A/N: Guess who's back? Shimako and Yumi, that's who. I'm going to try to hammer this out before my brain fries. I hope that you all like it. Read, enjoy, maybe a leave review. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I'm broke. These characters aren't mine. I actually have a job and I have no expectation of profit from it or from this story.

Ten Years Later

Chapter 22: Gomenasai

Yumi

(From last chapter) Yumi made a quick call to determine Shimako's mood and to enjoy the last few moments of having her as her lover. 'There's nothing for it, let's get this over,' she thought with a sigh as she arrived home. She opened the door to see her girlfriend sitting at the table, "Shimako, I am so glad to see you. I missed you."

Walking over to the former Angel of Lillian, Yumi drew her into a hug. Shimako was stiff at first, but she soon relaxed into the embrace. As Yumi lifted her girlfriend's chin to kiss her, she saw that Shimako was crying. The young architect's breath got caught in her throat. 'Oh shit, she knows. What am I going to do?' Yumi did her best to hide her internal panic, but the pain radiating from her partner was palpable.

"Yumi, what happened last night?" Shimako asked.

"The gala? It was boring. Someone came that I did not wish see so I drank until I did not see them anymore," Yumi hoped that would be the end of the conversation, but from the look on Shimako's face, it was obvious that it would not be that easy.

Shimako grabbed Yumi's hands and looked straight into the brown eyes that she loved so much, "Did ANYTHING else happen?"

At a loss, Yumi looked off to the side, guilty. "I don't remember much after the first seven or eight drinks."

"Don't you dare lie to me, Yumi," Shimako yelled. "One, I saw the pictures on the Yomiuri website. Two, I know that Sachiko-sama was there. She was the one that you did not want to see, right? Three, I know that you get horny when you are drunk, so don't bullshit me. Noriko did this to me. She fudged the truth. She wouldn't talk to me, so I was a nervous wreck all the time. I need to know that I can trust you, Yumi."

The architect wilted and started to cry in earnest, "Shimako, I am scared that if I tell you everything that I will lose you, and I don't want that. I love you, and you are the one that I want to be with."

"What do you remember because you already admitted to being pass-out drunk," Shimako asked in a quavering voice.

Yumi continued to cry, feeling that it was over, "I woke up in bed with Ogasawara-sama. I was naked. I could tell that we had had sex. She was so happy and I wanted to vomit. I still feel nauseous that I had been touched by her intimately. I screamed at her and I left. If you want to leave me now over this, I will understand. But I don't want that; I want to make this right, Shimako. I could make the excuse that I was piss drunk, and I didn't know what I was doing." She took a breath, regarding the other woman before continuing. "Although true, I put myself into that situation by drinking and letting my guard down. I am responsible for that look that you have on your face right now. Yes, I was angry at your insecurity. Yes, I was angry at being tricked by Sachiko-sama. That does not excuse the fact that I betrayed your trust and I am more sorry than I have ever been in my life. I am more ashamed of myself than I have ever been in my life. I am sorry that I hurt you." Yumi bowed her head, whispering "Gomenasai" repeatedly.

Shimako stared at her hands until she sighed, arriving at a decision. "I think that I will go home tonight. Thank you for being honest with me, Yumi. I don't like how I feel right now. I want to slap you and then fuck your brains out to sanitize you from her contamination, but at the same time, I feel sick just looking at you. Maybe this relationship was a mistake. I need to take some time to think." The teacher gathered her purse, and turned to leave.

"Shimako, please don't go. I'm sorry. Please forgive me," Yumi grabbed her jacket sleeve desperately.

"Yumi, if you do not let go of me, I will break up with you right now. At this moment, I am still thinking about forgiving you. I need you to let me go so I can think this through. I know that you were not in control of your actions, but I also know that Sachiko-sama will never give up now. I am wondering if you are worth the trouble of fighting with her." No sooner had those left her mouth than Shimako felt regret and panic because Yumi's eyes had dimmed and she collapsed onto the floor.

The young mother pushed herself back up to her feet, "Don't worry. I am not suicidal. I have my son to live for. If we are done, I will not blame you for it and I will hurt for a long time, but Yuuichi needs me. I don't want this to be the end. I do love you. I screwed up and I cannot apologize enough. If you want to see me, I will be here. I am just a text or call away."

"I know, Yumi. I wish that I could just forget what happened and just go on as before, but this is something that I have been through before. I need to decide if I can trust you again," Shimako replied softly. She opened the door and exited, leaving Yumi to cry brokenly.

Touko

The young doctor awoke next to husband with the feeling that today was going to be awful. She tried to dismiss the feeling by cuddling with Yuuki and trying, in her shy way, to initiate intimacy. Even with their hectic schedules, she was quite content with the physical part of their relationship. Whether it was quick kisses at the nurses' station, holding hands while walking home, or making love, she relished the closeness that she experienced with him. He was not perfect, he certainly had his stubborn moments, but every morning Touko thanked God and Maria-sama for bringing Yuuki into her life through her Oneesama.

The pleasant thoughts of her lover were disturbed by memories of yesterday's conversation with his older sister. Oneesama had made a horrible mistake Friday night and it looked like her budding relationship with Shimako-sama would not survive it. "Why did it have to be Sachiko-Oneesama?" She asked half aloud.

Her husband stirred, "What about Ogasawara-san, Touko? Did she do something to my sister again?"

Inwardly panicking, Touko thought, 'She certainly did her.' Not wanting to betray her Oneesama's confidence, she shook her head, "No Love, Oneesama got a project that happened to be a part of the Ogasawara conglomerate that Sachiko-Oneesama was overseeing. Oneesama wasn't happy about it." A half-truth, but the young doctor hoped that the explanation would mollify Yuuki.

"Oh, what that woman won't do to worm her way back into Yumi's heart," he growled. "Why can't she be content with her husband and leave my Nee-san alone."

Happy that he bought her story, Touko relaxed slightly, "Well, Suguru-nii-san is gay so even if Sachiko-Oneesama was interested in having a proper marriage with him, he wouldn't be interested. He's in a relationship with the Arisugawa heir and has been since before he and Sachiko-Oneesama were forced to get married."

"Wait, Alice-kun and Kashiwagi-sempai?" Yuuki asked with some shock. "I never thought that Alice's wanting to be a girl meant that he was gay. I just thought that it was his form of chunibyou (8th grader's syndrome, look it up. It's amusing)"

"Sometimes your being dense annoys the hell out of me, but in this case, it's cute," chuckled Touko before kissing her bewildered husband. 'Thank Maria-sama that he is so dense or else he would push about things that I cannot tell him. He is a lovable goof, but he's my lovable goof.' With that thought in mind, the young wife smirked and began to stroke Yuuki's chest, a long-established symbol between them that she was feeling amorous. "Ne, Yuu-kun, I don't have rounds until this afternoon, why don't we spend the morning in bed?"

This time, Yuuki wasn't dense, replying, "That sounds like a wonderful idea." He gathered his bride in his arms and began to show her how much he loved her. Later, the two young doctors arrived at the Matsudaira Hospital with smiles that not even watching the end of Your Lie in April could remove.

Shimako

Arriving back at her apartment, Shimako took inventory of her life. On the minus side, Yumi had slept with Sachiko-sama. On the plus side, Yumi had been honestly and desperately repentant. The kindergarten teacher was confident that Yumi had learned her lesson and that she would not leave herself in such a vulnerable position again. However, on the minus side, she could not see Sachiko-sama giving up now or ever. Making love to Yumi was as addicting as any drug. There was just something about her that made her irresistible. 'If we weren't together, and she was so inclined, she could have women by dozens chasing her,' Shimako thought.

On the plus side, Yumi was willing to be open with her, something that Noriko was not. Shimako believed that her girlfriend was not sneaky by nature like her ex-girlfriend could be. 'Yumi is a good person. She made a mistake, and she was sorry enough that I can trust that she won't do it again. So why can't I just forgive her and resume our relationship?'

The tears began rolling down her perfectly-shaped cheeks. 'Why? She was crying and begging. Why am I making this harder than it needs to be?' The questions came rapidly as the honey-haired woman continued to cry. The dull ache in her chest became sharper the longer that she cried. She could not understand why it hurt so much. It wasn't like Yumi deliberately or consciously cheated on her. Shimako felt lost, and taking her phone from pocket, she called her Oneesama.

The phone rang twice before the older woman answered. Shimako's heart lifted when she heard Sei's greeting, "Hey Shi-chan, to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice?"

Not wanting to do this over the phone, the younger woman asked, "Are you free right now, Oneesama? I need to talk to you and I want to meet to do it."

Sei could hear the tears in her petite soeur's voice. She sighed, "I am packing to go to London tomorrow. Would you like to come over to our place? You-chan will be in court all day."

"I could be there in an hour," Shimako answered.

"Nah, take a cab," the writer disagreed. "I will pay for it. After my last book, I have more money than I can spend. Besides, it sounds urgent. Don't try to argue with me about this, just do as your Oneesama commands."

Feeling a little better, Shimako relaxed the stubborn set of her jaw. "Okay Oneesama, I will call a cab."

Twenty minutes later, she arrived and after Sei sat her down with a cup of her favorite Earl Grey tea; Shimako took a deep breath and began to tell her Oneesama what had happened.

"Let me get this straight," Sei started. "Yumi went to this gala put on by the city of Sendai to thank her for doing such a good job on a project. She didn't know that Sachiko was going to be there, and after she got over being surprised, she got angry drunk. Am I right so far?" Not trusting her voice at this point, Shimako merely nodded. Sei sighed again, "And our little Yumi-chan gets sexually aggressive when she's drunk? That's information to store away for a later time."

Shimako looked at the older woman in shock, and then she saw the smirk. "You suck, Oneesama."

"What has Youko been telling you? I'm very good," the flirt retorted. Seeing that her petite soeur had calmed down, she continued in a more serious manner, "I can see where you would be hurt, especially after all the shit that Noriko put you through, but Yumi-chan is not Noriko. She probably hates herself so much right now that nothing you could do would make her feel any worse. It's a good sign that she is so sick about this. If she was matter of fact about it, then you should break up with her quickly. She is just as hurt as you are about this, probably more because she knows that it was the very thing that you were worried about."

Shimako was surprised, "How do you know about that, Oneesama?"

"Yumi-chan called me on Wednesday to ask how to get you to trust her when she said that she wasn't interested in other women. Your insecurities were pushing her to her limit. Do you realize how close she was to breaking up with you?"

The younger woman got angry, "So this was my fault? She screwed Sachiko-sama, and you are saying it was my fault?!" Her normal ivory complexion was now mottled with rage.

Sei held up her hands, "No one said that, Shi-chan. The fight that you had before she left had her on the edge, and Sachiko showing up pushed her over that edge. Did Yumi-chan have sex with Sachiko directly because of you? No, but I can imagine that she was in shitty mood and seeing her ex put the first of what became many drinks in her hand."

"I can see that," Shimako nodded, less angry. "Is it because I am mad at myself that I can't forgive her?"

"Probably, I mean, do you see that Yumi betrayed you by screwing Sachiko or by getting that drunk and leaving herself in a position that anyone, including her ex-husband could have taken advantage of her?" Sei asked with her eyebrows cocked.

Shimako thought for a moment. "It's most likely the latter. I love her more than I should at this point in our relationship. What infuriates me is that that woman put her hands on what is mine. She touched my girlfriend. I cannot forgive her for that. I just don't understand why I cannot forgive Yumi."

"Forgive yourself first, my young apprentice, and then you will be able to forgive your lover," Sei said with mock seriousness, causing them both to laugh. "The ball is in your court, Shimako. I know Yumi-chan well enough to know that she will wait to decide what to do until you have made your decision. That girl loves you, Shimako."

"I know. I just need to make sure that I am up for fighting Sachiko-sama off until she finally gives up. I am not sure that I have the energy and I want to deal with the stress."

Sei patted her friend on the shoulder, "No matter what you decide, we are here for both of you. We love you and Yumi-chan, and we all want to see you happy even if you aren't together anymore. By the way, just how good is Yumi-chan in the sack?"

"Oneesama, you are impossible," Shimako laughed. "Thank you for cheering me up. Could you call Yumi and cheer her up? She could use it."

The flirt nodded, "Consider it done."

Sachiko

This had to be the most confusing week of the heiress' life. She had finally made love to the woman of her dreams, but Yumi was so angry afterwards. When she told her cousin about it, he wasn't as happy as she thought that he would be. 'I don't understand. What I shared with my Yumi was so perfect and so beautiful, why does she not feel that way? My heart was so full that it was going to burst with joy. She is the person that I was fated to love and to be with for life. Why can't she see that?'

"Ogasawara-sama, we have arrived at the office," said Takeda, interrupting her reverie. Takeda was the substitute driver that she used when Harada had a day off.

She favored him with an undeserved dirty look before her face returned to her default noble mask, "Thank you, Takeda-san. Please be back at five sharp this evening and please do not forget to pick up my daughter from school at three."

"Yes, Ogasawara-sama," he answered as her shut her limousine door. 'If the pay wasn't so good, I wouldn't put up with this rich bitch,' he thought rebelliously.

Noticing this, Sachiko smoothly said, "You can resign at any time, Takeda-san. In fact, I would like your resignation on Himeno-san's desk before you leave this evening. If you do not complete your tasks for today, you will not be paid for today. You might want to school your facial expressions better in your next position. If your employers see that you are thinking negatively of them, they will become former employers as I have. Gokigenyou." With that, she turned and walked away as the now former substitute limousine driver was left gulping like a fish brought out of the water.

As the raven-haired mother walked to her office there was a spring to her step that had not been there before. She had been feeling upset with the whole situation with Yumi, but firing someone actually made her feel better. 'I hope that I am not turning into Grandfather,' she thought with a sigh. "Still, he deserved it for his disrespect."

"Who deserved it, Sa-chan," came the friendly, yet mocking voice of Suguru." She was somewhat happy to see him. They had a lot to do today, and not having to chase him around to get things done improved her outlook for the day.

"Oh, I fired my substitute driver because he was being insolent," she replied.

Her cousin chuckled, "How many substitutes have you fired now? Four or five? Poor Harada, at this rate, he will never get a day off!"

It took every bit of control that Sachiko had to not stick her tongue out at her daughter's co-parent. "I will find someone who suits me as well as Harada-san does. He deserves his days off, and I will see to it that he gets them."

"Okay, Sa-chan," the playboy responded, still snickering. "I believe you. We need to get down to business. Yumi-chan's Tenmei project is ahead of schedule. I don't know how that girl does it, but she is getting quite an impressive reputation for designing high-quality buildings and completing them under budget and on time. She is amazing. I want to bring her on full-time as our in-house architect."

"You know that she won't accept. She's dreamed of taking over her father's firm since before we were in high school," contradicted Sachiko. "As much as I would love to see her every day, it's impossible."

Suguru regarded his cousin. He liked the glow that she had acquired in Sendai, but he knew that unless Toudou-chan broke up with Yumi-chan over that night, it would devastate Sachiko. He wanted her happy, but he was becoming less sure that her happiness would come from Yumi. "Ne, Sa-chan, do you really feel that you and Yumi-chan have a future together?" He asked worriedly.

Her sapphire eyes flashed with disapproval, and she answered him tartly, "Of course I do. We are destined to be together. Whether it is today, tomorrow, or ten years from now, we will eventually have the life that we promised each other at Lillian. I swear by Maria-sama herself that This. Will. Happen."

Suguru shook his head, and murmured, "I hope so, Sa-chan. I really hope so."

A/N: There it is. Thank you all for reading and special thanks to those who continue to stick with me. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel for the ladies. I even know now who will wind up with Yumi. I'm not saying yet, so stay tuned. I hope that you all enjoy, and maybe leave a review. I will see all of you lovely people again, next time.