AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Here's the edited Chapter 4 of She is my Master. I apologize for the delay. CHAPTER FIVE will be released this week.

CHAPTER FOUR

Sachiko: "the presumptuous rude fox"

I was stomping my feet around the family's garden. It started with a simple trot to the left then to the right. But as time flew by, I started to pace back and forth, fuming about what had happened back at the Dining Room during breakfast. I sighed as I massaged one of my temples.

Just thinking about it… Wait a minute? 'This isn't right. I should not have acted like a brash kid back there.' I sighed once again and said "This really is not right."

"What is?" I heard someone say. I turned and saw Yumi, standing not too far from me.

"Nothing," Once again, irritation was getting ahead of me.

"Milady, do I make you feel uncomfortable?" Yumi asked.

The question made all of my attention turn to a maximum level. I never even expected Yumi to ask such question in the first place. Now, I felt uncomfortable due to the 'simple' question and I wanted to answer 'yes, you do make me feel uncomfortable, can you not see?' But, no, I couldn't frankly say it to Yumi. It will only make me look like an easily annoyed child.

I remained silent for awhile, thinking for the right words to say. But my thoughts were stopped when I heard Yumi say "The question is only answerable by a 'yes' or a 'no', Milady." She said with an all-knowing smile on her lips that looked like a smirk for me.

"Are you playing with me, Yumi?" I asked. And from the tone of my voice, I wanted to show Yumi whose boss.

"Please don't answer me with another question, Milady." Yumi answered.

'!' That definitely hit a nerve. If this was softball… that was probably 'strike one'. Unfortunately, I, Ogasawara Sachiko, the ever-so prim and proper princess who does not like to lose, gave an unimaginable retort.

"How dare you say that to me?-!"

I blew up to the point that my voice raised to a certain level; my cheeks were tinted pink due to anger while my fist turned pale due to the pressure.

"Do you feel relieved now?" I heard Yumi ask.

"Excuse me?-!"

I looked at the girl before me incredulously. All I could think of… Yumi was not making any sense and that Yumi was just really trying to get to my bad side. The latter was a mystery since it will only cause Yumi to lose her job in the first place.

"I asked if Milady feels any sort of relief." Yumi simply said.

After hearing what Yumi had said, I couldn't help but to blink. Not just once but three times. Still, I couldn't figure out the girl before me. And it made me irked whenever I feel that the younger girl can read me like an open book… like the way Onee-sama has always been able to do.

"…" Slowly I breathe in then breathe out. Next, I opened both of my palms which, surprisingly, felt relieved from the pressure.

'Did she actually make me angry just to make me feel relieved at the end of it all?' I wondered as I stared at my opened hands. I wanted to say something or anything just to make myself sure that my voice was still there deep inside my throat. And so, the first thing I did was, I looked back at Yumi. Unfortunately the said brunette was nowhere to be found.

I looked from left to right, anywhere as far my eyes and feet could reach. I did manage to see Yumi though, she was not alone. She was talking to a maid whom I had no idea what the maid's name was. I decided to walk up to them.

The maid was the first to take notice of my presence. "Good morning, Ojou-sama." The maid greeted with a bow.

"Good morning…"

Yumi, on the other hand, acted like I was not there. She continued to talk to the maid as if I was not really there. "As I was saying, you should watch where you're walking, Ms. Saki." I heard Yumi say.

"R-right…" The maid, who I now know as Kijima Saki (3), sweat-dropped from the way Yumi talked enthusiastically.

They were only talking about taking precautions from falling or tripping and the like. Since, moments ago Saki accidentally stepped on the hem of her maid uniform which caused her to trip while Yumi, who saw everything from afar, helped Saki to stand up before handing the woman's eyeglasses.

Noticing that one of the hinges was slightly loose, Yumi reached for the eyeglasses and, said in a low voice that it almost sounded sultry. "Oh my…" Yumi paused then continued.

"…Looks like your glasses got damaged when you accidentally tripped."

After hearing this, Saki was close to fainting. I know this; it was obvious. The maid was flustered and was blushing like a ripe tomato. And at the same time, I felt annoyed, irritated, shocked, and speechless or maybe a mixture of all. Oh… how I wanted to hit Yumi so bad just to make her stop from talking.

'Just where does she get all that air of confidence from?' I thought as I decided to watch from the sideline for awhile.

"Would you like me to fix it for you?" Yumi offered. But Saki declined with just a shook of the head as if she was trying to get away.

"Are you sure?" Yumi asked which earned her a nod from the still flustered maid.

"Ms. Saki, let me give you a friendly advice… falling from the ground is good, but falling from the stairs is bad. Remember that, okay?" Yumi said with a smile, trying to cheer up Saki with her 'friendly advice'.

"I'll remember that Yumi-san." Saki replied with a giggle. She excused herself to both Sachiko and Yumi and started to head towards the Mansion since lunch was almost there. "Please excuse me, Ojou-sama, Yumi-san." She said.

Both Yumi and I watched Saki slowly disappear from their sight. Once she was gone, I pinched both Yumi's cheeks and said "You… If you want to say something to me, say it clearly." I let Yumi go; then, I looked at the younger girl, whose big eyes looked somewhat serious and teary while her face was red probably due to anger or the way I pinched both of her cheeks.

"What?" I asked.

"Honestly…" was all Yumi could say as she turned and sat at one of the benches outside the Garden.

"It wasn't my intention to pinch you that hard." I said as I sat next to Yumi. The girl next to me, on the other hand, didn't even give a simple reply. 'Is she ignoring me?' But instead of asking, I said "D-does it still hurt?"

Still, no reply…

"Does it hurt that much that you cannot even open your mouth to talk?"

I turned to the person seated next to me and to my surprise; Yumi was actually sleeping with her head rested, sideways, on top of one of the arm-rails of the bench.

For a moment, I could only stare at the sight being laid down before me. With the blissful and contented look on Yumi's face, I couldn't even wake the said girl, and it only made me sigh.

'It's unseemly to leave someone who is sleeping defenselessly even if that someone is unbelievably rude…and cute…'

I immediately stood from my seat. I couldn't believe the words that passed through my head. I paused and contemplated for awhile. I briefly shook my head, thinking… 'I shouldn't be doing this. I'm starting to act like Sei-sama.' And with a last look, I sat back at the bench. But something caught my attention. It was a scent of 'strawberries' which filled my nostrils with so much fervor to the point that it was starting to get addictive. I had to know where this scent came from and was surprised that it was just sleeping next to me. Slowly and carefully, I moved close just to check if my presumptions were correct.

"Strawberries…" I said; almost a little too loudly.

My thoughts were put to an immediate stop when I heard someone say "Yes, it's strawberry-scented bath foam and shampoo."

I know I was caught red handed and all I could do was to glare at the full-awake and stretching Yumi next to me. "You…" I started to fume from my seat.

'Strike Two'

"What?-!" Yumi asked. She looked dumfounded probably guessing as to why I was in a bad mood again.

'Is she an idiot, I wonder?' I noticed she was starting to head back to the Mansion. And so, I asked "Where do you think you're going?" I didn't get any response from the girl. It was only then that I realized that Yumi was listening to a portable music player. I tried to get Yumi's attention once again by taking one the earphones placed at Yumi's ears.

And thus, 'Sachiko's-first-try-to-take-one-of-Yumi's-earphones', commenced. I reached the left side from behind and, surprisingly, Yumi dodged to the right. Second try… I reached the right side from behind and, surprisingly again, Yumi dodged to the left. Third try… I tried the right side again hoping that Yumi will think that she will try the opposite direction. But, instead of going to the predicted direction, Yumi crouched down.

'How does she keep on doing that?' I stopped when I saw my Mother walked up towards our direction.

"My… you both look like you're having fun." Mother said with a smile on her face. Obviously, she saw what I was doing and I could only roll my eyes at the statement. I wouldn't say fun… it was more like annoying, dreadful, irritating, and downright exhausting.

"Come now, lunch is ready." I heard my Mother say before walking back to the Mansion. Yumi and I only complied and followed back.

By the time we arrived at the Dining Room, lunch was already set. "Well then, shall we?" Mother said as she sat at the same chair she sat during breakfast while I did just the same and sat next to her. Yumi, on the other hand, remained standing from her position.

"Yumi, come… join us." Mother said.

"But -" Yumi started to refuse again just like back at breakfast where she looked so helpless against my ever so forward mother.

I sighed as I continued to watch their little charade. But for every unnerving second, I wasn't able to take it anymore. "Haven't you learned that the more you refuse her, the more she'll spoil you? If you're going to refuse… then say it like you mean it!" I said, more like snapped at Yumi. This caused everyone's attention to turn towards me. It couldn't be helped this was probably one of the first that I openly snapped in front of a guest… if you consider Yumi as a guest.

And so, Yumi did join us for lunch. We started to eat and talk about small things just to lighten up the atmosphere once. But, mostly, it was Mother and Yumi who were talking though.

"So, Yumi-chan, have you finally decided?" I heard my mother say. On my part, I didn't have any clue about what they were talking about. I just kept silent and pretended not to listen on the matter.

"Lady Sayako, I think it's too sudden for me to give my answer… you've just asked me about it last night, remember?" Yumi said. She looked like she was trying to protest… or, at least that's what it looked like. And when I saw her looking at me, I sighed. 'She's helpless…' That's what I thought to myself.

"I-I guess… it couldn't be helped then…" Yumi said with a sound of defeat.

"YES" exclaimed Mother. She promptly stood up from her seat and hugged Yumi; at the same time, making me even more curious as to what was happening. That was when I decided to make my presence known to both women in the room.

"Excuse me… I don't mean to ruin your celebration. But, what exactly is going on here?" I asked with a voice so stern that I hoped they'll realize just how serious I was.

"Oh! Ah, that's right. I was not able to tell you that I asked Yumi-chan to live with us. Of course, it will be during her stay here in Japan." Mother said.

'Did I hear it right?' I know Mother loves to pull a joke or even sometimes tease me to the point where I found myself getting incredibly annoyed. But this looked and sounded different… it seemed real… annoyingly real.

Once again, I snapped and throw all of my frustrations towards the younger girl before me. "You…" With a glare, I pointed at Yumi and yelled on a level that I didn't know that I could even reach.

"You simply agreed to her just like that?"

"What am I supposed to do?" She replied in an equal level of voice like mine.

But before I could even answer back, Mother interrupted us. "Now, now, now, both of you, before anyone of you start, let me tell you this…" She turned her attention to me, "I asked Yumi to stay with us because… she lives here in Japan on her own without any relatives and to think that she's just fifteen years old." She said.

"Fine, I understand." I said.

"Now then, that's settled…" This time I saw Mother turn to Yumi with a hint of mischievousness in her eyes and said "Shall we head to your new room, Yumi-chan?" There was a sly grin curved up on Mother's lips and I could tell that Mother was up to something. Unfortunately for Yumi, she couldn't even refuse since Mother took Yumi's arm and led the said girl near the entrance of the Dining Room. "Come with us as well, Sa-chan." Mother said.

I, on the other hand, could only sigh. I wanted to say… I have important things to do. But instead of declining, I stood up and followed my Mother. Moments later… it only occurred to me that we were walking towards my side of the mansion. This… this couldn't possibly mean?

"This will be your room, Yumi-chan!" I heard my Mother said in excitement while I could only gawk. I know it wasn't proper to do such thing, but how can I possibly not when "the presumptuous rude fox" is just a room away from me.

CHAPTER FOUR

CAMEO/S:

(3) Kijima Saki – from the anime and manga series "Hayate, the Combat butler"; she's Tachibana Wataru's maid in the series

TRIVIA/S:

n/a

REFERENCE/S:

n/a

DISCLAIMER:

"Maria-sama ga miteru is not mine."