On their way, Inui asked, "Who is Asuzumi-san to you?"

Yuri didn't answer her friend's query but decided to narrate all that had happened so that they would not have a hard time putting the events in order. Furthermore, she knew that giving information piece by piece led to misunderstandings, which she doesn't want, does she?

"First of all, Reiko's my half-sister. We have the same mom but different dads. Awful. I definitely hate it. But, I can't seem to hate her completely. It happened approximately, three and a half years ago…"

Chapter 11: THEIR PAST

"It's good to share your thoughts; it makes you feel lighter. That's great, isn't it? Just don't overdo it though… It's bad to overdo things. I bet you know that."

Yuri continued her story.

It was late stormy night, and I was in bed, but not asleep.

That was when I heard one of our maids outside my door saying to another, 'Madam has already arrived.'

I then sat up in bed, giving what I just heard a second thought. Maybe I heard it wrong. After a few seconds, my older brother knocked twice on my door before opening it.

"I guess the hustle outside woke you up, neh?" he asked with his usual smile as he walked towards my bed. "Do you want to go down and see?" I agreed and took hold of his left hand, and we went down together.

It was raining really hard outside by the time my mother arrived at our mansion. Every time the lightning struck and the thunder roared, I instantly hugged my brother tightly. When I caught sight of my mother in front of the main door from the second floor of our mansion, I was overjoyed. I couldn't help it since I hadn't been able to see her for a couple of days because she hadn't come home. Even though I was overjoyed, I didn't react immediately. I first looked at my brother to see what would be his reaction—I was planning to simply imitate it. To my surprise, he was not wearing his usual gentle smile, but his serious face with eyes showing a slight feeling of contempt.

Should I…imitate it? My brother turned and looked at me to see why I didn't hug him when it thundered. He saw my baffled face and inwardly laughed at it. I might had ruminated so much on my brother's reaction that I hadn't able to notice the roar. I snapped out of my confusion and saw him chuckling, probably because of me. I tried to give him a punch on the stomach, but he swiftly blocked my attack with both hands without any difficulty.

"Nice. You certainly are practicing what you've learned in your karate lessons," he praised, patting my head at the same time. "At least that was better than throwing shoes at your opponent."

I just smiled and twitched as I took it as an insult. He still reminded me about throwing shoes. That's right, it was my brother who forced me to learn karate.

He once told me, "Don't tell me you're just gonna throw shoes at a rapist when he comes! Do you think that will be enough?! So, you should take on karate!"

I, being so young back then, innocently answered, "Hai!" That couldn't be helped since I was only four! I didn't even know what a rapist was. But anyways, it came in useful, especially when some bullies tried to take my snack. Heh. I sure kicked their asses well and sent them back to their homes with their tails behind their legs. I really became violent. Putting that aside…

"Now let's greet Okasan…" He took the lead, and I just followed.

While I was walking down the stairs, I noticed our servants were not assisting my mother, who was, I think, wet from the rain. They formed a line a few steps behind my mother, and were looking down at their feet.

I ran down the stairs, and yelled at the servants, "Idiots! Can't you see—" I paused when I saw a girl who seemed to be a little younger than I, peeping from behind my mother. Her cobalt-blue eyes were pitiable… She seemed to be afraid of the people in front of her—my father and my grandma who looked serious as well. I turned to my father and asked him rather rudely, "Who the heck is this girl?"

"She's your sister dear," my grandmother replied my query which was supposed to be for my father, and smirked.

"Is it true, Otosama?" my brother inquired calmly.

My father looked down at me, and I looked at him as well, waiting for an answer because I didn't want to believe my grandma. He smiled—but I could feel that he was sad, poignant. Why?

"She is," he answered my brother and me as well. "Please treat her well, okay?"

We nodded in affirmation. We couldn't complain after all.

Then, my brother and I greeted my mother in chorus, "Welcome back home."

"Yukito, Yuri, take your sister with you," my father commanded. "Have her take a bath, change her clothes, and sleep in the room she chooses."

We obeyed. She was hardheaded; nevertheless, we were able to coax her to come with us. That was probably thanks to my brother's pleasing personality. We began to walk, with the girl known to be my sister holding my brother's left hand. Honestly, I felt a little jealous. I wasn't quite sure why…but it wasn't important. Besides, she was piteous—she had visible bruises and most likely had more underneath her clothes; her hair was a mess, and her clothes were wet and partly torn. She looked almost like a beggar.

I glanced back and saw my father hugging my mom who was currently crying. My grandma was somewhat vexed and walked away from the scene. Shrugging, I continued on my tracks.

+-+

I was left with my sister in one of our bathrooms since my brother instructed me to help her take a bath. Duh. Of course I knew why.

She was already sitting blankly in the tub of water, and I was thinking about how she could be my sister, but didn't want her to know about it.

"Sorry, I think I'll become a nuisance in this home as well," she broke the silence with her subdued voice then submerged her mouth into the water.

I widen my eyes, "W—How sure are you?"

She rose up from the water and looked at me, as if in a trance… "That's what my father told me—that I'm a nuisance everywhere I go; I can't escape it. It's a curse."

I hugged her. I didn't know if it was because I pitied her or because of sisterly love. I just did. But I finally got the picture. I knew my father couldn't do such things—things that could hurt a kid - and concluded that she was definitely a child of another man.

I got angry. I—"

---

"Yuri!"

The violin player stopped, and Inui pulled her away by her left arm so she would not fall down the uncovered manhole.

"Man, you had to stop me" Yuri blurted angrily. "I was getting to the good part! Why did you stop me anyways?" Neither of them replied. The data collector sighed while the tensai pointed at the open manhole with a smile. She looked where Fuji was pointing, then gazed back at them and said, "Oh, thanks."

"No problem," the bespectacled teen answered as he let loose of his friend's arm. "But you don't—"

"You don't have to read your diary, Yuri-chan," the brown-haired boy inserted. "You know it's not a good practice reading while you're walking."

"I can't believe you were still reading even after you tripped three times already. Good thing you didn't get that much dirty," the data player added. "We should have let you fall into that manhole to teach you a lesson."

"Why didn't you? I know the two of you wanted to see me fall down there." She once again smiled unnaturally.

"There you go again," the tensai complained, pinching both Yuri's cheeks. He wanted to try it too; it seemed fun when his teammate did it just awhile back. "Let's see how far they can stretch."

"Fffine…ffine…just…Aa…choo!!" the Black Rose sneezed.

Fuji let go of her cheek.

"I hope you have a strong immune system."

"What does that mean? So, you're saying your sickly-ness infect other people—wait! I thought the girl's fukubuchou never gets sick and doesn't have any transmittable sickness. Is that even—" The data player then grinned.

While Inui was blabbering, Yuri dragged his teammate away. "Let's go Syuusuke."

"I'll spread some rumors that you're trying to MOLEST the tensai. I'll tell them that you tricked him into a dark corner and tried to do a REVOLUTION, a MIRACLE." Surely, Inui didn't want to miss some (action?), I mean… any data.

The Black Rose just kept dragging the shorter boy.

"I guess that didn't work," the data collector sighed and shrugged. "Mood swings? Too bad she's not in a good mood to be teased."

"Hey! Do you want me to finish my story or not?! You're making us slow down!" The taller boy couldn't do anything, but move forward.

Yuri resumed her story, but without reading her dairy. At least it wasn't as boring as a while ago. She then continued from where she stopped.

Surprisingly, the content was not what Inui and Fuji expected—it wasn't about sisterly love at all.

"Ah… let's see… I tried drowning her, pushing her out from the second floor, suffocating her…In short, I was trying to kill her. But every time I saw nii-sama and Otousama, I lowered my goal—I would say to myself that I'd just, you know, make her suffer more. Besides, I didn't want to stain my hands with blood—her blood! I could have simply said, 'It was an accident.' or 'How could I do that to my sister?' My plans back then were quite good, right?" she narrated calmly as if what she said was something very normal. She couldn't help but cynically laugh at herself. "After hearing that, surely, you don't want to be associated with a person like me, right?"

---

"Momoshiro-san, I don't want you to hear my story—that story between me and Takahashi-chan… I feel ashamed…"

"Eiji-kun! I…I love you!" This thought… this certain memory; it can't seem to be erased from her mind. It kept on haunting her until now.

Reiko just sat silently and started reminiscing about her past.

+-+

"Naomi-chan, I like Kikumaru-san too!" Asuzumi yelled at her best friend. "And I can't let you…like him too!"

"Too bad I already like him," Takahashi Naomi retorted. "And do you expect me to stop how I feel for him? Why?!"

"I already told you! I like him too!" Reiko pushed Naomi to the wall.

"I can see that you can sacrifice our friendship just because of him?! Huh?!"

"What's this about…?" A familiar voice caught the two girls attention. "What I heard…Was that true?"

+-+

"I guess it's not important anyways…"

---

"WHY THE HELL DID YOU GUYS MAKE ME DRINK THAT?!" Yuri was boiling in anger after she regained consciousness. Who would not get angry if forced to drink a juice made by Inui?

The tensai smiled and explained, "We did that because you were acting weird. And we thought if you drink that, you'll turn back to your 'usual' personality."

"I DON'T THINK THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO MAKE ME SAY 'IT'S OKAY'!!!" Why is his smile making me want to squeeze his face?

"Don't worry, you were only unconscious for eight minutes, which is a good sign," the data player calculated.

"Why do you sound so amused, huh, Sadaharu?!"

"Because everytime I let someone drink that juice, they usually wake up after fifteen to twenty minutes," he replied while scribbling in his green notebook. "And you woke up after eight minutes, isn't that new?"

"I can see that you're making me one of your test subjects…Fine, I'll not do that again, and maybe I should stop telling my story now," the violin player sighed. "I think we should hurry. I'm starting to think that I'm wasting your time."

They continued their journey. Not long after, when they were only a few steps from their destination, they caught sight of a lad who was standing in front of the grave of Yuri's father.

"Ryou-kun…" the Black Rose muttered softly. Why didn't he tell me he'd come here?

Yes, it was Shishido Ryou of Hyotei, who turned around, ready to leave. When he looked forward, he saw Meishiin and the other two regulars of Seigaku.

Without any second thoughts, Yuri approached him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you didn't ask me. Excuse me, but I have to leave," he bowed to the three Seigaku students and left.

"I guess he came to visit your father, right?" the tensai inquired. The violin player just nodded without looking at him.

"Don't tell me he's your brother…" the data collector stated. He just had to ruin the atmosphere.

"Are you trying to pick a fight?!" Yuri retorted. "You already know that he's a friend!"

"Chill. Since you have a complicated family, I suspected that he was your brother," Inui explained.

"You know what I think… I think you already have your head damaged. You weren't this stupid before."

"Look who's talking."

"Stop it you guys. We're not here to fight," Fuji reminded.

"That is so true. I don't even know why this person here is picking on me." Yuri glared at her stalker-like friend, then set her gaze on her father's grave. She had to get serious. "I've come to perform for you today." She placed the roses down in front of the grave, got her violin out of the case, and positioned herself to play. "I'll start." She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and started to play 'The Four Seasons – Winter II Largo.'

It reverberated in their ears. They somewhat feel the sadness of still searching, hoping to be happy—for peace. Slowly, it started to fade…slowly…until it was over.

"DONE!" the violin player shouted with great joy. "I can't believe I didn't make any mistakes!"

"That was fantastic, Yuri-san," the tensai praised. "Right, Inui?" Fuji elbowed Inui (who was speechless at that moment) to make him spit out his comment or criticism perhaps.

"…Yeah, it was fantastic… Too bad it was a—"

"Did you hear that, Otousama? They said my performance just now was fantastic. I've gotten better… Now, let me introduce them to you." She did, and suggested that they burn some incense. Good thing the place had already been cleaned, so they didn't need to tidy up.

"Could you play another piece?" the brown-haired teen requested.

"I could, but I think I've already taken too much of your time," she replied.

"We don't really care," Inui declared. "Just play another piece. I'm sure your father would like that too."

"Hai, hai, if you insist." She set herself. "I'll play the famous 'Canon'."

---

Yuri found herself walking alone with Inui. It was quite annoying since the bespectacled boy constantly teased her for some unknown reason. She tried to pay less attention to it and thought that he was actually doing it for a good reason. For a moment, she silenced herself, looked down, and held the strap of her backpack tighter.

Her companion noticed and stopped irritating her. "What's wrong now?"

"I didn't like it when he showed his blue eyes awhile ago…" Yuri replied.

+-+

When Yuri was in the middle of playing Canon, Fuji's phone rang. That distracted her, causing her to play a wrong note, but she decided to continue.

She heard him answering the call, all right. "Saeki-kun, what is it?…Ma—she got what?"

She took a glance at him and saw him serious.

+-+

"I guess I only like him when he smiles," she added.

Inui patted her head twice. "Too bad he went ahead. You wanted him to walk with you, right?"

"Were you listening to me?" she sighed. "And that's not my point. Anyways, good thing I didn't forget to return his book."

The data player nodded. "Yeah…good thing…" They continued until they reached a street.

"I'll be going from here," the Black Rose announced. "Ah, your notebook." She took out Inui's notebook from her bag.

"Can I stay at your home today?"

"BwhAaT?!" Yuri blurted and froze.

"I have nothing better to do," Inui reasoned out while poking his friend on the head. "I would like to take a break. Your grandmother won't mind, right? And you have plenty of rooms there, so it won't be a problem. Neh, how about it?"

"Stop poking me!" she ordered. "I hear ya! The thing is, I'll not be home tonight. I'm staying at my brother's villa." Plus, I'm staying there alone!

"So… Is it a 'yes'?"

She sighed in defeat and lowly said 'yes'. Why the hell did I said 'yes'?!… I guess I'm not fated to be lonely today. But why do I have a bad feeling? "Com'on, let's go get a cab…"

---

The two friends arrived at the villa. They had to take a walk under the rain because the house a few meters away from the gate. They had to get wet since neither of them brought an umbrella. They got to the door of the house alright—all wet. Without delay, Yuri inserted the key into the keyhole.

She slowly opened the door and a dog jumped and started to lick her face. "Adelante, what are you doing here?"

The dog stopped licking its master and ran. It returned to Yuri bringing with it a piece of paper. Yuri read the paper. "I prepared the villa for your stay. Everything's set. Grandma."

"Yuri, I don't think Adelante remembers me," Inui gulped looking at his friend's pet.

She looked at them and smirked. "Adelante!!! Don't growl at Sadaharu," Yuri ordered her two-year-old German Shepherd. "You know you could always bite him after he tricked you to drinking one of his juices the last time you met!"

The dog's eyes sparked. Inui got nervous. Adelante was ready to attack the bespectacled boy and it seemed pretty excited too.

"I'm just joking, Adelante," Yuri addressed to her excited dog. Inui sighed in relief. "Do it next time, okay? Where nobody will know," she continued. "Saa, go somewhere you can rest." The dog licked its owner's hand and went off somewhere else in the house.

Yuri took the lead and proceeded to the living room; he just followed. "Adelante got a little bigger, didn't he?" Inui stated lowly.

"Yeah… But why would grandmother let Adelante stay here? Shouldn't he be staying with the 5S? Strange…"

"The 5S? That's your special dog force at your mansion, right?"

"Ah… You see one of the 5S just died and Adelante was chosen to be the replacement. I wonder if this is one of Adelante's training."

"So it seems. But aren't you happy he's here?"

"Of course I am," the lass replied while she placed her things on the sofa. "Now, we must dry up. I think nii-san have some of clothes. Let's go up stairs." She grabbed her friend's hand and pulled him.

The lass took Inui to one of the rooms. "You could stay here. This will be enough for you," Meishiin announced. She opened the closet. "Good thing aniki left some of his clothes here. Just try to fit them…Umm what else… Ah! If you want to take a bath just open that door over there," she pointed at the closed bathroom door across the room.

"Okay," the lad answered as placed his bag on the bed.

"I'll be going now; I need to change too."

"Wait," Inui called out. "Can we play after? For sure, your brother has one of those."

"Play? Those?" Yuri raised a brow and took a few seconds to think about it. "Ah… But nii-san kept them in a safe place—guess I still have to look for them," she sighed.

The lad grinned. This is my second 'yes'.

"So where would you like to play, my dear guest?"

"In a very comfortable place, of course."

"Hai, hai, I'll try to move as fast as I can." Yuri smiled then closed the door.

Who is thinking about bad stuffs, raise your hand. Hehe…

---

It's done! My chapter 11 is finally done! Yehey! And it turned out that this chapter is the longest one that I've made. I hope this chapter is better than the previous one.

What else… Sorry if I have a habit of updating so late. I tried to do my best. Wish someone could help me with this habit of mine.

Whoever's reading this, please, don't forget to submit a review. I need it.

Thanks. That's all.

---

Now… how am I gonna make the next chapter fun?