A/N: So far, this has been the easiest flowing fic that I've been able to write. I would like to thank everyone has reviewed. One note, I'm not apologizing for showing that Yumi has had sex with her husband. It's part of being married. At least I didn't write the actual, pathetic sex scene that I imagined. (There will be no lemons, sorry!) We cannot base the marriages in this story on Sachiko and Suguru. I'm sure that Touko and Yuuki, Yoshino and Rei, and Youko and Sei all have very happy and healthy sex lives. They got lucky and were able to be with the ones they love. Yumi and Sachiko had no such luck. Please enjoy and let me know what you thought if you feel like it. Thanks for reading!

Disclaimer: Konno Oyuki…blah blah blah…I don't own this…blah blah blah…I'm making no money of this story…blah blah blah.

Ten Years Later

Chapter 4: Challenge Accepted

Yumi

For Yumi, the next morning was all about Yuuichi. After coming to terms with losing Sachiko, she poured all her love into her son. Being a somewhat precocious child, Yuuichi felt the disconnect between his parents, but Yumi's love made him secure in knowing that no matter what she would be with him. She and Masamune did want another child, yet it seemed that God had other plans, and they only managed to have Yuuichi. In appearance, he was exactly like his uncle, Yuuki, and his mother with light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had inherited his father's serious nature and intelligence, learning to read before he was four. Yuuichi was devoted to his mother and preternaturally attuned to her.

As per the usual routine, Yumi made breakfast, and was chatting with Yuuichi. Masamune ran into the kitchen, ruffled his son's hair affectionately, kissed Yumi on the cheek, and rushed out the door. As usual, he was running late. He took full advantage of the "PhD 10," the unwritten rule that professors with a PhD get away with being ten minutes late. Yumi, on the other hand, had been given the day off after securing the Haibatsu account. The plan was for the two of them to meet Touko and Yuuki at the zoo. Yumi had noticed that her son was fascinated by animals and she wanted to nuture that interest.

Finally, the time came for mother and son to depart for the outing and not a moment too soon for Yumi because Yuuichi was uncharacteristically bouncing off the wall in excitement. Sighing to herself, Yumi thought, 'Even he has to act like a normal five year old every once in awhile, doesn't he? As she was putting him into his booster seat, her cell phone rang. It was Sachiko. A moment of panic swept her features. She took a deep breath, and answered the phone, "Fukuzawa here. Gokigenyou Sachiko-sama, how may I help you?" It was a safe opening that eased her nerves.

"Yumi-san, I'm so sorry to call again, but Ikegami-sama's funeral has been decided. It will be Saturday, 2 o'clock, in the chapel at Lillian," she paused, taking a cleansing breath. "This may be presumptuous, but could we meet soon so I can explain some things? I know that I have no right to ask this of you, but I want to make this right so that maybe we might become friendly acquaintances again. Truthfully, I really want to be friends again. I know that I hurt you in the worst way possible and that you might never forgive me, but I want to apologize and to tell you why I did what I did."

There was silence on the other end as Yumi processed the myriad, swirling emotions that hit her with the force of semi-truck. After a few moments, she thought, 'It's now or never.' She responded, "How about today? I'm taking my son to the Ueno Zoo. Yuuki and Touko-chan will be there so they can watch Yuuichi while we talk. I would like to be able to clear the air as well so we can move on."

Sachiko's response was immediate, and later Yumi would swear that she heard nothing but pure joy in her former Onee-sama's voice, "Yes! I will be there around 1. I wish that Yumiko would have had the day off from school. You will not be sorry after we've met! See you!"

'Shit,' Yumi groaned inwardly. 'I'm already sorry, but now I'm committed to talk with her.' She breathed a quick prayer, asking Maria-sama for strength, and smiled at Yuuichi, who had missed none of the conversation, in the mirror. "Are you ready, Sweetie?" She asked.

Yuuichi raised his right hand and enthusiastically shouted, "Yes Mommy!" He really did have the ability to chase all of Yumi's gloominess away. If it wasn't for him, she might truly have been lost. She thanked God that He had sent her an angel to replace the one that she lost in high school. "Mommy, will Aunt Touko like the monkeys? I like monkeys. I like monkeys and otters and lions and monkeys and birds and monkeys. Uncle Yuuki told me that he likes monkeys."

'Because he is one,' Yumi thought in a rare moment of sibling rivalry. Chuckling to herself, she answered teasingly, "I'm not sure, Honey. Aunt Touko is more of a lion person." She revved her Camry, causing her son to giggle in delight.

Sachiko

After kissing her daughter on the cheek, Sachiko nodded for the driver to open the limousine door in front of Lillian Elementary. 'She is the only thing that makes my life worth living,' Sachiko thought fondly. As the young girl was exiting the car, Sachiko stopped her, "Have a good day, Yumiko-chan. By the way, would you like to go to the summer house next weekend with me and some of my friends?"

In her usual serious manner, Yumiko replied, "Yes Mother, I would love to go with you. Will Father and his lover be there?"

"How did you know about that?" Sachiko asked gasping in astonishment.

"I saw Father kissing some girly-looking man, so I guessed that they were lovers. Grandfather Tooru has a lover too. I saw him with her when my class was on a field trip," she responded matter of factly.

Sachiko was sick to her stomach. 'Oh my God, what are we doing to her?' After taking a moment to collect herself and to mentally send death rays to her father and husband, she smiled, "No, your Father has a meeting in France with your Great-Grandfather. It will only be women and maybe a little boy. It will be fun. I promise."

Yumiko's eyebrow quirked, "Will your lover be there, Mother?"

"I do not have a lover, Yumiko-chan. I am a respectable married woman," her mother responded with just a hint of sadness.

"Maybe you should get one because I think that you would happier like Father is. Gokigenyou, Mother," Yumiko finished as she shut the door to the limo, leaving her mother gobsmacked.

Sachiko chuckled to herself, "I'll be damned. Out of the mouths of babes comes the truth. If Yumi would forgive me and if we could have a relationship again, I wouldn't need a lover. Yumi is all I need other than My daughter. "

Masamune

'If this didn't get me closer to tenure, there is no way that I'd trudge up this freaking hill just to teach one lousy section," Kobayashi thought angrily. He had been assigned to teach a Statistics class at Hanadera University's sister school, Lillian Women's University. He thought that it was a waste of time because he already had a full teaching load. Unfortunately, he was the most junior professor in the Math faculty, essentially drawing the short straw, so he was spending time every afternoon trudging up this damned hill.

It wasn't as if he really hated teaching Statistics. He loved teaching math, any math, as much as he loved his wife. It was just that Masamune felt the injustice of having to work harder for a lower salary than the other professors. To be honest, he enjoyed the feminine charm of Lillian U. What straight man wouldn't? As he walked to the classroom, he imagined Yumi as one of the laughing happy coeds. A contented smile spread on his face at the thought. Suddenly, his progress and his reverie were stopped and he noticed a pretty young woman sitting on her rump with her legs spread slightly, her rising skirt exposing her underwear.

"Ouch, that hurts," she complained struggling to her feet.

Masamune blushed, remembering the glimpse of the young woman's panties. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay," the girl said with an embarrassed smile. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Neither was I," the young professor admitted. The girl was about Yumi's height with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. Kobayashi found himself staring at her chest, which was much larger than his wife's.

The student smiled, "Well, Kobayashi-hakase*, I guess we're even then, aren't we? My name is Komura Michie, and I'm in your Stats class. I've always wanted to talk to you, but I never thought that I'd literally run into you!" They both laughed.

"Well, Komura-san, we had better get going or we'll both be late." He was dazzled by her bright smile, thinking, 'My God she is cute!' He suddenly shook his head and mentally slapped himself, 'Ya ya ya ya! I'm a married man. I'm a married man. She's only my precious student. I cannot look at her in such an unseemly manner. I only am interested in my Yumi.'

Michie noticed his struggle, and decided to bail him out, this time. "Well, Sensei, you are married to Fukuzawa Yumi, right?" He nodded and she continued, "My older sister really thought that your wife was an incredible girl when they went to high school together. Nee-chan said that Yumi-sama was Lillian's second angel along with Todou Shimako-sama. I almost think that she had a crush on your wife because talked about her constantly. My sister was extremely jealous of Yumi-sama's soeur, Ogasawara Sachiko. It is strange that she said that Yumi-sama's luster dimmed just before they started their senior year. I wonder why? I wonder if it had something to do with Sachiko-sama marrying Kashiwagi-san."

His memories, stirred of that time when Yumi was almost lost forever, caused Kobayashi to not hear the barbs in his student's voice. It was so hard to see such a vibrant and joyful girl in the depths to which the former Rosa Chinesis had fallen.

Flashback

A week after Yumi got out of the hospital and returned to school, the telephone rang, "Fukuzawa residence," Yuuki answered.

"Yuukichi, it is Kobayashi. Please meet me at the café next to Lillian," Masamune requested with panic in his voice. "I'm with your older sister. She almost walked in front of a train!"

Yuuki ran his hands through his hair, "Shit! I'll be right there. Please don't let her out of your sight! Thank you for calling." To his mother, he yelled, "Mom, I need to go get Nee-san. She tried to kill herself again. Fortunately, a classmate of mine stopped her."

Miki sighed heavily and asked, "Do you need me to drive you there? We can call Dr, Kimura, her psychiatrist, on the way."

"No Mom, I can manage. Kobayashi-kun is there with her," he answered. "We can both walk her home. Go ahead and call the doctor though. She's not getting better." Yuuki sprinted to the bus stop, making it to the café in record time. Upon arriving, he saw Yumi was sitting at the table, dead-eyed, pretending to listen to Masamune chatter about a funny show that he thought would cheer her up.

Kobayashi noticed him, "Oi Yuukichi, we're over here!" To Yumi, "Yumi-san, Yuuki is here to take you home." In her own world, she ignored him.

As he carried his catatonic older sister on his back, Yuuki asked quietly, "What the fuck happened?"

His friend was shocked by the profanity and replied, "I noticed your sister at the gate of Lillian as I was walking by on an errand for Takanashi-sensei, the math teacher. She was in a daze like she is now. She started walking toward the train station instead of the bus stop and it piqued my curiosity, so I followed her," he paused and took a breath. "She was walking like a ragdoll, moving like someone was working her arms and legs. I thought, 'This isn't good,' considering the other attempts at suicide. Unfortunately, I was right. She turned from the station and went toward the crossing just as the 3:20 was approaching the intersection. She walked past the safety gates just they came down. I managed to pull her off the track before train came by. She collapsed in my arms like she had been sleeping. I managed to get her to café so I sit and calm myself before I called you. It was a close thing there, Fukuzawa," he finished.

"God damn Ogasawara Sachiko for what she's done to my sister!" Yuuki yelled angrily. "There had better be a damn good reason that she dumped Yumi or I will never fucking forgive her! She was my sister's whole life. She breaks up with her and we have to pick up the pieces."

Yumi stirred, "Yuu-chan, why are carrying me? Yumi's a big girl. She can walk by herself, silly. Yumi is the big sister and Yuu-chan is the little brother. Don't forget," she said before passing out again.

Tears started falling from the eyes of the Hanadera President. Seeing that his friend was confused, Yuuki explained, "My sister hasn't talked that or called me Yuu-chan since we were in elementary school. The damage is worse. Ne, Masamune, could you let the teachers know that I won't be at school tomorrow please? I need to care for my sister."

Kobayashi nodded in awe of the devotion that he saw in Yuuki's eyes, and he decided that he wanted to take care of Yumi himself. 'I will be the one that brings back her smile and I will protect her heart!'

End Flashback

Masamune smiled gently at his cheerful young student, thinking, 'She's a lot like Yumi was before this crap with the Ogasawara bitch, so bright and expressive. I wish that I could help her be like that again.'

Seeing how her professor was looking at her made Michie's heart beat harder than it was before she decided to bump into him. He had caught her eye because early in the term she had seen the signs of him being someone in a one-way relationship. She had become an expert through her own painful experience with an ex-boyfriend. Michie thought Kobayashi-hakase was extremely cute in his own nerdy way. In class, she would catch herself looking at his lips as he taught, wondering what it would be like to kissed by him, and then she would get angry at herself for thinking this way about a married man and angry at his wife for not making him happier. 'If she wants to continue to moon over her high school girlfriend and neglect her husband, then I'll take him.'

As the two, teacher and student entered into the classroom, both were determined. One was determined to make his marriage work. The other was determined to destroy it. Both thought, 'Challenge accepted.'

A/N: Sorry about the delay. This was a complicated chapter. I wanted to show both heroines in their role as mothers, Yumi's final suicide attempt, and to introduce Michie. I hope that I didn't make Michie a bitch. She is going to be a fun OC. I hope that you all enjoyed and felt that it was worth the wait.

One last side note, last Friday, I watched the reports from Newtown, CT in horror at the scenes of violence and sadness. I am a parent myself and the thought of a madman targeting such innocent young victims broke my heart and filled me with rage. I hope that everyone treasures their families more this holiday season and give thanks to whatever higher power you believe in that you still have them. There are 27 families in a small Connecticut town that wishes that they had that chance.

*Hakase = Professor with a PhD