"Everything is proceeding brilliantly," thought Kashiwagi Suguru. It never occurred to him that things would not go his way at the meeting with Grandfather so he made no special preparations. After all, the marriage arrangement with Sachiko was originally crafted by Grandfather so it was clear that the old man wanted Suguru to take over. As with many things in his life he just expected to walk onto the field and win by no-contest. He didn't need to add dead weight to his rise to stardom by marrying Sachiko so he agreed to the annulment. He did think, though, that it proved Sachiko's lack of vision to sabotage her future like that. Suguru chuckled privately, "All is fair in love and war."
Suguru was due to meet Grandfather 30 minutes before the Roses were to arrive. When Suguru arrived 10 minutes late, Grandfather swallowed his displeasure, wanting to observe the boy's true character. 'I'll just allow him to be comfortable enough to be himself,' thought the respected gentleman.
"So Grandfather, the Lillian University Yamayurikai took me to tea and requested my assistance. Apparently they are overwhelmed by a general degradation of character in their kouhais and have sought me out for some much-needed oversight," Suguru blatantly lied to his venerable elder. He of course had no idea that Youko and Sachiko had already spoken to the old man a few days ago and showed him Suguru's memo.
The next 15 minutes were spent in companionable discussion, all the while Grandfather growing more disgusted with Suguru's arrogance and disrespect. He had heard enough. "Are you sure this is the approach you want to take with me, young man? I have seen the memo you presented to Lillian. Care to revise anything?" Grandfather countered. The boy had irritated him to the point where he didn't care if Suguru was comfortable. He would squeeze the truth out of him instead. Suguru's stunned silence was interrupted and for nearly the first time in his memory, was actually pleased to see Sachiko as she and Youko arrived early for their appointment.
Suguru had to think fast. After the Roses made their greetings and settled into their chairs, Suguru continued, "It's more to do with hierarchy and structure. For any military group to function properly there needs to be established leadership. These Lillian operatives would greatly benefit under Hanadera's principles and training."
"I hardly see the need, Suguru-kun." Grandfather began. "Hanadera and Lillian training goals are clearly and purposefully diverse. Lillian trains in infiltration, ranged tactics, and narrowly targeted objectives. Hanadera trains in large-scale, open warfare. In short, Lillian is the archer and Hanadera the bludgeon. If any oversight were necessary, it makes the most sense for the archer to wield the bludgeon, not the bludgeon to hope to master the bow."
"But..." Kashiwagi did not care to be repeatedly referred to as a mindless hammer. It almost felt as though Grandfather were doing it on purpose.
"Oh, you have something to say, Suguru-kun?" Grandfather raised an eyebrow and arranged his face in such a way that any normal person would realize meant the conversation was over.
Apparently not Kashiwagi. As he glanced over to Youko and Sachiko, he couldn't help but try again. He hated losing, much less to a pair of smug-looking girls. I mean, he was better than all of them, that was so obvious, why was Grandfather acting this way? "But, Grandfather, you know I am a better leader and I need Lillian to..." Kashiwagi realized his blunder too late.
"You need Lillian to do what, exactly, Suguru?" Grandfather inquired. 'This should be interesting.' He mused.
Kashiwagi bowed his head for the first time in a very long time. "Nothing, Grandfather." Kashiwagi replied. 'That was close!' He thought.
Youko and Sachiko felt a great wave of relief. This would buy them some of the time they needed for preparation without the added layer of reporting to Hanadera. It made running their operations that much smoother. Of course, they also understood that Kashiwagi's response would escalate quickly. He did not have the empathy to take an ecology check before bulldozing anything standing in his way. Thinking before acting was not in his nature. So Lillian now needed to ramp up to prepare for whatever came flying at them next.
Youko took the opportunity to not further waste Ogasawara-dono's time. "Thank you so much for meeting with us today, Grandfather. We know you have such a busy schedule and are honored you would make time to clear up this little matter."
Grandfather smiled at Youko. 'Smart woman – take yes for your answer and close the deal! I must see if she would consider working for us. If only Suguru had half her business chops.' He looked over to Suguru's bowed head and sighed his disappointment. "Of course, anytime for my favorite young ladies." Grandfather smiled and walked the two women to the door, Kashiwagi trailing behind sulkily.
Recruitment Tea Party and Host ClubThe Yamayurikai were having their lunch again at the Rose Mansion. Feeling under attack and under-prepared, they took every opportunity to get a little more work done. Eriko was reporting in, since all three Roses were assembled.
The Foetida family's recruitment campaign surpassed even Eriko's expectations. What surprised Eriko was where much of that success stemmed from. But then, that cute little sister of Sachiko's had been full of surprises lately. From identifying Kashiwagi's end-game so early to securing a mole inside the Hanadera Council; and now this. Eriko continued, "Yoshino's idea of a tea party with the second-years to kick off recruitment efforts was a stroke of genius. Put the little monsters at ease in a casual setting and fill their heads with all the right ideas." Eriko was all for it. "Over just a few weeks, it accounted for at least one-third of the school applying for positions in the Active-Duty Women's League." Privately, Eriko mused that when Yoshino and Shimako expanded on that success with an actual host club, secretly featuring Yumi as the star, the applications started flooding in. "The host club, on the other hand," Eriko held the rapt attention she knew she had secured with that remark and savored her moment, "After two weeks we're at nearly full participation of every student." 'Now it will be Yumi's job to keep them all happy.' Eriko mused. 'Yumi's a natural, she should be fine.'
Sachiko on the other hand was anything but fine. The host club held their activities in the massive meeting room on the first floor of the University's version of the Rose Mansion. From what she overheard from the younger roses, they had set up the host room with different scenes every few days. Yumi had been hosting girls ballroom dancing, picnicking, and going to the beach! 'Where did they get all that sand?' Yumi herself didn't talk about it very often but Sachiko's curiosity got the better of her and she cornered the girl and coaxed her to tell her about that day's theme. Apparently Shimako and Yoshino had been getting repeated requests for a Wild West show.
[Sachiko asks Yumi about Wild West Host Club]
"Well, Onee-sama, it was a 3-minute staged scene and the guests could play one of the parts. They decided to have me play the hero and one of the guest parts was the heroine. We could redo the scene several times in a short period so everyone could have a change to play if they wanted to. Yoshino is very good at playing the villain. I think she enjoys it." Yumi hoped Sachiko would not ask her any more questions about it. This Host Club was so embarrassing and she was certain Shimako and Yoshino were hiding something. But she hadn't been able to work it out. The guests are very nice and seemed to let loose. Yumi was glad. These young women had a place they could go to relax, relieve stress, and have fun. She wanted to do her best. She just hoped she wasn't dragging the club down. But Eriko-sama made it a point to tell Yumi how necessary she was to the success of the club.
"And will you describe the scene, Yumi?" Sachiko's jealousy started to flare. She would have a word with Shimako and Yoshino about blatantly using Yumi's growing popularity.
Yumi did not understand why she was suddenly nervous. Maybe it was the intense gaze she was getting from her onee-sama? Also, Sachiko appeared to be getting closer to Yumi's face and it was making her palms sweat and her heart to pound. "The guest heroine walks across the thoroughfare, on her way to the courthouse. Once inside, she hands a bag of gold to the bank manager, played by Touko-chan, who happily presents the deed to her new ranch. On her way to her carriage and her new life, you hear a gun fired. Yoshino jumps onto the stage from the balcony of the saloon and holds the poor ranch-woman at gunpoint. 'Give me the deed to your ranch, Little Lady, or I'll fill ya full of lead.' You should hear her, Onee-sama, Yoshino can be very threatening when she wants to be. I'm so happy she recovered so well from her heart surgery. That was our second year in high school, do you remember, Onee-sama?"
"Yumi!" Sachiko wanted to hear the rest of the scene and Yumi was acting reluctant, which only made Sachiko all the more keen on getting the information out of her.
"Oh! Sorry Onee-sama. Well, then the hero comes on stage and stands between the villain and the heroine and gives the villain a stern look. Onee-sama I have to tell you that I exasperated poor Yoshino-san how hard she had to coach me to get the look just right. It must have worked because that scene always gets a response from the guests. Then Yoshino runs away vowing that we haven't heard the last of her and then fires her gun into the air. Then the heroine faints in the hero's arms."
[End flashback]
The Yamayurikai could glimpse into the room through the large interior windows as they made their way up the stairs to the second-floor meeting room. "When will Yumi be released from this ridiculous assignment?" She was reeling from yet another sight of a fan-girl recruit "tripping" into Yumi so that Yumi would catch her. The little cheat had the nerve to slip her arms tightly around Yumi and press her leg between Yumi's. "They spill things on Yumi as a pretense for groping her. She could get burned one of these times! You make her wear some of the most provocative outfits, which only encourages this false image that she's some sex symbol. I have had enough!" Sachiko shouted. She knew her arguments were weak but it was the best she could attain having been drained from all the jealousy she'd been feeling lately.
"Yumi-san doesn't seem to mind. Besides, with the recruitment phase almost over, she'll only have to continue on a maintenance schedule." Rei offered, off-handedly, trying to diffuse Sachiko's anger. She herself was feeling the weight of responsibility to train all these fresh-faced recruits.
Youko, Sei, and Eriko all cringed and made slashing gestures in the air and across their throats at Rei who looked on, confused. "What did I say?" Rei queried, then it hit her. "Oh." And looked over to Sachiko who was looking like a cartoon choo-choo train about to blow its stack.
"Maintenance schedule!?" Sachiko lost it and bolted out of the room, down to the Host Club, grabbed Yumi, and escorted her immediately inside the first-floor storeroom and locked the door.
For two weeks, seeing Yumi in those cute outfits caused the dark-haired beauty's mind to wander, 'Does Yumi like cosplay?' Which then led to other fantasies. Her dreams left her breathless, wet, and unsatisfied. She was finding it impossible not to touch Yumi, fixing her tie and letting her hands caress her collarbone, shoulders, and neck. She could see Yumi's dreamy expression whenever she touched her and that encouraged her greatly. But now she needed more. It was time to tell Yumi how she felt.
"Yumi, I have something I want to discuss with you." Sachiko didn't understand where her formal, business tone was coming from. She pressed on, "It concerns the work you're doing for the host club." Now Sachiko was confused. That's not what she wanted to talk to Yumi about at all! Why was this so difficult? "No, actually, it's not about the host club. Well, partially, I guess." Sachiko could not believe this was happening. She was sounding like a blithering idiot. 'Get hold of yourself, Sachiko' she scolded. "What I mean to say is..." and she looked directly into Yumi's eyes and found everything she needed there. "I want to tell you that I love you, Yumi. I'm in love with you and have been for some time. I love everything about you, your face, your hands, your body… but mostly your heart. Mine has found a home there and I hope you will allow it to thrive there."
Yumi's expressions went from shock, to confusion, to amazement, to worship, then finally landed on love. Sachiko could clearly see Yumi's answer in her eyes, but just to be sure, Yumi confirmed, "I love you too, Onee-sama. I'm in love with you too… since forever." And then Yumi gave Sachiko the happiest smile she'd ever seen on the girl, and that was saying a lot.
Sachiko leaned in for their first kiss, both hearts thrumming to a joyous refrain. The kiss led to several more, each building up their hunger for one another. Yumi was lost in all of the amazing feelings caused by Sachiko's soft lips on her own. Finally Yumi's stomach growl broke the kiss and both women's thoughts returned to their present circumstances and duties.
Sachiko chuckled, "Let's go to the cafeteria and get you something to eat." Once they were seated with their food, she continued, "How is your assignment going with the host club?" Sachiko thought she may as well lighten up. Now that she understood Yumi's feelings her insecurities evaporated.
Yumi visibly wilted and took a moment to catch her breath. She didn't want to sound ungrateful or plaintive. She was happy to be of some use. But, honestly, she could not believe that there were so many students at Lillian University who were more clumsy than herself!
"Onee-sama, I think we should have a talk with some of the school leadership in the high school division and also in the university admissions office. Until this assignment I thought Lillian students carried themselves with grace and elegance. Even me, well, you know how clumsy I can be. Even I learned not to embarrass myself; or more importantly you, by repeatedly spilling beverages on someone else. Maybe once, but then I learned my lesson. I must tell you, Onee-sama," Yumi leaned in conspiratorially, "I think that the school must be relaxing its discipline; or something! It's been two weeks only and I cannot count on both hands (and toes!) how many outfits I've changed from girls spilling drinks on me and girls tripping into me only to catch them from falling and hurting themselves. One was so forceful she landed on top of me and it took both Yoshino-san's and Shimako-san's assistance to finally get us both upright again after several minutes! Honestly, I'm relieved they'll all be receiving some specialized training from Rei-sama. She will at least help them be more aware of their surroundings." Yumi finally finished her little belly-ache.
Sachiko just sat there blinking. She had at least five distinct themes running through her emotions: Indignant Jealousy, Cleansing Relief, Hilarity, Oh-My-God-She's So Cute, and I-Couldn't-Agree-More-Let-Me-Put-Your-Face-In-My-Mouth. OK, she didn't know where that last one came from but there it was. In the end all she seemed to manage was a love-filled smile and cupped Yumi's cheek. She'll figure it out later. How is it that Yumi can take away all of her anxieties? She finally managed, "Well, Yumi, I think you make an excellent point and you have every right to be concerned for the school's reputation. Let's talk to the Roses about this assignment and see how necessary you will be going forward now that their recruitment level is nearly 100%."
"100%?!" Yumi nearly shot her weird warm bean beverage out of her nose.
"Yes, Yumi. Eriko-sama reported today that after only two weeks the host club has secured nearly all of the rest of the study body to our cause." Sachiko informed Yumi of the state of things.
"Oh, thank goodness. Hopefully I can do something more useful. Shimako-san and Yoshino-san are extremely popular, Onee-sama, otherwise we would never have gotten it done in two weeks." Yumi again underestimated her contribution to the effort's success.
A/N Hope you enjoy!