"Does anyone have an idea as to why Sachiko-sama asked all of us to meet here this afternoon?" Yoshino asked the room in general, hoping that one of the five other girls standing around in the meeting room of the Rose Mansion would have an answer. "Weren't we supposed to have the day off?"
"She did not say," Youko replied with a knowing smile, "but I might have an idea. However, I am not going to spoil her fun by guessing. You all will just have to wait to find out," she grinned.
"Humph!" Yoshino pouted, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at Youko. Rei put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a loose hug.
"It's alright, Yoshino-chan," Rei told her with a smile, "you won't have to wait too long."
"I just hate secrets," the shorter girl grumbled, "especially when they are being kept from me!" Her grande soeur patted her head in understanding, a small smile on her lips as she choked down her laughter at her cousin's pouting.
Indeed, it wasn't long before everyone heard the front door to the Rose Mansion open and close and the old, squeaky staircase began to sing its familiar tune as they could hear two sets of slippered feet ascending to the second level. Every eye was turned towards the biscuit door as the knob slowly turned and the door swung open to reveal an extremely happy Rosa Chinensis en Bouton. Sachiko walked into the room alone before she suddenly turned back after realizing that her partner had not followed her in.
"Come in, Yumi," she called gently with a soft smile as Yumi poked her head around the doorframe. Yumi almost seemed to be walking on eggshells as she slowly and quietly entered the room, her head a little down until she stood next to Sachiko. She then looked up with a shy smile at all of the other members of the Yamayurikai who were still waiting for Sachiko to explain why she had called them all together.
"Everyone," Sachiko said as she put her arm around Yumi's waist, "I would like to introduce to you my petite soeur, Fukuzawa Yumi-san," she continued as a blush of the prettiest pink arose in Yumi's cheeks at the sudden introduction. "Please be kind to her and help her to grow into the kind of Rose I know that she will one day be."
Even "ladies" can briefly lose it. Each of the girls gasped or squealed in delight as they all quickly surrounded the newest member of the Yamayurikai. Only Youko held herself somewhat aloof, allowing the others to congratulate Yumi first. Sachiko slipped away from Yumi's side and silently joined her grande soeur where she stood at the end of the table.
"I see that logic and begging did the trick," Youko said quietly with a grin of her own at the sight of joy battling with embarrassment that shown on Yumi's face as she became the center of attention.
"It did indeed, onee-sama," Sachiko replied just as softly with a smile on her lips that Youko loved to see.
"Have you figured out a way to start the real counseling sessions, Sachiko?"
"I spoke to a number of psychiatrists and psychologists and they all agreed that the best way would be through the use of a variant of regression hypnotherapy," the raven haired girl replied. "The method itself has taken quite a beating in the medical field because of its misuse to develop past lives for the patients as well as being susceptible to result in false memories, but in Yumi's case they all agree that there are probably some memories better left buried or revised. If they can pull out the good memories of her days with her parents and her brother, even if some of them end up being a bit hazy or even false, that will be better than leaving her as she is now."
Youko was nodding her head, running the various scenarios through her highly imaginative mind, trying to find any loopholes or problems and not coming up with any. It sounded like an almost perfect solution. "When do you think they will begin?"
"Yumi's next regular session with the school's counselor is two weeks from today," Sachiko answered, "I don't think it will be any problem getting Yumi to allow me to join her for her sessions. The school counselor is already on board with the idea even if she doesn't know the full story yet."
"And your parents? Yuuki-kun?" Youko whispered.
"Not yet, onee-sama," Sachiko sighed. "I want to go through at least one counseling session with Yumi before I tell my parents. By then I should know whether or not the hypnotherapy will be of any benefit."
"Everyone," Youko called out over the din still surrounding Yumi, effectively ending her clandestine discussion with her petite soeur, "I believe that there is some cake in the refrigerator downstairs. Why don't Yoshino and Shimako bring it up along with some plates and silverware and we can properly celebrate Yumi's joining our little group."
"Oh, I'll go get it," Yumi replied quickly.
"No, you are the guest of honor today," Shimako answered with a gentle smile, "please allow us to serve you this one time."
"That's right, Yumi-chan," Sei snorted. "I promise you that we will be working you to the bone quickly enough starting tomorrow."
Yumi offered a shy smile once again as everyone moved to take a seat, grab the cake from the kitchen, or make tea to go along with the sweet confection. Sachiko pulled out Yumi's normal chair and bade her to take a seat before sitting herself in her own chair. As soon as she sat Sachiko grabbed hold of Yumi's hand and entwined their fingers together.
"You have made me very happy, Yumi. Thank you," Sachiko said softly.
"I'm glad, o-onee-sama," Yumi stuttered, still trying to come to grips with the fact that she had a grande soeur. In order to make up for her stammer she gently squeezed Sachiko's hand. "I am very happy as well."
Shimako and Yoshino quickly returned and put a slice of cake in front of each chair. Shimako rightly guessed that Yumi would not want the largest slice and so gave her a small piece along with a bright smile that told Yumi just how much her classmate was thrilled to have her there. "We all missed you, Yumi-chan," she said gently, "thank you for coming back to us."
Yumi bowed her head shyly. "I'm sorry if I caused you to worry about me. I just . . ."
"The 'whys' do not matter, Yumi-chan," Youko said gently, "we are all just thankful that you have returned to us."
"Th-thank you, Rosa Chinensis," Yumi stuttered, her cheeks flushing.
-oo-
Yumi whimpered in her sleep, a tear slipping from her eye to trace slowly down her cheek and fall to her pillowcase.
She had had her regularly scheduled session with the school counselor earlier that afternoon, but instead of being alone with Ikeda-sensei, Sachiko had joined her. Yumi had been happy to sit with her and hold her hand as the counselor had introduced her to another doctor, a man by the name of Morioka-sensei. Unlike most of the doctors that the church sent to evaluate her every so often, he seemed very kindly and concerned for her. Most of the church doctors were only concerned with how she was coping with school and to make sure that she was maintaining her grades, but Morioka-sensei had seemed more concerned with her own well-being and state of mind. He had also asked her more about her past, about what she could or could not remember from the time before she arrived at Lillian.
"Honestly, sensei," Yumi fidgeted restlessly in her seat, "I don't really even remember most of my first-year here. I have a few, fractured memories of my room, and the dorm, especially the conservatory, but not much at all about my classes or classmates. And I cannot remember anything at all from before that time."
"That's alright, Yumi-san," the grey haired but balding doctor said with a smile, trying to make her feel better, "this isn't a test, so there are no right or wrong answers. This is just a bit of conversation since you are new to me and me to you. I've been asked to meet with you a little more frequently than before. We want to try to bring up some of those memories that have been locked away in your subconscious." He took out a silver pen from his breast pocket and started fiddling with it, much like a nervous habit, swinging it slowly back and forth. Yumi enjoyed the way the sunlight streaming in from the window played across the brightly shining pen.
"We may bring up some memories that you don't want to see, but we primarily want to see if there is any way that you can remember the fun and happy times with your family. You'd like that, wouldn't you Yumi-san, to remember the face and voice of your mother? You'd like to remember your father's laugh as he played with you, isn't that right?" he said softly, forcing her to focus on his words as her mind seemed to slip into a gentler place.
"Yes, Sensei," Yumi murmured sleepily. She didn't remember a lot after that except that she had an enjoyable talk with the kind doctor as Sachiko continued to hold her hand, her fingers entwined with her own, giving her a comforting squeeze every now and then as they spoke about things that were particularly painful.
Another tear tracked down her cheek to add to the spreading stain on her pillow as her whimpers increased and her breathing became short and rapid.
"No, please don't hurt mommy and daddy!" she cried out in English. "No . . . NO . . . NOOOOO! MOMMY!"
"Yumi-chan. Yumi-chan." Katsura-san said softly as she gently shook the sleeping girl.
Yumi's eyes flew open, seeing something other than her nearly bare dorm room as she screamed once again, "NOOOO!"
"Shhh, Yumi-chan, shhh; it's alright now," the brown eyed girl crooned as she took Yumi in her arms and rocked her. "It's just a bad dream," she said quietly as Yumi's eyes finally focused on her surroundings.
"K-Katsura-san?" Yumi gulped, "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"You were having a bad dream and crying out," Katsura replied, "are you alright now?"
"A bad dream? I can't remember anything! Ah, I'm so sorry if I disturbed and worried you, Katsura-san. I hope I didn't wake you," Yumi apologized profusely.
"That's alright, I was up getting a glass of water when I heard you crying out. I'm just glad that you're better now," she smiled. "Here, drink a bit of this," she ordered the young girl, placing the cold glass of water in her still shaking hands and helping to guide it to her lips.
Yumi took a sip of the cool liquid, wondering why her hands were shaking so badly. She really couldn't remember anything about a dream, good or bad, but to have disturbed Katsura-san made her feel just awful. She finished her sip, actually feeling a bit of relief as she felt her muscles loosen up and her hands stopped their constant shaking. "Thank you, Katsura-san," she murmured. "Again, I'm sorry that I disturbed you."
"It's fine, Yumi-chan. You didn't disturb me at all," her friend explained with a smile as she briefly stroked a hand over Yumi's hair. "But I didn't know that you knew English so well."
"English?" Yumi squeaked in surprise and confusion. "I've only just really started taking it within the last few years. I doubt that I could put together two proper sentences in English!"
"Hmm, well, let's not worry about it tonight," Katsura said softly, trying to keep the concern for her friend from her voice. "Lay down and try to go back to sleep. It's only just before midnight so you can still try to get a good night's sleep."
"I'll try," Yumi replied with a weak grin. "Thank you again, Katsura-san," she murmured as she lay down again and her friend tucked her in.
"Good night, Yumi-chan," Katsura said softly with a smile, placing a gentle hand on her head once more before standing. "Sweet dreams."
As she left the room, turning out the lights just before she closed the door, she prayed to Maria-sama that the remainder of her friend's night would be much more pleasant.
-oo-
"Actually, Ogasawara-sama, I'm quite pleased with just the little progress we made today," the rotund psychiatrist had said earlier that day with a calm smile as Ikeda-sensei handed the Rosa Chinensis en Bouton a cup of black tea. "No, the memories we tapped into were not the happy ones we had hoped for, but those were more recent and certainly more traumatic. I believe that we pushed those 'bad' memories back far enough that they shouldn't bother her, but unfortunately I can't promise anything. Now that we know that delving into her memories is possible we can work to avoid the harsher ones and try to go deeper and earlier in her memories to gather those that are more conducive to a healthy psyche."
"Of-of course, Morioka-sensei," Sachiko said while wiping a tear from her eye. She had never worked harder in her life than she had to hold herself together when Yumi had finally been released from her hypnotic state. Having to hold a smile on her face as if nothing had happened but a pleasant conversation, saying goodbye to Yumi after the young girl had walked her to the front gate, and then having to maintain her composure until she was able to secretly return to the counselor's office; she had never felt closer to breaking down than she had when she heard Ikeda-sensei's door click closed behind her.
By saying that the memories that Yumi had remembered were "not the happy ones" hoped for was an understatement of biblical proportions. How anyone could do such things to a six or seven year old child, and having to hear Yumi's screams of pain and terror before the doctor was able to bring her back away from that memory . . . If Sachiko had to live through those times and those memories, even second-hand, to ensure a healthy and happy Yumi than she would do so, but she also dearly hoped that was not necessary; and if it was, she prayed that something might be remembered to allow her to find and properly punish the perpetrators! The things she had in mind as "proper punishment" were probably things she should not mention to the good doctor for fear of having herself put away as a menace to society, but if anyone deserved divine retribution it was those scum!
"Do you really think we can help her, Morioka-sensei?" Sachiko asked with a touch of fear. "You've seen the psychological files that the school and church keep on Yumi. You have seen the medical files and the files gathered by my investigators. You . . . you heard her screams," she sobbed. "Can we really bring peace to her soul?"
"I believe that we can, Ogasawara-sama," he said quietly but with a conviction that gave Sachiko hope. "Yes, you heard her screams. Yes, she buried those memories long ago to save herself, but she is also a very strong young woman. I know that she has esteem and confidence issues, but you and your friends have already gone a long way to helping her in those areas. Please keep up your efforts and let me do what you hired me to do. I firmly believe that we will be able to help that poor young woman."
"I pray that you are right, sensei," Sachiko sighed.
-oo-
Sachiko approached the double doors to her father's study that evening with a trepidation she had never felt before. In her right hand, hugged tight against her hip, was the large file folder that contained every bit of information she had regarding one Yasumi Aoki, aka Yumi Fukuzawa. She still wasn't sure what her father's reaction was going to be or what he would want to do, but it had gone too far for her to turn back now. She kept telling herself that this was for her petite soeur. For Yumi!
She knocked briefly on the door before turning the knob and entering the plush study. A small round walnut conference table sat off to the right while a conversation area was to the left just in front of the large window overlooking the gardens and manicured back lawn of the estate. Her father's large walnut desk was directly across from the door. The entire back wall was filled from floor to ceiling with custom cabinets and bookshelves. Behind the huge desk sat her father, Ogasawara Tooru. At the moment he was smiling. Sachiko hoped that he would still be smiling after she had presented him with what she carried in her right hand.
"Otou-san, I was wondering if I might have a few moments of your time this evening?" Sachiko said with a slight nod of her head.
"I always have time for my daughter," Tooru with a grin, "but why such a serious look? You know that you can always talk to me about anything."
"I know that," Sachiko replied, allowing a smile to grace her lips as she felt herself relax a bit. "You have always made time for me, no matter what you might be doing or what business might conflict with my needs. You have always put your family first." She walked slowly into the room but stopped only half way before indicating the conversation area. "Might we talk a bit, Otou-san? I have something important that I need to discuss with you."
"Alright, Sachan," her father replied with another smile as he got up from behind his desk and moved towards the window, stopping along the way to pick up the silver tray containing a hot teapot and two cups from the corner of his desk. The conversation area had a western-style walnut coffee table flanked by a leather loveseat on one side and two leather chairs on the other. As Tooru settled on the loveseat and poured the tea Sachiko took one of the two chairs across from him. "Now, what was it you wanted to discuss, darling."
"It . . . it's about my petite soeur," Sachiko said quietly, her nervousness returning now that the moment was upon her.
"Ah, you mean little Yumi-chan. I know you've told us a tiny bit about her, but I was hoping to meet her before this," Tooru said with a grin as he sat back in the loveseat and took a sip of the hot Earl Grey. "You haven't even shown us a picture of her yet."
"That's . . . that's one of the things I wanted to discuss with you this evening, Otou-san," Sachiko said as she placed the folder on the table between them. "In that folder is everything that I know about Yumi, but . . . before you open it, I need to warn you that it won't be pretty. I also know that you will most likely be very cross with me once you have read everything in there, but I assure you that I do have my reasons. All I ask is that you please keep an open mind and don't jump to conclusions."
Tooru glanced briefly at the top of the unopened folder in front of him before returning his eyes to his beloved daughter. "I know you, Sachan. If you say that you have a good reason, then I will accept that," he said with a soft smile as he reached for the folder.
Sachiko picked up her own cup of tea and took a sip. She was tense again, but the die had been cast and she could now only wait for the results of her father's perusal of the evidence placed before him. Sachiko could easily follow along her father's reading of the various medical, police, and investigation reports simply by watching the features of his face.
The file was arranged in the same order as she had originally been presented with it, so the first pages were the police report of the child left on the doorstep of a local church. Next came the medical records of that seven year old child and the atrocities that had been perpetrated upon her tiny body. Her father winced when he began looking at the various photos and a tear escaped his eye on more than one occasion. He used his handkerchief to wipe away those tears as he continued to read in silence.
Next came the psychological reports written by the many psychiatrists and psychologists provided by the school and church over the next nine years of Yumi's life. She saw her father's knuckles whiten at one point and she knew that he was thinking about how the doctors seemed only concerned with her grades and the way she acted in class rather than in her overall mental health and welfare. Along with those reports were the written reports from her teachers as to her performance and overall demeanor and their recommendations for encouraging greater interaction with classmates. These reports were much more "Yumi-centric" and concerned with the child herself rather than the grades she was receiving.
There was a lengthy series of reports from Sister Bernadette regarding Yumi's behavior in the dorm, followed by similar reports from Sister Agatha. Both sisters praised Yumi heavily while still being concerned for her lack of self-esteem and frequent depressions.
Finally there were the reports that she herself had added to the folder. The first was the summary report from the private detective agency that she had hired and the revelation of Yumi's true identity. Sachiko was not surprised to see her father's eyes widen at the news that Yumi Fukuzawa, his daughter's petite soeur, was actually the missing daughter of his dearest departed friend and the sister of her own brother, Yuuki. The second report was written by Morioka-sensei and provided the results of Yumi's first session of regression hypnotherapy, the memories retrieved and then submerged again, and his starkly straightforward but somewhat promising prognosis.
Tooru gently closed the folder and set it back on the table between them. He picked up the cup of his now cold tea, downed it in a single swallow and then poured himself a fresh cup. Her father then leaned back against the cushions of the loveseat, taking off his reading glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Let's put aside for the moment that you kept this from me for any length of time, Sachan," he said slowly, his eyes still closed before he opened them to look at her. She was happy to see that there was no anger in those eyes, but only worry. "I would first like your own impression of Yumi . . . or Yasumi."
"Yumi, for now, Otou-san," she said with a sad smile. "It's the only name she knows and has known for the past nine years." She took a moment to gather her own thoughts before answering her father. "Yumi is the sweetest, most loving and caring girl you would ever want to meet. She is constantly thinking of others rather than of herself. As you read, she uses her allowance from the church only rarely on things for herself, but instead buys things for the dorm or for the other girls that reside there. She is especially fond of the young ones; helping them with their homework, holding and calming them when they are crying, teaching them how to cook and sew so that they can one day fend for themselves. She is almost more of a surrogate mother to them than Sister Agatha.
"Yet she still never sees herself as much more than a friend or sister to them. Despite the number of times she has been told otherwise, she continues to see herself as something less than everyone else. She has gotten better over the past months, and even more so in the two weeks since she became my petite soeur, but . . . Yumi is still so very fragile. One harsh word could easily send her into a deep depression for days or weeks at a time. She has begun making new friends, and the other members of the Yamayurikai treat her with extreme kindness knowing only what has happened to her since she arrived at Lillian. They love her dearly just as I do and go out of their way to make sure that she knows it; always finding ways to try to bolster Yumi's view of herself.
"If I had simply told her of her real past without any thought as soon as I found out about it she surely would have gone into another deep depression . . . or worse. We have seen it happen on at least one occasion so far and that was just because her one real friend in the dorm, Katsura-san, found herself a grande soeur. She stayed away from us for three weeks that time. It wasn't until I essentially forced her, through logic and literally begging on my knees, to become my petite soeur that she was able to rejoin us.
"The reason I didn't bring her to your attention and tell you of her real past before this was because, frankly, I was afraid that you might want to immediately bring her into the family. She's not ready for that yet. She still doesn't know anything about her past or the fact that she has or ever had a brother. If all of that were to be revealed to her without any preparation whatsoever . . ." Sachiko shrugged her shoulders to hide her shudder, unable to even contemplate what damage such an occurrence might do to Yumi's fragile state of mind.
"Well," her father said with another sigh, "I hate to admit it, but you're probably right. I would have tried to move heaven and earth to bring her home to us, and would probably have simply put her into the hospital or worse. You've chosen a decent man in Morioka-sensei. I prefer his partner for the normal needs of our corporate employees, but he's a good man and one of the best in regression hypnotherapy in the country. There is one man who is a little better, but he's down in Kyushu."
Sachiko could only gape at her father. "YOU KNEW!"
Tooru chuckled. He stood and went to a cabinet behind his desk, using a key to open one door and then his passcode to open the safe contained within. He returned to the loveseat, a smile on his face as he watched his daughter's eyes widen and her mouth drop open as he placed a folder similar to the one she had given him on the table.
"It's a small city, Sachan," he chuckled again. "My regular investigation firm called the firm you were using to see if they were available to be subcontractors on a corporate case. Your investigator's said that they were already on a case for the Ogasawara Group so my investigators talked to me. I wasn't too sure at first what it was that you were so interested in, but they eventually figured it out. Morioka-sensei's report is new to me, but most of the rest I already knew from my own investigation team."
"B-but then, why didn't you move to bring Yumi into the family already!"
"Because I decided to trust my daughter's instincts," he replied with a smile as he leaned over and took hold of her hand. "I knew that you had to have some reason for not telling me about Yumi-chan right away, and it looks like I was right. The one thing none of these reports could tell me," he said as he waved a hand at the two folders on the coffee table, "was about Yumi-chan herself. The only person who could do that was someone that had spoken with her directly, spent significant time with her, and knew her as a person and not as a report to be written. The only person that could do that was you Sachan," he said as he gave his daughter a kiss on her forehead.
"Th-thank you, Otou-san," Sachiko said softly with a gentle smile. "Thank you for thinking of Yumi and not just the situation."
"How could I not. If my daughter thought it was important enough to potentially have to withstand my wrath, and make Yumi-chan her own petite soeur, then I knew that she had to be pretty darn special."
"She is, Otou-san. She is very special," Sachiko said with a loving smile. "I already love her so much that it hurts every time I'm away from her."
Tooru gave her a crooked smile, a gleam in his eyes as he looked at her, his head tilted slightly to the side. It was the look he always gave her when he thought she had said something particularly interesting.
"Then you need to think about something else as well, Sachan," her father said as he squeezed her hand and gave her a grin. "Yumi is now sixteen years old. She may not want to be adopted this late in life. In just a few more years Yumi-chan will reach her majority. At that time she will be able to make her own choices as to her life. I would still like her to know about Yuuki-chi, and that she will always be welcome here if she ever wants to become a member of this family, but . . . what do you want?"
"Otou-san?" Sachiko asked in confusion.
"Do you want her to be your sister, or . . . do you want her to be something more?"