Disclaimer: Nothing's mine but the plot! Enjoy and Review, por favor!

A/N: This chapter actually focuses more on Shimako/Noriko, but you might need to read it for the story to keep flowing- sorry Sachiko/Yumi fans!

Chapter Four

The cabin was a cozy, traditional log style with a fireplace in the comfortable sitting room along with a couple of large armchairs. Sachiko, exhausted from the top despite having rested her head in Yumi's lap for the majority of the car ride, instantly claimed the softest-looking armchair. Yumi made to walk towards the second armchair, but her onee-sama stopped her, grabbing her wrist gently.

"Stay," she murmured and Yumi complied, instantly sitting down beside her onee-sama. It hadn't been a question, but Yumi didn't mind the quiet demand. Sachiko had a habit of doing this, and Yumi didn't want it to change.

Shimako and Noriko were seated together on the sofa with Noriko still shaking slightly and tensing up every time her onee-sama tried to touch her. A frown creased Shimako's forehead.

"So, rooming arrangements," Yamato stated as she and Sei trudged in, Yamato with her large duffel bag of Maria-sama knows what and Sei dutifully lugging Youko's things as well as her own. "We've got five rooms and ten people, right?"

"I'm with onee-sama!" Yoshino declared loudly, glaring around the room just in case anyone dared to steal her Rei-chan. As Eriko, the previous Rosa Foetida was off in America, most likely with an older man, she didn't really have much to worry about.

Sachiko subtly rested her hand on Yumi's lower back, looking at Yamato with a slight challenge.

"Ara," Yamato stated, scanning the room in false dejection. "Noriko-chan, perhaps you will share a room with me as my baby sister appears to prefer Ogasawara-sama?" Sachiko shot her an icy glare from across the room, which was surprisingly similar to the frosty look she was currently recieving from the usually mild-mannered Shimako.

"Noriko will be sharing a room with me, Himeya-san," she said politely, though her tone was unsmiling. She scooted a little closer to her petite souer on the posh sofa, placing one hand on Noriko's knee and holding Yamato's gaze.

Yamato raised her eyebrows as her suspicions were confirmed and shifted her gaze to her only remaining victim, who cringed visibly. "Ah, Touko-chan...," she sang. The girl in question grimaced as she glanced over at Youko and Sei, realizing that she had no option but to share a room with the Sei-like half-sister of her first choice.

"Onee-sama?"

Noriko was somewhat afraid of Shimako's sudden, uncharacteristic coolness, but when the older White Rose smiled down at her, she felt herself relax. Satisfied, she looked back down at her hands, subsequently missing the pained look that Shimako sent her as a result.

"Noriko-chan?"

Trying to hide her surprise, Noriko turned to Shimako questioningly. Apparently she hadn't done such an amazing job of it, given the look on Shimako's beautiful face. "Yes, onee-sama?"

"Is there something you wish to talk about?" Shimako asked, taking Noriko's hands in her own as they sat down on the bed. The bed, Noriko noted, not one of the beds because there was only one. "Is something bothering you?"

"Nothing's wrong, onee-sama!" Noriko said quickly, causing Shimako to frown, her pink lips forming a slight pout.

"If you're sure," Rosa Gigantea said slowly, gazing into her petite souer's deep chocolate eyes. She was used to looking after those closest to her- first Sei and now Noriko- but every time she showed any sign of concern for Noriko recently, it seemed that she was pushing her away.

"I'm sure," Noriko replied in what she hoped was a normal voice as she smiled up at the beautiful girl who had stolen her heart. The beautiful girl who could never know what she did to her petite souer.

After a moment of silence, Shimako spoke again, more slowly this time. "Would you have preffered to stay with Yamato-san?" she asked in her calm voice, giving away everything and nothing in the way only Toudo Shimako could. "I'm sorry- I didn't really think before answering."

"Of course not, onee-sama!" Noriko cried, shocked at Shimako's sudden question. "Why would you think that?"

"I was only curious, Noriko-chan," Shimako replied, smiling warmly at her petite souer. In the corner of her eye, the rosary glinted like glass in the sun, and Shimako was painfully aware that there was something Noriko was hiding from her. "Do you mind if I take the first bath?"

Noriko shook her head and Shimako took her things and left the room quietly.

Once she was alone, Noriko allowed herself to fall back on the large bed, clutching the juzu beads to her chest and taking a deep breath as her heart raced. She wasn't sure now much longer she could keep her feelings bottled up inside, but if Shimako knew the way her petite souer loved her...losing onee-sama was no longer an option.

She didn't know how the rosary haunted Shimako in her worst nightmares- didn't know that her onee-sama feared that it could be returned at any moment, her feelings thrown back in her face. She didn't know how much her secret was hurting her beloved and she hadn't noticed Shimako's possessiveness earlier that evening. If she had, maybe the tear wouldn't have slid down her cheek, matching the one that ran down her onee-sama's as she left the room, her face buried in the fluffy white bathrobe.

Shimako had seen heartbreak before, in her onee-sama's eyes, and was terrified that if Noriko knew of her feelings, she would be next.

The thorns that pierced the White Rose family ran deep as ever, inducing the fear of a deja vu and tearing a rift between the soft-spoken Rosa Gigantea and her rambunctious petite souer.