A/N: If it was already hard to write the story of the previous pair, it was even harder for this pair :)

Chapter 3A. No More Patience

Happy, contented, angry, loved, irritated, protected, those were the feelings that Shimazu Yoshino could feel for her cousin Hasekura Rei. Rei could arouse such plenty of emotions from her.

And just recently, another was added to that list.

Desire.

A raging desire as strong as her stubbornness.

It was scaring her to the core, mostly because she didn't know how to handle it. She, Yoshino, who always knew what she wanted, who did whatever she wanted, who always got what she wanted, was now acting more like Fukuzawa Yumi.

'I'm sorry, Yumi-san. I didn't mean it in a bad way', Yoshino asked for forgiveness to her friend in her head. She wasn't criticizing her friend. In fact, she liked her that way even if it was so frustrating sometimes. It was just that, it was so unlike her to hesitate, to not know how to proceed.

And she hated it!

She hated it so much that sometimes Rei suffered from her own confusion, because at the end of it all, her loving cousin was the receiving end of her tantrums.

"Yoshino, for once will you close your mouth and listen to reason."

That remark. She would never forget it. It made her really mad and hurt because she never expected that Rei would snap at her. And yet, at the same time, it also made her happy, happy that Rei wasn't the person anymore whom she could easily twist around with her pouts and threats and pleading. Rei was strong now to stand against her when she was out of line. Yes, she knew that she was almost always out of line, but since Rei tolerated her, she kept on doing it, because she wanted Rei to be strong…and, because it was fun. But of course, she would never tell Rei about it. Where would be the fun if she did?

Still, that didn't solve her problem now.

What should she do?

All the ways she could think of were drastic. She needed to think of a safer way, but if she couldn't, then no matter what happened, Rei would find out how she felt whether she liked it or not.

---o---

Rei didn't know if she would smile or worry of Yoshino being so preoccupied with her thoughts. Most of the time, Yoshino being in deep thought would mean trouble. She had long stopped counting the times that Yoshino would insist on doing this or that, or having this or that.

"Rei-chan, are you staying late again today?" Yoshino asked calmly.

Rei cleared her throat before answering, preparing herself to the excuse that Yoshino knew true yet refused to accept.

"Yes, I have to."

"I see. I guess I'll be going ahead then. Take care."

Yoshino's response surprised Rei.

No pouting?

No shouting?

"T-take care then. I'll see you later."

As Rei watched Yoshino go, she was worried, worried that something must be wrong, something that might result to something she didn't even want to think about. Yoshino being amiable was scarier than the short-tempered one.

So in the end, Rei couldn't concentrate at the training and decided to retire early.

---o---

Surprised shrieks broke the Hasekura house when Rei opened the door to her bedroom just as Yoshino was about to do the same from the inside.

"Yoshino! You're going to kill me with surprise. Are you waiting for me?" Rei asked as she tried to calm down.

"Y-yes. I didn't know you'll come earlier," Yoshino answered, her eyes unfocused, which caused the natural worrier Rei worry.

"Did something happen? Yoshino?"

"Huh? No, nothing. I was just about to go back to the house. I forgot something."

Hurriedly, Yoshino left the bewildered Rei.

---o---

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

Yoshino didn't know how many stupid had she called herself and didn't even cared because she really was stupid.

Hadn't she decided already?

So why did she act stupidly and didn't pursue with her plan?

She searched her pocket and was about to pull out the thing there when Rei came in her room.

"Yoshino, what is going on with you?" Rei asked worriedly.

"Nothing," was Yoshino's short reply. Her hand tightened around the thing on her pocket.

"Don't nothing me. Don't you think I need some explanation why are you behaving like that all of a sudden?" Rei asked with a frown. She growled when she got no response.

"Yoshino?"

"You aren't my girlfriend so why do I have to tell you everything about me?" Yoshino said in anger, not noticing the way she had just addressed Rei.

Rei's eyes widened, before her lips twisted in a hint of a smile.

"Of course I am not your girlfriend. I'm your Onee-sama and also your cousin so I have the right to know what is troubling you."

"What did you say? Of course you aren't my girlfriend. You're my cousin and my Onee-sama, that's all," Yoshino said in random. "Why would you think that you're my girlfriend?"

"You just said so," Rei said with raised eyebrows. She tried hard not to smile at the slipped of Yoshino's tongue lest she find herself hurled with flying pillows and books.

"I didn't," Yoshino denied.

"Yes, you did."

"No, I did not," Yoshino said with gritted teeth. "Stop making fun of me, Rei-chan, it's not funny."

"I'm not making fun of you. You're the one who said it," Rei insisted, barely suppressing her smile.

However, since Yoshino knew her cousin, she could read it in her and so she lost it.

"I did not! Why do you insist on saying that I did?!" She said in a loud voice followed by her usual reaction of throwing things at Rei and the first thing she threw was the now crumpled paper in her pocket, which Rei caught easily.

"What is this?" Rei asked as she noticed the crumpled yellow paper.

Yoshino's eyes widened when she realized what she just threw.

"Is this a..." Rei didn't finish her question as Yoshino launched at her to take the thing away.

"Give me that!"

Yoshino desperately tried to reach the paper while Rei raised her hand, keeping it out of her reach. In worry, she scrambled on Rei and they ended up in the floor with Rei underneath.

"Ouch. That hurts," Rei grimaced.

"Rei-chan I'm so sor…" Yoshino stopped talking as she realized their position. She was on top of Rei, their bodies pressed together and their faces were on the same level. Suddenly, she could feel her throat run dry and she couldn't help herself from staring at Rei's full lips.

"Rei-chan, I…I…I love you, Rei-chan!" She blurted.

"I know. I love you, too, Yoshino," Rei said, a smile appeared in her lips.

"Not like that. Rei-chan, I'm so sorry but I'm in love with you."

There. Yoshino finally said it. She pressed her eyes shut as she waited for Rei's reaction.

"I know, too, Yoshino, I know," Rei said softly.

Yoshino's eyes snapped open in surprise.

"You knew?! But how, how did you…"

"When you thought I was asleep when we did your assignment last time."

Yoshino's eyes widened.

"You've known since then and you never told me?"

"Well yes, because…" Rei was cut off from saying more when Yoshino quickly got up and looked at her with anger. "Yoshino?"

"You knew and you never told me. You're making a fool of me, don't you? How could you do that to me?"

Tears formed in Yoshino's eyes in anger, in embarrassment, in humiliation.

Worriedly, Rei reached up for Yoshino but the latter brushed her off.

"See? It's because you're always acting like that. You never listen to reasons," Rei said in exasperation.

Yoshino scowled at Rei, her anger increasing. Her rational thought overcame with embarrassment.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses."

With that, Yoshino dropped into her bed.

Rei was quiet for a moment, before she left Yoshino so that the latter could be alone and think. She would talk to her when she was calmer. Holding the crumpled paper, she went out. Soon, she realized that the crumpled paper was actually a letter, a letter that probably Yoshino intended to put in her room but she thwarted that plan when she arrived early. And as she read the letter, her heart was overcome with emotion.

…I'm in love with you, Rei-chan, probably a long time ago, but only didn't realize it before. I don't know how you will react to this, if you'll be ashamed of me, disgusted of me, or mad at me. I'm so scared to tell you before, but now, I realized, it would be better to be honest to you than to keep hiding it and thus, hurting both of us in the process because I know that I'll be different, and you'll be worried of me, and would definitely want to know why I'm like that. And then you'll find out the truth.

I want to say it now, because it's slowly killing me to hide something from you when we promised before that we will never keep any secret from each other. I'm in love with you. And I'm sorry, Rei-chan, for being such a child all the time, for demanding too much from you, for shouting at you all the time, for everything that I did that hurt you. I know you'd forgive me for those things, because you're kind. But I don't know about the latter, about me loving you in that way, but hopefully, you wouldn't turn away from me…

"Yoshino…"

Suddenly, it was too much for Rei. She couldn't take it if Yoshino was hurting because she was scared of her reception to her confession. She definitely couldn't take it. She would just help her fast-track the growing up issue with her cousin. Surely they could work it out.

---o---

Yoshino was startled when the door opened almost roughly. She was more startled when she saw the tear tracks on her cousin's face. Forgetting her anger, she got up from bed and went to Rei quickly.

"Rei-chan, what happened to you?"

"Yoshino, I'm so sorry for keeping it from you. I'm in love with you, too," was Rei's response that froze Yoshino in her tracks.

"You do?" Yoshino whispered. Rei loved her, too? In love with her, too? Heart racing fast, she waited for Rei's answer. The seconds that took Rei to answer felt like hours to her.

"Yes," Rei said softly.

Yoshino caught her breath, before she said in a shaky voice, "But I'm hot-headed. And stubborn. And never listens to reasons. And…"

"And the person I love so much," Rei added with a smile. "I'm sure we could work it out as long as you'll listen to me sometimes."

"Listen to you sometimes? Well, maybe we could work it out. But you should listen to me, too," Yoshino said, sighing with happiness. It was like a mountain of problems was lifted up from her shoulders.

"But I always do. In fact, you're always stretching my patience to the limit," Rei teased.

"Because you spoil me, Rei-chan. You shouldn't be so indulgent," Yoshino added with a smile.

"Yes. Now though, no more patience for you so that you'll grow up, my dear Yoshino," Rei mocked. "If you think you will always have your way just like before, then think again because from now on, you will have to listen to me whether you like it or not," she added in a firmer tone.

"Hmp! We'll see about that," Yoshino said in a pout.

Rei laughed.

"You know, that's the reason why Onee-sama always teases you, because you're just so stubborn. That's also why you can't win over her. Because Onee-sama knows her ways on stubborn people like you."

Yoshino's eyes widened. There was more to it than Rei said.

"Do you mean to say?"

"Yes, yes. She will get married soon."

A/N: There's a version 2 (Chapter 3B) for this pair which involves Eriko more. (Please don't get mad. I'm not stalling Sachiko and Yumi's turn. It's just that, I don't think I'll do a fanfic with only Rei and Yoshino so I included both versions in this fanfic)

---Arvendell---

09 April 2009