Chapter 10: The Long-Awaited Sunrise

The hallway outside of Sei's apartment looked totally different during the day. It almost seemed to Yumi like she was stepping out into a separate world from the one she had left behind the night before. The sun washed the corridor in white light, and she could see trees and grass and spreading landscapes on both ends of the building.

Yumi's intuition had been correct that moment before she had passed the threshold in the wee hours of the night: Things were different now—but it wasn't the world outside that had changed. She had changed.

While they were descending the stairs on one side of the breezeway, Sei unexpectedly grasped Yumi's fingers with her free hand. In her other hand, Alice's bag had made a reappearance. Yumi stared at it for a moment as it bounced off Sei's leg with every heavy step down the stairs. After a moment, Yumi shook her head and readjusted their hands so that their palms were comfortably pressed together.

Sei smiled down at her, but said nothing.

It was when they had reached the sidewalk and started heading in the direction of the station that Yumi finally broke the pleasant silence that had been following them around that morning.

"Who was she?" Yumi asked. She wondered if it would seem out of the blue—or even petty, perhaps—but it had been bothering her ever since the night before. It was a thought that seemed to have wormed its way inside her brain and was unwilling to let go. Even if it is none of my business, she thought.

Sei took a few more steps without saying anything, then seemed to suddenly notice that Yumi had spoken. "Mm?"

Yumi sighed a little. "Last night, you said...that the first time you slept with someone, you hadn't been in love with her." Or him? Yumi thought, though she was pretty sure Sei had never been interested in a man in her life.

"Ohhh, right," Sei murmured. She kept walking, and said nothing else. There was no sign of irritation on Sei's face and she carried the same pleasant smile she had worn all morning, but there was also no sign that she intended on answering the question.

After a minute or two, though, she did. "Kanina Shizuka." She said it so casually that Yumi almost couldn't be shocked.

Almost. Yumi looked up at Sei with confusion. "Ka—Rosa Canina?"

"Yep." Sei's feet crunched on some gravel as she eased off the main walkway for a moment to sidestep a sleeping cat. Since their hands were joined, she tugged Yumi along with her.

Yumi didn't want to disturb the warm mood between them, but her curiosity was even more piqued than before. "While you were still in high school?" she found herself asking.

"No, no, I had already graduated. It was during a trip to Rome I took about two years ago with Katou. I snuck off and met with Shizuka in secret."

"You know, my class took a trip to Italy around that time. I even met with Shizuka-sama and she seemed very—" Yumi paused. "Oh."

"Yep." Sei gave Yumi half a smirk. "And there were maybe four or five others after her, if you were trying to ask about my...history."

In spite of her mild embarrassment, Yumi still managed to tease her: "Sheesh. How am I supposed to feel special now, Sei-sama?"

Sei looked at her with a serious expression all of a sudden. They had stopped in front of a crosswalk and Sei let go of her hand to press the button. "I don't know," she said. "That's not really up to me, is it, Yumi-chan?"

It took Yumi a moment to realize that Sei was gently scolding her. She averted her gaze until she felt Sei's hand rejoin hers, then they made their way to the other side of the street. When she looked back up at her, the silly grin had returned.

"The important thing is that we shared a lot of interesting moments last night," Sei told her. "You can come over again if you want."

Yumi tilted her head in a bit of confusion, but smiled back at her nonetheless. "'Interesting.' Is that what you call it? If you're trying to make me avoid you, it's almost working." Though she knew that there was very little Sei could do at this point to keep her away.

Indeed, the night had been "interesting." Yumi had found that once all of her pent up emotions and desires towards Sei had been unleashed, she had not been easily satisfied, so Sei had indulged her many times over the course of the evening and into the early morning. Sei had been very good at that—surprisingly good. Good enough that Yumi wasn't quite sure that she could deny Sei's invitation, even if she didn't want to seem too eager.

"I'd take you out to breakfast like a true gentleman, but there's something I really need to do before my morning classes," Sei said as they passed a French cafe on the street corner. Yumi hadn't realized that her mouth was watering at the smell of freshly baked bread until Sei mentioned it. "How about we have lunch together instead?"

Yumi shook her head. "I can't see you for the rest of the day, Sei-sama. After I've had some time to overthink everything that happened yesterday, I'll be too embarrassed to look at you. I should be okay by tomorrow, though." She was only half-joking.

Still, Sei laughed out loud. "Ah, Yumi-chan, that's very mature of you! Only the most self-aware people can plan their neurosis ahead of time." She paused. Her smile was warm. "I love you, Yumi-chan."

Yumi pressed the side of her face to Sei's shoulder. "I know," she said. Then her eyes traveled down to the bag in Sei's hand. She took a long, deep breath. "Is that what you need to do this morning?"

Sei followed the direction of her gaze, and her smile faded somewhat. "Yeah."

"You need to talk to her, Sei-sama. Don't just throw the bag over the fence and run away."

At this, Sei laughed again. "How do you know my plans so well? Get out of my head."

"I'm serious," Yumi said. She clenched Sei's hand a little tighter, a strange sensation welling up in her chest. "I can tell that...you really like her. You like her enough that you're willing to overlook her body, and I can't even imagine doing that for someone myself, to be honest. If it means anything to you, I think you and Alice would be good together."

Sei looked a bit surprised, but there was still amusement on her face. "You're telling me to pursue another woman after everything that happened last night? If I didn't know better, I would say you're trying to get rid of me." Unexpectedly, she leaned down and kissed Yumi lightly on the forehead, and somehow this made Yumi blush more than the rather adult kisses they had shared before they left the apartment. "Thankfully, I do know better."

Yumi smiled, giving her a shrug in response. "I'm not trying to get rid of you...yet."

"Hmm, then are you saying that you don't care if I'm with both you and Alice?" Sei was gazing directly into her eyes, and though most of her tone was teasing, there was an edge of genuine curiosity that Yumi was experienced enough to detect.

"No," Yumi said. "I'm only saying that your being with Alice has nothing to do with your being with me."

When Yumi thought about what she had just said, she realized that it simply echoed Sei's question. What was she saying, then?

"Do you think it's possible to be in love and never view others as a threat? No jealousy? No desire to cling to the person?" Sei asked her, as if she could hear Yumi's thoughts.

"No," Yumi said again, "but I think that we're like that somehow anyway." She leaned closer against Sei as the train station came into view. "Why do you think that is, Sei-sama? I used to assume that only Maria-sama was capable of that kind of love."

"Maybe sometimes a miracle happens for us mere mortals," Sei replied, guiding her up the steps that led to the station platform. She looked down at Yumi with a strange smile. "And maybe Maria-sama is just a statue, so it's easy for her."

The dread was the most unexpected part for Sei. She never thought that she'd feel this much resistance in facing Alice, in dragging herself those last few steps to the front of the gated home, especially considering that it had taken a lot of willpower not to chase after her the night before.

It was different when Alice was in that house, though. The house seemed to transform Alice into another person—someone that Sei didn't particularly like.

Somehow, she still managed to force her way through the mental block and she only hesitated for a moment before pressing the button on the intercom.

At the very least, she needed to hear Alice's voice. She needed to know that the girl was okay.

"Good morning. This is Satouuuu," Sei called out in a ridiculously cheery way. It was all she could do to keep from letting the urgency show in her tone.

There was a long pause on the other end, but finally an unfamiliar female voice crackled through the speaker. "Satou Sei-san?"

"Correct, that would be me. I know that normally I only come on Mondays and Wednesdays, but last night—"

"Yes, we regret to inform Satou-san that her services will no longer be needed," the voice interrupted politely.

Sei stared at the intercom stupidly, as if she would be able to make out the face of the young-sounding woman on the other end. "Eh…." It took her a moment to think of a response. For some reason she hadn't really expected this complication. She cleared her throat, trying to muster up as much formality as she could. "If it is not a burden to the household, may I please briefly intrude and speak with Arisugawa-kun directly? Or perhaps Arisugawa-kun could kindly come to meet me out here?"

There was another pause before some static cracked once again from the other end. "If the Arisugawa household still owes Satou-san any outstanding payments, then if Satou-san would be so kind as to inform us of her address, the Arisugawa household will gladly make good with their promises."

"It's not about the money, I…." Sei tried to take a deep breath, but she nonetheless felt the muscles on the back of her shoulders begin contracting with tension. "I need to speak with Arisugawa-kun. I came to deliver Arisugawa-kun's book bag, which was left behind last night during our...studies."

"Arisugawa-sama would like to thank Satou-san for going out of her way," the voice said after a moment. "Please stand by and a servant will be down shortly to collect the bag."

"No." Sei leaned over the speaker, and her voice came out a touch more forcefully than she had intended. "No, I need to speak with Arisugawa-kun directly please."

There was yet another pause that seemed to go on forever. She could only imagine the unfortunate servant who had been assigned to relay this information back and forth like a game of Chinese Whispers.

"Alternatively," the speaker said—and this was the only moment where Sei could detect a small bit of informal emotion, something like a touch of frustration, "if it burdens Satou-san to wait for any representatives of the Arisugawa household to come down, then she may leave the baggage just outside the gate, and it shall be fetched later. That is all." A loud pop sounded on the other end as the woman hung up.

Sei's jaw tightened with increasing fury. She stabbed the intercom button again with her finger. "Alternatively," Sei said, in a tone which almost mocked that of the hapless servant, "the mother of the Arisugawa-sama household may also come down and speak to me herself if she has the decency to tell me to my face why she's holding that kid hostage. That is all."

The pause wasn't quite so long this time. "Please stand by. Arisugawa-sama wishes to speak with Satou-san directly."

Sei stepped up to the gate, but the iron wall didn't move a single centimeter. Instead, after less than a minute's time, the front door of the house began to creak open. With a stern, overly confident walk, Alice's mother stepped out of the house and across the garden. The point of her high heels seemed to sink deeply into the dirt, and Sei couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't just walked across the driveway—then again, the garden was the fastest route to the gate, and the woman seemed unusually rushed.

"Good morning, Satou-san," she said without an ounce of cheer. When she reached the gate, she didn't bother opening it. She merely rudely reached through the widest gap in the bars and extended her hand. "You may give me the bag."

Sei narrowed her eyes. "Where is Alice?"

"Who on Earth are you talking about?" But her tone made it clear that she knew exactly who Sei was referring to.

"Where is she? Why won't she come down to speak with me?"

"Kintarou-kun is uninterested in seeing you."

"Is that so? Or is it simply that you won't allow her to?" Sei asked boldly, all of her earlier formality crumbling away. She looked directly into the elder Arisugawa's eyes.

"The reasons why Kintarou-kun does not wish to see you are frankly none of your business. Please leave and don't come back to this house. You may give the bag to me or you may leave it on the ground by the gate. It makes no difference. If it's money you want, I will pay you right now if you wish, but you must leave immediately after."

Upon hearing that, Sei began to reach into her pocket. She unzipped her small wallet and pulled out the large wad of cash that had been keeping it well-stuffed for the past few weeks. She had spent hardly any of it. She pressed the money hard into Arisugawa's open hand.

"Take it," Sei said. "I don't want your money. I didn't do a very good job, anyway. If you want to know the truth, I'm not even foreign—not even a little bit. As hard as it may be to believe, I'm one hundred percent Japanese."

Arisugawa furrowed her brow. "Then that makes your behavior even more inexcusable. You should know better, Satou."

Sei said nothing. She merely placed the bag on the ground, propped against the gate, if for no other reason than to make it slightly harder for the woman to get a hold of it. Before she turned to leave, she gave the woman another cold glance. "You can't keep me away from her forever," Sei told her.

"I will see to it that you won't even bump into each other accidentally in public, Satou."

Sei didn't respond and started making her way down the block, her face burning with anger. When she turned the corner, she fought the urge to bring her fist against the outer concrete wall of the property. She looked up over the barrier and towards the house, and she could see what appeared to be Alice's bedroom window just over a trellis covered in vines. Sei briefly imagined herself climbing it, but noticed quickly that the vines were covered in thorns.

It's always thorns, she thought. If it wasn't the roses that pricked her, then it was the vines. She stared into the window, but it seemed that the room was shrouded in darkness and she couldn't see a single thing inside.

After a moment, she began shuffling down the sidewalk. Her morning classes would be starting soon, even if she wasn't in the mood to pay any attention to any drawling lecture; she would have to figure out what to do later.

As she wandered down the path in a daze, vaguely heading in the direction of the bus station, a flash of red caught her eye. She turned and saw the car that was slowly creeping next to her before she noticed who was in it.

"What kind of over-compensating douche drives a car like this? He'd have to be—" But then her eyes met with the driver, and she wondered how she hadn't realized earlier. "Kashiwagi," she said. "What do you want?"

He waved at her happily through the open window. "Come now, Satou-san, is that any way to greet an old friend?" He was following along next to her at a walking pace, which Sei found amusing because she could only guess how frustrating that was for a speed demon like himself. "Why don't you hop in and I'll give you a lift to wherever you're going?"

"No thanks," she said. "I'd rather walk."

He lowered his sunglasses and looked at her from the top of the rims; this made Sei roll her eyes. "You know, I can't understand what went wrong between you and I, Satou-san. What have I ever done to you to deserve this treatment?" He was smiling, though, and his tone was only mockingly hurt.

Sei pursed her lips. "You didn't do anything. Why do I need a particular reason to dislike you? You dislike me in the same way—for no reason at all—so I would think you'd understand perfectly. We're just the kind of people who are destined to never get along."

"Like two dogs who sniff each other and mutually decide that the smell is disagreeable, so they start fighting out of nowhere?"

"Exactly," Sei replied, and hurried her pace, as if to escape him, though she knew he could just easily speed up.

"Well," he said, pulling up more closely beside her. He unlocked the passenger door. "If you don't stink too much today, there's something I think we should talk about. It concerns Alice-kun."

Sei's feet scraped against the concrete as she stopped in her tracks. She got inside the car.

"So," Kashiwagi said in his typically overly-casual manner. They shot down the road at an unreasonable speed for awhile, with neither of them bothering to start the conversation at first.

Sei sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed, looking out the window. "Indeed. What is it that you want to tell me about Alice? Spit it out already."

Kashiwagi didn't answer right away. He locked Sei in a scrutinizing gaze. "Satou-san, have you...taken to fencing with two swords lately, if you don't mind my asking? Are you swinging both ways, if you catch my drift?"

Sei glared at him. "One sword is quite enough for me," she replied, "though I don't see why those labels even matter. You probably realize that I'm not interested in men—and if you're asking for yourself, then I'm definitely not interested, as fancy and womanly as you may act sometimes."

Instead of being offended, Kashiwagi laughed. "Those labels seemed to matter a lot to you before. Remember that you asked me the same thing when you found Sachiko and I outside during the rehearsals for Cinderella."

"That was years ago," Sei said, scratching her chin and trying to conjure up the memory. "In context, I was trying to figure out if you were a potential molester. Turns out you were—just not the kind I had expected." She returned his glance. "What does any of this have to do with Alice?"

"I merely asked because it seems that perhaps you have developed a taste for...Alice's sword, specifically. Which is not the kind you usually handle, is it? It takes practice to do it well, you know."

"Shut up—and stop being disgusting." As flatly as she said it, Sei couldn't help but be surprised that he knew. She fought the urge to ask him who he had been talking to. "At any rate, Alice is a girl, albeit not a very typical one. Nothing out of my usual pattern. So yes, I'm still quite gay, even if it isn't any of your business, Kashiwagi."

Some moments passed, and Kashiwagi continued: "It's not a coincidence that I dropped by here," he confessed. "I saw you wandering towards Alice's house earlier and I grew a bit concerned. You see, I've been over her house a lot recently. Her mother has mentioned you several times."

"Oh?"

He nodded. "I'm afraid it's not good, Satou-san. Alice's mother is not aware of my...preferences, so she sees me simply as a well-to-do senpai for her son. She trusts me. She's known me for years. You, however—she spoke very poorly of you." He turned towards her and there was a sincerity in his eyes that made Sei uncomfortable. "In fact, she spoke harshly enough that I found myself defending you."

"Right," Sei huffed on reflex.

"No, really. Not that it matters, but underneath that shell of animosity between us, I actually do rather like you, Satou-san," he said with no shred of irony. "I think you're a very honest person with good intentions, and you don't deserve that kind of abuse."

Sei stared at him. She fought the smile that began to form on her face. "Fair enough. I may dislike you, but of course I also like you on some level, though you will never hear me admit that ever again, so savor it while you can."

Kashiwagi laughed and tipped his head down, as if to bow slightly in her direction. "I'm honored to share this rare moment with you, then." But his face quickly became serious again. "I'm worried about Alice. By the way she acts when your name is mentioned, it was plainly obvious to me that she likes you, that something is going on between the two of you. You've been seeing each other in secret, haven't you? I don't think her mother realizes consciously, but something inside her must have sensed the...distinct aroma of the situation, because she seemed determined to push you away somehow."

"She did. It's done. I was fired this morning." Sei looked out the window, a sardonic expression on her face. "Her mother told me that I would never see her again." The words had been harder to say than she had expected.

"That doesn't surprise me all that much. I thought this would happen, actually." He offered Sei a sympathetic smile as they began to pull up towards the Lillian gates. "But you're not the kind of person to give up that easily, are you?"

Before Sei reached for the handle of the car door, she turned to him with a questioning expression. "All right, what do you suggest, then? Obviously you picked me up because you wanted to give me some kind of unsolicited advice."

He smirked. "Frankly, I can't be of much help. The Arisugawa mother is an iron barrier that even I can't push through. Even if I found a way to sneak you into the house, she would find out right away. I will tell you this, though: she had been planning to marry Alice off for a long time. In her mind, it's the cure for all of Alice's apparent ills. Now that this incident with you has occurred, she's only going to redouble her efforts to find her dear Kintarou a wife."

At this, Sei couldn't help but wince. The thought of seeing Alice with another person wasn't particularly distasteful in and of itself, but the thought of the girl being forced to play groom disturbed Sei more than a little. She shook her head. "So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that your chance to see Alice again may lie in your willingness to throw a wrench in a few social norms—which I know an uncouth woman like yourself should excel at. Alice's next miai is scheduled in five days. Perhaps you might coincidentally get the urge to make a reservation at the same restaurant where she'll be meeting her potential suitor."

Sei stared at him, stunned, while he handed her a business card.

"I'm sure you'll know what to do when the time comes," he said.

Kashiwagi peeled off the moment Sei stepped out and slammed the car door shut. The cool spring air greeted her, and the sound of fresh leaves rustling in the wind filled her ears. She shuffled slowly through the open gates, still completely lost in thought, her mind in a haze that greatly contrasted the clear blue skies.

Then she heard footsteps rushing behind her.

"Satou-san! Hey! Satou-san, is that you?" It was an unfortunately familiar voice.

Sei turned and waved at the girl unenthusiastically. "Ah...Kawakami. Didn't see you there. 'Morning."

"Good morning to you too, Satou-san!" As usual, she seemed oblivious to Sei's disinterest. Perhaps she simply assumed that Sei was like this with everyone. "Where have you been these past few weeks?" she asked, her tone a bit demanding. "I miss you. You ran off that one night so suddenly. Why don't we study together tonight?" She paused for a moment, looking over her shoulder at the road. "By the way, who was that guy who dropped you off in the red car? I've never seen you show up with anyone like that before."

Sei looked Kawakami dead in the face for a long, extended, awkward moment. "That was my boyfriend."

It took all of Sei's inner strength not to burst out laughing, but the pale look of utter shock on Kawakami's face made it all worth it.

The last warm rays of sunlight shown as a red glow through the blinds, and Yumi watched in contented silence as it filled the house with a dash of color. She was in the kitchen, poking the last bits of rice in her bowl with her chopsticks, but her eyes kept moving back towards the living room, which was still bathed with natural evening light.

Her mother had been humming to herself over the sink, rinsing off the pots and pans, but it soon dawned on Yumi that the song had ended awhile ago, and that a new sound with a repetitive chorus played through the room instead.

"Yumi-chan? Yumi? Yumi…?" her mother said. "Did you hear me?"

"Huh?" Yumi looked up at her as soon as she snapped out of her daze. Truth be told, though, she was still very much distracted. So much had happened only the night before and she wasn't even close to making any sense of it.

"Sheesh, you'd think it wouldn't cost you much to pay attention to me for one second," her mother grumbled in an exaggerated tone. She was smiling warmly, though. "I said that you should drop me a line next time you spend the night at a friend's house. I'm glad you're home now in one piece, but I was worried sick this morning when I saw that you hadn't come back all night." She reached out and patted Yumi on the head, a gesture she hadn't offered since Yumi was about five years old. "I know that my sweet little daughter is all grown up, but as long as you still live with us, I'm going to worry about you. You might have been kidnapped! So just let me know when you plan on doing that so I don't have to call the police, okay?"

"Yes ma'am, yes ma'am," Yumi said, then bowed her head deeply in mock apology over the table. "It won't happen again. I shall let you know."

"Good." Her mother looked satisfied for the moment, and turned to go back to wiping the plates down. "No harm done—this time. You said you were with that girl from the Yamayurikai, right? She seems fairly responsible to me, so at least I know you weren't running off into the dark night with a bunch of boys or something."

Yumi couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Yeah, that's not going to happen with her."

Her mother, seemingly oblivious to the meaning, nodded happily as she reached over to clear Yumi's food from the table. After she had grabbed the mostly-empty bowl by the rim, however, she stopped for a moment and looked at Yumi. "Yumi-chan," she said, "since it's just us girls tonight, I'd like to ask you something."

Yumi cocked her head to the side. "W-what?" It was strange how her mother had become so serious so quickly.

"Well, you've seemed rather...sullen lately." She let go of the bowl and instead pulled out the chair directly in front of Yumi and sat down. "Is it anything you need to talk about? I know you have a tendency to keep things bottled up inside until they finally burst out of you rather painfully. Remember what happened while you were in high school?"

Yumi knew exactly what she was talking about, but she couldn't help but give her a wry look. "I've matured since then. I know my limits better now." She managed to smile a little. "There's no problem...with me, specifically. I've just been worried about a friend. She's been dealing with an impending marriage arrangement after she graduates and her heart isn't in it, I guess." It wasn't the whole truth, but that was some of it.

"Oh dear. At such a young age?"

"Yeah," Yumi said, "but something tells me that she's going to be all right, so it's really not a problem. Whatever she decides, I support her."

"Ahh well, I suppose college isn't too young to be thinking about marriage." Her mother's face took on a wistful look. "I forget how quickly you're growing up. Pretty soon you'll be bringing boys home and introducing them awkwardly to your father, I'm sure."

"I don't know about that."

"As long as the person treats you well, it doesn't matter who you marry, Yumi-chan." She said the last part pointedly, with an odd deliberateness. As she finally grabbed Yumi's bowl and began to stand up, there was a strange look her eyes that Yumi couldn't interpret, something with a touch of mystery—but it disappeared quickly. "I hope he's cute, though. Like that friend of Yuuki's that I see coming over every once in awhile. He'd be a nice match, don't you think?"

"Oh, please," Yumi said, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to marry me off already—especially not to Yuuki's friends."

Yumi's mother laughed and turned back around to put her bowl in the sink. As she opened the faucet, Yumi couldn't see her face, but somehow she could sense that she was still smiling long after her giggles had subsided.

"Now, that Sei-sama, though," her mother said suddenly. Yumi froze at the mention of Sei's name. Her heart jolted with a single beat that she felt in her throat. "Tall, confident, and with those handsome gray eyes. She's pretty dreamy, too, isn't she?"

"Mom!" Yumi shrieked. She felt a searing heat immediately rising to her cheeks. "Oh my God! Stop!"

Her mother looked over her shoulder and gave her a rather sly smirk. "Ah-ha. See? I know you better than you think I do, Yumi-chan." She looked at Yumi with an openly affectionate face. "Like I said, it doesn't matter who you choose, as long as they treat you well—and don't keep you out until ungodly hours without so much as a phone call." The last part had a tone of warning.

Yumi stared at her mother in awe. "Y-yes ma'am," she managed to say somehow. After that, though, she found that she was very speechless. After everything that had happened in the past several days, this was one of the more pleasant surprises.

While her mother laughed again at her embarrassment, she turned her face towards the window and found that night was nearly on the verge of falling.

It was the end of her first day without the burdens that she had carried for so many years. Contrary to her mother's apparent hopes, Sei wasn't the marrying type—but she had guided Yumi through a painful haze and helped her find an elusive kind of freedom, which was in many ways far better.

A/N:

Whoa, looks like I'm on a roll today! Once I started writing this chapter, I couldn't stop, haha. As always, if you have any comments, feel free to throw them at me!