachiko searched the room frantically until her gaze settled onto a framed picture of Yumi and herself on her night stand. It was a calming habit. Seeing Yumi's face was all she needed to brighten her days, and it never failed to fill her with a warmth that chased all her worries and insecurities away. Even now it helped to slow the beating in her chest. At least enough so that it wasn't so physically painful anymore.
But it seized the moment she heard the boy's next words.
"Sachiko-sama, there was an a-accident."
Her grasp on the phone tightened.
Maria-sama, Please.
Sachiko quickly shook herself from the thoughts before they could spiral her deeper into despair.
They told her coming here was supposed to help, that it would help her move on. Closure was what they called it, and if that were the case, then she must be going about this all wrong, because at this moment she felt as if her heart was being torn away from her all over again.
Everything reminded her of Yumi here.
The room, the chair, the pathway, even the air in the Rose Mansion reminded her of her Petite Soeur. It was saturated with the scent of freshly brewed tea. The exact kind that Yumi loved to prepare.
Breathing was becoming difficult for Sachiko, and her vision blurred once again. Her other hand reached out to grab onto the windowsill to help steady herself, crushing the paper she held against it. She knew what was coming. She was familiar with the signs of a coming anxiety attack. Normally she was able to take the proper steps to prevent it from worsening, but being here was too much. It was all too much. Suddenly, muffled noises began to bounce around in her head.
Sachiko harshly covered her ears with both hands, but her stomach sank when despite that, they persisted.
The faint sound of a familiar greeting. The humming of a soft voice. Even the sound of tea being carefully prepared filled the space behind her.
Her hands trembled at the noise.
Her mind was in a frenzy. She couldn't breathe. There was nothing she could do, but to press harder against her ears as the noise continued to pound heavily against her skull.
She was on the verge of a breakdown. Coming here was a mistake.
The gentle clink of a teacup being set down snapped her from the chaos in her head, and her body froze at the noise. All at once her vision cleared, and silence fell around her as the whirlwind in her head came to a sudden stop. For a long moment the only sound that filled the room came from her short gasping breaths as she struggled to control her breathing.
That was different. Sachiko slowly lifted her hands away from her ears.
That was real, she was certain of it. Her hands fell numbly back down to her sides as she turned, hesitantly, toward the sound.
Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the sight of a lone teacup sitting on the table, carefully placed in front of the chair she used to frequent as a student. That wasn't there before. Sachiko glanced around the room, but quickly found it empty.
She was alone.
Confused, and a bit unnerved, her eyes returned to the teacup, noting the steam that still rose from it. She regarded it curiously for a moment while she waited for the beating in her chest to return to normal. Her hand rose up and rested on her chest as she took deep steadying breaths. Had she been so caught up in her thoughts that she failed to notice that another person had come in after her?
Sachiko frowned at the thought of someone seeing her in the state that she had been in. Knowing that someone had seen her in a moment of weakness embarrassed her. The only solace she could take from this situation was the knowledge that her little episode was nowhere near as bad as what they used to be, and for that she was grateful. The interruption was what she needed to save her from a state of mind that she had hoped to never return to again.
With a tired sigh, Sachiko walked over to the table and pulled the chair out from underneath it. She slowly sat down, placed the now crumpled stack of papers to the side, and stared down blankly at the cup of tea before her.
This was a familiar sight.
A sight she'd seen hundreds of times before.
Her body moved of its own accord and reached out for the cup, drawing it into her hands and cradling it close. After a moment's hesitation she tipped the cup back and drank from it slowly, allowing the subtle flavors to fill her senses.
A smile formed on her lips.
It was perfect.
The familiar taste brought her right back to her high school days.
She took another sip and she was Rosa Chinensis again. Another, and she was surrounded by her closest friends as they waited for the afternoon meeting to begin. One sip more and it was just another day enjoying the tea prepared by her precious petite soeur.
She couldn't help but note that this was, even down to the amount of sweetness, exactly the way that Yumi used to make it. Sachiko felt her body relax at the thought, and a content smile graced her lips as she gazed into the shimmering surface of her tea.
"I had a feeling you needed that, Onee-sama."
Sachiko's body went rigid, and her eyes widened at the sound of the voice. Off the clear amber surface of her tea she caught a glimpse of a familiar figure reflected there. It can't be. Her head shot up, and her mouth fell open when she took in a sight she hadn't seen in over ten years.
Smiling brightly before her, dressed in the dark uniform of Lillian Girls Academy, was the teenage form of her Yumi.
Author's Notes:
I missed this fandom so much. Please let me know what you think. I'm open to suggestions on where you think I should take this. Thanks for reading!