hi, you guys! here's chapter 5, yes, it's here! read on and review, 'kay? :)

Disclaimer: I do not own POT, it belongs to Takeshi Konomi-sensei

Chapter 5: Remembering

Sakuno went home after her appointment with her grandma. She needs to decide immediately, Ms. Yamazaki only gave her a week to do so, although she feels that this is such a big decision that it needs more time than that. But she needs to comply with what the Directress said.

"Come on, Sakuno. You can do it", she encouraged herself, yet it's not enough because she stayed up all night thinking about it. Though she is very tired, she can't sink into a deep slumber; she keeps on tossing and bouncing. She tossed herself so hard that she fell off her bed.

"Ow!" she gasped as she landed on the wooden floor. She didn't even try to get up; she's too tired to lift herself up. As she lay there she suddenly noticed something under her bed.

"What's this?" she reached out to get the thing that caught her attention. It's a crumpled paper. She opened it and upon reading the words—or rather names—written on it, she literally turned to stone.

She was then sucked four months back; she remembered everything that she tried to forget: Ryoma's ill-fated situation, her yearning to help him out, the reason of all of this which is the names that are written in the paper she's holding.

Resolve has found her. In that very moment, she had made her decision.

"Oh, Sakuno-chan! I'm so proud of you! I told you you'll get it." Misaki said as they headed to the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I can't even believe it at first, I mean, we're just joking about it before, and now, it's really here," the brunette girl responded. They are already in the crowded cafeteria of their school. She then recalled her meeting with the Directress earlier that morning.

(flashback)

'"I'm accepting your offer," she said.

"I know you would," the Directress responded confidently.

"Demo, I have one question, madam."

"What is it?"

"This program, in case I change my mind, or something happened, can I not finish it?" The Directress was taken aback. She definitely did not expect such question.

"Well, it's absolutely the student's choice, I mean, "if something comes up", we can't stop her from quitting right?" she replied using Sakuno as the subject. (since she used her)

(end of flashback)

"Demo, Sakuno-chan. You'll leave me here alone!" the black haired girl said emotionally, bringing Sakuno back to the present situation, and away from her reverie.

"Aww, Misaki-chan, don't be like that." Sakuno replied as she patted her head. If it wasn't for Ryoma, she will definitely be bothered with that last statement from her friend.

"Of course I'm joking." The girl suddenly beamed. "I don't want to be the reason for you not to accept the scholarship; but I'll definitely miss you."

"Me too, Misaki-chan" she said as she pulled her friend into a hug.

That night, she decided to call Tomoka. Of course she can't let herself leave without saying anything to her best friend, right?

"Anou, Tomo-chan…"

"Eh? Seriously? Sakuno-chan, I'm so proud of you!" As usual, her best friend is still as loud as always, but she missed it, she missed her—a lot.

"I wish I could say goodbye to you personally", she said almost teary-eyed, though, of course, Tomoka can't see.

"Gomen, gomen! If I did not choose this school in Osaka, I could be there to send you off; we can even organize a send off party!"

"Demo, Tomo-chan, we didn't expect such things to happen."

"Yeah, but these kind of things only shows that you really have improved; I'm really, really proud of you, Sakuno-chan."

After a few jokes and small talk, they ended their conversation with a final "See you soon" and "Good luck", and then they hang up. Sakuno can't afford of such things to stop her, even though she feels bad about the persons she will leave, there is this someone to whom she will go to.

"I can't believe that you'll be leaving soon, isn't it still a month before classes start there?" asked Ryuzaki Sumire as she helped her grand daughter pack up.

"Oba-san, classes start at the last week of the month, it's already the eighth. Yamazaki-sensei said that I need at least that much to be accustomed of their ways" explained the girl as she walked into her room carrying a big trolley bag.

"Well, I understand that, I guess it can't be helped, then." The older Ryuzaki said as she turned her back from the girl.

"Oba-san, a-are you c-crying?" she asked as she approached her grandma.

"Of course I am!" she said as she pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Oba-san…" she murmured as she hugged her back.

Paris. 9:05 AM

'I can't believe that it's this cold! I'd freeze here to death if that Ayane-san won't show herself ASAP!' she thought as she embraced her self, hoping to decrease the coldness that she felt. Even her jacket isn't enough to shield her from the freezing surrounding. She then noticed the chubby figure approaching her.

"Ryuuzaki-san?" she asked as she removed her glasses.

Sakuno can't find her voice. Despite of the Japanese name and despite she spoke to her in fluent Nihonggo, the woman in front of her doesn't look like a Japanese. She looked like a Frenchwoman. She just nodded as she noticed the expectant expression of the lady.

"Gomen nasai! I picked up something from a store so I got here late. You must be freezing. Here." She handed her a fur coat. It was huge, with furs on the seams. She felt like she was eaten by it the moment she wore it.

"Arigatou" she managed to blurt out.

They then rode the car brought by the lady. She actually has a driver so they comfortably chatted at the back seat.

"So, you're one of the lucky ones, huh." She talked to her as if they've been long-time friends.

"Ah, hai", she's somehow afraid to speak, yet she have many questions, so she decided to try. "A-anou, I'm sorry for asking but, is your name Ayane?"

"Yes, I'm Ayane Yamazaki; just call me Aya, besides, that's what they call me around here."

"Eh? Yamazaki?"

"Didn't Kana told you? We're sisters."

"Demo, why don't you look alike?" she suddenly asked without thinking. "Ah! Gomen nasai for asking such stupid questions.

"Well, it's a bit complicated."

"Anou, it's okay if you don't want to answer. I understand if it's too personal."

"No, it's okay. Hop on, I'll tell you on the way", Aya motioned Sakuno to get in the car. Sakuno obeyed promptly and slid inside the flashy black sedan.

"We're half-sisters", started Aya. "I'm only half Japanese since my mother is French. Kana is full-blooded Japanese."

O-kay, halfs isn't really on her good side, not with those bastards who have wronged Ryoma, but this Aya-san looks like a kind person, she actually reminds her of Tomoka, being spontaneous and loud, total opposite of Miss Yamazaki who's very serious yet she can also be silly. But both of them are really confident—in that department, they are really sisters.

"Sorry for asking but, why are you here while Miss Kana is in Japan?"

"Well, despite the obvious, we're not really in good terms; both of us never knew that we have a sibling, not until she went here because of that same scholarship as yours." She paused as they get off the car. "Well this is where you'll be staying." She said as her eyes point it to Sakuno. It's more than just a place to stay, it was…huge.

"What is this place?" Sakuno asked incredulously.

"It's our ancestral home," answered the lady.

"Your French ancestral home?"

"No, this is where we live and where Kana spends her summer vacations when she's in junior, middle and high school."

"So, this is actually owned by a Japanese?"

"Yes, my father built it, I don't know for whom."

"Why?"

"Well, to continue where we left off from my story, we only knew that we have a sibling when Kana went here to study."

"Wait, I thought Ms. Kana spends summer here?"

"Yes, and we spend summer in Japan, and stayed in their ancestral house. Quite ironic, huh?"

"Y-yes."

"Well, father didn't expect that. When Kana was offered the scholarship, she accepted it, and planned to surprise father. But when she came here, he's out of the country, but we're not."

"So she found out about you, just like that?"

"Yes, but I was not home at that time, we came to know each other in a different way."

"Oh, then how did you met?"

"When she found out, she did not know what to feel and what to say, so she went to the dormitories in the school. She chose to stay there; she didn't even contacted father to demand him an explanation."

"H-how did you know about all these?"

"That's the good part, I'm also studying in the same school as hers. I was forced by my classmates to stay in the dormitory, the same dormitory as Kana, and guess what; we're on the same room!"

"No way!"

"I know. When I got there, I saw her balled like a fetus and I can tell that she's crying.

I thought at first that she's home sick so as insensitive as I am, I forced her to tell her story."

"When she finally did, it was a completely different story than I thought. Her father has kept such a secret successfully for 18 years. I remembered pitying her, not knowing that her father is my father as well."

"I was like her human-diary, geez, she's very vulnerable, like she could break with just one word. It continued like that until my father arrived having received a call from the butler. She was compelled to go home, and of course, I went home, too because "there is an important matter that I need to attend to" as what Zachary, the butler said."

She went there first since I still have class. After that, the moment of truth arrived. When I saw her coat on the peg, everything she told me appeared in my mind and every member of our family are the characters there. I remembered trying to get an escape but Zachary came and he informed me that they are waiting for me."

"When I entered, she already knew it was me, father has shown her my pictures."

"'Kana', I said, she nodded. Of course, father was surprised and so we explained it to him. Then it was his turn to do the explaining and he said that when Kana's mother died when she gave birth to her, he was informed that my mother was pregnant. Even though his wife is dead, it was still illegal, I mean, my mother got pregnant before Kana's mother died. So he decided to keep it from us. My mother knows it, though, but Kana and I somehow shared the same fate, my mother also died when she gave birth to me."

"Then, how come you're in bad terms?"

"Well, Kana is unbelievably very understanding; she left the house so that her father's family—which is us, I mean me—will not know about her, even she is the legitimate one. That girl acts to be strong but in truth, she's very fragile. And one more thing, she is really professional, she effectively separated our personal lives from our school lives. But she is not pretentious; she's true even if she's a completely different person when we're at home or at school. You can feel that anything she says is genuine and sincere. Of course we're not much close in anyway. She just doesn't ignore me unlike any other legitimate child would do. Like I said, she's very understanding.

But here comes the storm. My aunt, sister of my mother, reacted more than we did. When we're not around, she mistreated Kana. I don't know if Kana is a masochist but really, she could've told us, but she didn't. She was driven out of the house, and yet she didn't say anything. My aunt said she left on her own free will, but Zachary, as loyal as he is to our father, spoke the truth, but it's too late. Kana already left, and we have no idea where she went."

"So that's how it is." Sakuno's view of Ms. Yamazaki changed. She's not just a strict lady with sudden mood swings. She is a strong, independent woman. It's too bad she went back home just after a few months in Paris. Wait, months? "She did not finish the program?" Sakuno unconsciously voiced out her thoughts.

"Sadly, no. It was such a waste. She's really gifted." Sakuno then remembered her question to Ms. Yamazaki. 'What if "something comes up", can I not finish the two year program?' Probably that's the reason why she took a while before she answered. Maybe she remembered her days in the hands of her half-sister's aunt; poor Ms. Yamazaki.

"But that girl has guts, she transferred to another school—still in Paris, of course—but farther away from us, and we never knew where it is until she sent an invitation to her graduation."

"How did she pay for it when your father doesn't know where to send the money?"

"Like I said, she has guts. She worked for it, as a fashion designer. Can you believe it? She's still a student yet she landed on a job already. Well, they don't care about any degree, they cared about talent. And Kana is overflowing with that."

Sakuno suddenly thought about Ryoma. Ms. Yamazaki endured being mistreated by her half sister's aunt, but after that, she fought her way to success. Could it be Ryoma's plan? She can't help but to hope for it. She knows that Ryoma won't give up on anything, but how come it's taking him so long to break free from whatever it is? At least she's closer to him; at least she could be with him, soon.

The story of the Yamazakis. Well, it's for Sakuno's realization, and sort of a bond-formation for her and Aya, and indirectly, with Kana, too. Oh, well. R&R as always, ne?