A/N: So... yeah I'm sorry this update's kind of slow. Finals are coming up and projects are due, not to mention endless research papers were a pain in the ass to do. I am just sooo busy so I deeply apologize for the late update. And I had a hard time writing this chapter too.

So a BIG, BIG thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, and I didn't even have the time to read updates from other authors. And what is worse is that I didn't even write one review T.T Do not worry I will read all the fanfics and updates out there and .review.(but there's no promise I will review every single one I read)I do notice one thing that my writing lacks, and that is detail of actions. So from now on I will try my best to improve ;3

Other than that please read chapter 17 and I hope you enjoy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Marimite or any of its characters. All belongs to Oyuki Konno.

Chapter 17: I Always Wait For You

Sachiko woke up to the bright rays of the morning sun streaming through the blinds. The said blinds were white, but the beams from the sun gave them a golden glow. Her eyelids felt incredibly heavy; sleepiness and the emotional strains from last night made it difficult for her eyes to open. The responsibilities of being the daughter of a wealthy and powerful company halted briefly, as she took a moment to recuperate from a busy night, taking contentment in her soft comforter and the warm rays of sunlight caressing her face.

Even so, the overwrought memories from last night gave her the final will to partially awaken from her dreamless sleep. She pulled back the comforter and swung her legs to the side of the bed. Roughly shuffling her hair with her hand, she looked at the digital alarm clock on top of the bedside table. The bright neon green color of the clock read 7:01 am.

Sachiko looked down at herself and sighed.

"What am I going to do?"

She was fully awake now. What was she going to do, after hearing Yumi's confession last night? In the peaceful atmosphere of the sunny morning, her mind was in a chaotic turmoil. The wedding can't be canceled, especially since all the preparations have been made. She thought everything was going to be alright, that no one was going to get hurt because of the marriage, because of her.

All of that crumbled rapidly like shattered tempered glass.

Her eyes were probably red and puffy from crying endlessly after Yumi left. It was the second hardest thing she had done in her entire life; to stay completely still and not just grab the girl's face and pull her into a passionate kiss after Yumi revealed her true feelings. What was the most difficult thing she has done?

Letting Yumi slip effortlessly from her fingers.

Speaking of the brunette, the desire to see her after last night presented itself to her. She opened the door to her bedroom and looked across the living room to the door leading to the opposite bedroom. Listening intently for any sound of movement in the rest of the suite, but finding none, she tiptoed towards the other room's door and placed her hand on the knob.

She twisted the doorknob slowly, silently pushing the door open. She peered into the room and spotted the petite girl sleeping contently with a serene expression on her face. From where she was standing, she could easily identify the dry tear tracks staining the brunette's angelic face. But even so, Sachiko released a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

Yumi was so breath-takingly beautiful in her sleep.

Sachiko gently closed the door behind her and walked back into her towards the bed. She dropped herself down unto it, as she tenderly laid herself back down onto her soft pillow, desperately trying to figure out how she was going to act out and handle the whole situation. She was torn inside, and her mind came up with only one simple and logical thought.

'I still love her.'

She closed her eyes, trying to replay Yumi's confession before it was time to get up and face reality. 'What in the world do I do?'

Yumi heard a knock on the suite door and made her way to it. She opened it to find room service waiting with a large cart full of steaming plates. She gestured the young man to come in. He made sure everything on the tray was in order before he stepped back with a smile. Yumi reached for her purse which was sitting next to the door and pulled out a tip. He sported a toothy grin before replying with a 'Thank you', then retreated out of the suite.

Yumi pushed the cart further into the suite towards the leather couch. She realized she didn't drink enough last night to be revolted by breakfast, and she hoped Sachiko wouldn't be either. Yumi made her way towards Sachiko's bedroom. 'It's time to wake her up.' She knocked and listened.

No answer.

She knocked again, but now she twisted the doorknob at the same time. The mocha-eyed girl caught a glimpse of the blunette sleeping peacefully with an arm draped over her eyes. She couldn't help the smile that was forming on her face as she moved closer.

"Sachiko-sama, time to wake up." Yumi gently called out. Still no answer. Her right hand found its way to the sleeping girl's face as she gently tapped her awake. Silent muttering was heard, and was soon followed by Sachiko's face nuzzling into Yumi's open hand. Fortunately, Yumi was touching the saliva-free side of Sachiko's face. Yes, the raven-haired girl was drooling. Ogasawara Sachiko was drooling in her sleep.

Yumi found it endearing and cute.

"...Yumi..." Sachiko worded in her sleep, her face leaning impossibly closer to Yumi's hand.

Yumi's eyes widened and a quiet chuckle escaped from her throat. "Rise and shine Sachiko-sama. Time for breakfast." Still no answer. No movement. Yumi patted the slumbering girl's face with more vigor, her wanting to wake the girl as soon as possible for the fear of their food getting colder by the second. She was then rewarded with azure eyes fluttering open and meeting her own.

"Y-Yumi? What time is it?"

"Time for you to eat breakfast. And you may want to wipe the corner of your mouth because of umm..." Yumi pointed to the corner of her lips as a guide."...there's a thin trail of saliva..."

Sachiko immediately began to imitate Yumi's finger, as she indeed found out that she was drooling in her sleep. Not fully awake and embarrassed at the same time, Sachiko started to form incoherent sentences." I..uh...drooling...breakfast?"

Yumi watched her struggle out of bed, straightening her night dress, clearly humiliated."Yes, it just got here. Go get freshened up. I'll be waiting at the living room table.". Yumi left Sachiko's bedroom to give the Sachiko some privacy. Of course, it was more of a fact that she wasn't able to control her eyes. Before Yumi could close the bedroom door behind her, Sachiko called out.

"Yumi?"

The brunette turned around to face the older girl."Yes, Sachiko-sama?"

Sachiko took a deep breath before asking the big question; her heart beating rapidly with suspense and worry of what Yumi's answer would become.

"Did...did you mean what you said last night? Do you...love me?'

Yumi knew exactly what she was talking about. 'She was awake?' Her hand tightened its grip on the doorknob, resulting with her knuckles turning snow white. She looked down on her feet for a mere second before she lifted her eyes of the ground and into Sachiko's confused and desperate orbs. She felt her lips form a fake smile.

"Of course I love you. I always love my friends." She answered with the tone as if the answer was obvious. She did answer truthfully. She loves Sachiko. But she didn't exactly say that she was in love with her. That was the truth that only she knew. 'She doesn't need to know.'

Yumi narrowed her eyes a little bit, curious as to what she had just seen before her. 'Wait, what's with that face? Is that...disappointment?'

"Oh... I see... I love you too Yumi." was all Sachiko said as she lowered her head.

Yumi shot a sincere grin at Sachiko's way."I'm glad to hear that. I'll see you later then.". She closed the bedroom door behind her with an audible click. "You might want to hurry up Sachiko-sama...," Yumi called out one more time."Breakfast is getting cold." She continued before going to the living area,

As she went towards the tray full of food waiting to be eaten, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was desperately trying to believe what she said to Sachiko earlier, that she loves her as a friend, and nothing more. She wanted to tell her that yes, she does love her, but not as a friend.

Friends.

She knew that it was too late to change anything now. They were friends and it was going to stay that way. Sachiko doesn't have to know that she still has feelings for her, that she still loves her more than a friend should. 'She never has to know.'

Of course they were going to be friends forever. Of course.

"Please don't fall back asleep!"

Sachiko heard Yumi call out to her from the living room. The blunette took her time to freshen up. She needed that time to rid of herself the torturous nightmares that has occurred in her head while she slept. Besides, she didn't want to go out there looking red. She had already embarrassed herself enough with the drooling.

"I'm coming!" Crap. "I mean, I'll be there in a minute Yumi."

She heard Yumi chuckle. 'So much for not humiliating myself.'

She finally left her bedroom and followed her nose's lead towards the smell of eggs and pancakes. Yumi was sitting there, flipping through channels. Sachiko noticed that Yumi had not started to eat yet. She sat herself next to the girl. Yumi turned her head towards her and gave a small smile.

"It's about time you got here Sachiko-sama. I'm starving. There's some aspirin if you need it."

"Thank you. And you didn't have to wait for me. You could have started eating.." Sachiko replied while picking up her glass of apple juice to take a sip.

"I always wait for you."

Sachiko paused just as the glass almost reached her lips. Her eyes moved to her left, trying to casually glance at the younger girl before she continued to take a full swig of juice to mask the gulp of shame as she processed the statement.

The two began to spoon food into respective plates. They began to eat in comfortable silences. Then the silence was broken when Yumi spoke up after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes.

"Last night was so fun. Did you see Yoshino-chan? She was so plastered!" Yumi tried not laugh as she picked up a glass of orange juice and took a sip."She fell on her butt so many times!" Yumi gulped down the liquid before laughter filled the entire room.

Sachiko's heart melted at the sound. She hadn't heard it in a really long time."You should have seen Rei. She was worse."

They both fell back into a familiar rhythm; talking about nothing, and laughing about everything. It was exhilarating for Sachiko. She missed her other half. And this moment only made her realize exactly how much.

Yumi attempted to relax in her window seat on a bus back to civilization. Sure, it was going to be one heck long of a trip, but she would relish the entire time of oblivion before facing reality once more. She could hear the rest of the group chatting away, relaying stories of last night. It was certainly eventful, but painful at the same time. Deciding that she wanted to zone all the noises out, she put her ear buds on and listen to some Adele.

One song in, she felt her right ear bud getting yanked out. Turning to find who wanted her attention, Yumi ended up coming face to face with Sei.

"Hey."

"Do you need anything Sei-sama?" Yumi replied with her eyebrow raised.

"So."

"Um...so?"

"So did you have a fun time last night?"

It took a minute for Yumi to realize what the blonde meant. " Yes, I did have fun but not in the way you are suggesting."

"So nothing happened after I shooed you two off the dance floor?" She asked with a confused look on her face.

"Nope. Nothing happened. We just went to sleep."

"We all know that is not true Yumi." Sei lowered her voice and whispered."I've been around you guys long enough to notice the tell-tale signs of a night of passion in the light of day. I just know. You guys are always sickeningly awkward after. Or did you forget that I'm a very keen observer despite my happy-go-lucky personality?

"Please stop talking Sei-sama. Someone's going to hear you." Yumi urged in a hush voice as she lifted herself a little off of the seat to look around them.

"Well, are you going to answer me or not?" Sei crossed her arms over her chest.

Yumi sighed. She wanted to tell Sei what happened. She wanted to talk to someone about what was going on. But at the same time, she felt ashamed. She didn't want anyone to know that she had lied to Sachiko about her feelings She felt guilty for lying to the woman she loves on the verge of marrying someone else.

"We went upstairs; I left her in her bedroom so she could change into her night dress so she could sleep. Then I went to my own room and slept in my own bed and woke up the next morning and ordered room service.

"That's it.?"

"Yes. That's it."

"But you two were about to get it on at the dance floor. What changed?"

"The ring on her finger Sei-sama. That's what changed. Now if you could please excuse me." Yumi turned to face the window.

"I'm rooting for you, you know."

Yumi quickly turned her head back to the owner of the voice, with confusion evident on her face.

"That's all I'm going to say." Sei concluded before settling on her own seat ending the conversation.

'What does that mean? This is not a contest.'

Yumi placed her right ear bud back in her ear in an attempt to keep her mind racing a thousand miles a minute after Sei's final words.

"Ogasawara-sama, we are here." A masculine voice reported.

Sachiko was still for a moment before processing the announcement. Opening her eyes, she found out that they indeed arrived at the mansion. Her driver picked her up from the bus station after saying goodbye to the others, and throughout the whole car ride she was sleeping. Well because she gets severe motion sickness if she doesn't.

"Thank you for the ride. I appreciated it." Sachiko said with gratitude to the family driver as she opened the car door.

"It was my pleasure Ojou-sama. Have a nice day." Sachiko saw the reflection of the man nodding his head through the back view mirror. Exiting the car, Sachiko decided that she would go straight to her mother, greet her and then go to her room to rest.

As she went towards the huge double doors of the mansion, she couldn't help but think of her conversation with the brunette in her bedroom earlier. Did Yumi really got over her and moved on? She must have because let's face it.

Yumi said so herself and she has a boyfriend. A boyfriend.

Sachiko felt like banging her head on a hard surface, acting lady-like be damned. The wall or a door sounded perfect. How could she forget the fact that the woman she tried to seduce and nearly kiss twice last night has a boyfriend? 'How stupid could I possibly get?' For some reason, she couldn't help but grit her teeth every time she say or even think about Yumi's partner Kaoru.

Sachiko turned the handle of the double door, pushed it open and what she saw made her blood boil. Seating on the couch located at the living area were Suguru and Sakamoto Kaoru. From the looks of it, the two were enjoying each other's company. Sachiko rolled her eyes in annoyance.

'Speaking of the devil itself.'

Walking towards them, she knew that she doesn't have any options other than to greet them. She hoped by the end of their meeting, her hands won't find its way around Kaoru's neck. And also Suguru's. Deep feelings of despise and jealousy began to dig beneath her false, good-mannered exterior.

The two men stopped in the middle of their conversation and turned their heads to the source of the footsteps. A cheeky grin found its way to Suguru's charming face as he greeted the girl with a warm welcome-back.

"Sachan! Glad you're back!" Suguru stated as he stood up and went over to Sachiko to encircle his arms around her.

"Please don't hug me." Sachiko deadpanned with an icy glare. She was getting more ticked off by the second.

Suguru ignored the woman's reply and hugged her anyways."Why? Am I not allowed to hug my own fiancé?"

"No, because I might just strangle you with my bare hands that's why."

Realizing that Sachiko wasn't in the mood to play along, Suguru quickly released his hold on the blunette and jokingly winked at the girl, making Sachiko even more pissed off.

"Did you like your bachelorette party?"

"Yes. Yes I did."

Suguru clasped his hands together." Then I'm glad I helped Yumi with the party financially." Sachiko's heart softened, and then she gave him a small smile in return. 'So that's how Yumi managed to afford everything...'

"So Sachan, I assume you remember my dear friend and best man Kaoru-kun?" Suguru gestured to the young man beside him. In that moment, Sachiko never felt so much hatred for a man in her entire life, surprisingly even more so than for her fiancé. Desperately trying to act polite and courteous, she raised her right hand to the soccer player; signaling Kaoru for a handshake.

They shook hands, and Sachiko put extra pressure on her grip-pretty much crushing the man's hand so that maybe Kaoru would get the point that she doesn't like him one bit.

"Nice to see you again Sakamoto-san." Sachiko greeted a little bit too friendly, sarcasm clearly evident in her voice.

Sensing this, Kaoru quickly thought of a reason to leave the building. It was obvious that he wasn't wanted here, and it'll be a great idea to leave.

Fast.

"It's nice to see you too Ogasawara-san. I should get going now, I have..err soccer practice. Well goodbye!" Kaoru stuttered as he bowed awkwardly before speed-walking away towards the nearest available exit. Sachiko sported a smirk at the scampering man's back as the poor fellow retreated.

"Wow." Suguru's eyes were wide-a comical smile was on his face."Just wow."

"What?"

"You..." Suguru pointed to Sachiko with general amusement."... scared the poor guy so much that he left this place in under 10 seconds." He continued with awe.

"I guess I did." Sachiko replied proudly. Ten seconds was her new personal best.

"But...," Suguru sat down and patted the empty seat beside him; gesturing for her to sit down, in which she did."...why don't you like him? Because he is Yumi's boyfriend?" He finished with a question that hit straight home.

Sachiko looked away, not wanting to face Suguru as she answered. "I guess that's why."

"But usually you could tolerate yourself far more better than this," Suguru answered while he raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

"You don't think I know that?" snapped Sachiko.

Suguru placed his hand on the Ogasawara heir's shoulder."Sachiko, look at me." The latter slowly turned her head to the voice; her eyes glazed, meaning that she was close to breaking down.

"Why Sachiko?"

Sachiko inhaled deeply before answering."Because every time I see him, I always remember the first time jealousy ran hard through my veins like poison."

"Because he's the one in a relationship with Yumi? If that's the ca-" He was interrupted by Sachiko's low tone.

"Because he was the guy that I saw with Yumi at the park that day." Sachiko finally told the reason. Deciding that the conversation was pretty much over, she shrugged Suguru's touch, stood up and went towards her room upstairs with her head hung low and her shoulder sagged.

Suguru was stunned and just sat there as he tried to process what the raven-haired girl just said.

"Kaoru-kun was the guy that Yumi was with at the park?"

To Be Continued...

A/N: Don't tell me that Sachiko acts OOC because I know so too. It is hardddddd ok? Please don't kill me or throw keyboards at me. Just to inform everyone that since the finals are rapidly approaching, the next installment would be up at a much later date. Almost on the 100th review mark GAH (Yeah it's on my bucket list... oh you know what that means!)-and don't laugh ok? -_-

So next up is the wedding...Yikes!

Please review and/or PM your opinions, flames, questions, etc. (But I like the first option...review and tell me what you like and don't like?) One more thing. Just for the fun of it, from a scale of OMFG this story sucks monkey butt to Jesus H. Christ I am in love with this fic!, what would YOU rate it? :D

Hope to hear from you soon,

AsulNaRosa