Eight

It was Thursday afternoon, school was over and everyone was hurrying to go back to the Strawberry Dorm and hang out with their friends. They had all been a victim to Chikaru's and Sei's game. They were still a little embarrassed about it, but they were happy that they had come to a small contact of offering Chikaru and Sei their services. In return, they received Chikaru's smiles and a little bit of Sei's time. Youko was watching the event unfold and she could tell that even though she didn't like how Sei was giving all the girls her attention, she couldn't complain about it when her friend and secret crush was having fun. To call it a crush was underrating it. She had fallen in love with the blonde and she didn't know when, although she knew the reason why she did. She held her feelings in as she continued to give her friend the support and love that was needed from her. And even though she wanted to give more, she knew that she was pushing her luck.

It had started raining when she had reached the ground level of St Miator. She had forgotten her umbrella in her room and she clearly didn't want to walk in the rain. She didn't want to get soaked in general. She sighed and looked out at the gloomy sky. The sky wasn't going to stop any time soon and it would look like she would have to run in the rain. As she was about to move forward into the rain, a dark blue umbrella had hovered above her head, surprising her. She turned to the hand that was holding it out and smiled softly when she noticed who it was.

"Thank you, Miyuki-san. You've saved me."

The said girl just smiled at her, glad to help a friend out and, of course, a Miator's student out. There was something behind Youko that she was interested to find out. Even though she wasn't a meddler like Youko in which she had learned just by observing her, she found herself wanting to know all the things about her. Youko's interest in St Miator's Student Council was one of the excuses for her to get to know the other girl more. What she didn't know was the fact that her curiosity had led her to have some kind of feelings for the other girl. Maybe it was because she always held her feelings as if they were non-existence to her.

"It's not a problem, Youko-san. It is one of my duties as a Student Council President after all." She replied softly.

The two girls moved out from the shelter of St Miator's Academy and into the pouring rain. The umbrella was the only thing that was keeping them from getting wet, and it was the only thing that was pushing them together because of its medium size. The umbrella wasn't too big nor it was too small, it was just the right size for two people to share under it. Since they were mature about such little things, they didn't mind that their shoulders were slightly touching. Youko's mind began to drift to Sei once more while Miyuki's mind was on Youko and her mysterious demeanor. They were walking in a comfortable silence and neither of them would want to break it. However, due to Miyuki's curiosity and concern, she wanted to know that the Red Rose family was happy with their stay here so far.

"Excuse me, Youk-san, I'm concern about your hospitality here at Astrea Hill." Miyuki softly said that had interrupted Youko's trail of thoughts. The latter didn't mind about it. In fact, she was glad that Miyuki had interrupted her because she didn't know when she would stop thinking about Sei. Having Sei as her roommate was a tad too much but she wasn't complaining about it either.

Youko turned and offered Miyuki a smile of gratitude. "Thank you, Miyuki-san, you are most kind." At the praise Miyuki couldn't help but blush, much to the other girl's delight. "The Yumayurikai and I are enjoying our stay here. And, as you can see, my roommate is enjoying it immensely." At the mention of Sei she let out a small sigh with a shake of her head. "I apologize if she has caused any trouble within this week."

Miyuki let out a soft giggle. "It's alright. The Strawberry Dorm is lively but it has never been this lively. I really do hope that Sister Hamasaka isn't happy about it."

Youko suppressed her shudder at the mention of the Head Sister of St Miator. She had met the woman whom was in charge of the well-being of the Dorm. She hadn't done anything wrong though but it was still somewhat of a scary introduction. The whole Yumayurikai members had to meet her. Between Sachiko and Sister Hamasaka, the latter was much scarier once provoke.

"Oh, I do hope so." Youko replied with a nervous chuckle. She was sure as anything that she would not want to be on the receiving end of Sister Hamasaka's anger.

It was that moment that she saw a glimpse of Lulim's checkered uniform along with the shoulder-length blonde hair that she wouldn't have mistaken for anybody. It was no other than Satou Sei, and she wasn't sure what the blonde was up to. If she had an umbrella of her own, she would have followed the girl. Since she didn't, she would have to hold back her curiosity behind Sei's presence near St Miator's Academy until they could meet up together again after dinner. While she was staring at the spot that Sei had disappeared into, she didn't notice Miyuki was looking at her. The latter girl was trying to figure out what it was that had caught Youko's eyes to go from delighted to curiosity with a tint of sadness in them. She had studied and observed Shizuma for far too long that she knew exactly what the other girl's eyes were portraying. And even though she wanted to voice out her concern about Youko's sudden change of expression, she didn't want to intrude and be called nosy.

-x-

Sei was hurrying towards the St Miator's Academy since she knew that Youko had forgotten to take her umbrella with her. Since she had no way to contact Youko to wait for her, she had to subdue to the fact that Youko might have gotten wet on the way back to the dorm. She also hoped that Youko would be waiting for her, even if she knew that the dark hair girl wouldn't. Unfortunately, she saw Youko and Miyuki on the path towards the Strawberry Dorm. For a brief second it looked like Youko was having fun talking to the St Miator's Student Council President. By the smile and the delight look on Youko's face, she felt as if someone had splashed icy cold water into her face. Why she was feeling like that she didn't know. All she knew was the fact that she had started to feel this way ever since she had surprised Youko, much to the other girl's disapproval. All of the thought of trying to get close to Chikaru suddenly disappeared. And at that moment, she wanted to hear more of Youko's adorable squeal since she didn't get to hear it much.

Sei didn't want to interrupt the two of them, and she knew that if she was to stay in one spot for long they would certainly notice her. So as fast as she could, she made a turn to the opposite direction from the pathway that she was on, and dashed into the trees and used it as a shortcut to the dorm. However, she didn't miss the look of surprise on Youko's face before her form disappeared into the tree. If she had stayed a little longer when Youko had caught her, she would have seen the sadness within brown orbs. She didn't want Youko to make it back before her, not when she knew the girl had seen her. So picking up a little bit of her pace, she blended into the tree and finally came out to a clear path. The Strawberry Dorm's gate was just a short walk away, and she didn't want to look like she was in much of a hurry. So she let out a small sigh, straightened herself up and started to walk at a proper pace towards the gate. It was then that she felt an arm circled around her waist and a body pressed up against her back. Then a hot, shuddering breath was sent against her earlobe and she had to fight back the urge to squeak in surprise. She then was quickly released when she didn't give into the owner's satisfaction, and heard a 'Hmph' from behind her.

"It's so hard to get one little sound out of you, Sei." Came a soft voice from no other than Minamoto Chikaru. When Sei turned to look at the girl, she couldn't help but giggle at the pout that was visible on the girl's lips. She had to admit that if Chikaru had gone as far as giving her earlobe just a nibble, she would have given the girl her satisfaction of getting a squeak from her.

"Chikaru-sama, you're out of your luck for that." Yoshino said as she walked up to the two with Rei beside her.

Chikaru turned and raised an eyebrow at the younger girl. "Out of luck?"

Yoshino nodded before dramatically pointing her finger towards Sei. "Rosa Gigantea's perversion has gone beyond the acceptable level of perversion! There is no way that you could even get as much as a little squeak from her!"

While Chikaru only blinked at Yoshino in both amusement and amazement, Sei was trying her best to hold in her laugh while Rei was covering her face in her hand. The Rosa Gigantea couldn't hold in her laughter anymore, so she let it loose that even Chikaru had to join in herself. Yoshino was speechless. Her intention wasn't to make a joke. Her intention was to make Chikaru realize that she couldn't get out even a little squeak from the blonde. Finally, Yoshino withdrew her hand and shook her head in disbelief. She knew that she should give up trying to make a full out of herself when Sei was involved in the matter.

"Yoshino-chan, let's leave the two laughing. This rain isn't going to stop any time soon, unfortunately." Rei softly spoke to her petite soeur and cousin, hoping that the other girl would listen to her.

To her delight, Yoshino nodded and started to walk with her but not before she turned to look behind her shoulder and poked her tongue out childishly at Sei. Sei couldn't help but laugh just a little more before she sobered herself along with Chikaru. She turned to the shorter girl and patted her on the shoulder gently.

"That was a good try, Chikaru, you almost got me." She said with her trademark grin.

Chikaru giggled softly before nodding her head towards the direction of the dorm. "Shall we go?"

The blonde nodded as the two started to walk alongside each other towards the dorm. Sei didn't intend to be out there for long, especially when she didn't want anyone to witness what Chikaru had done just to get a squeak out of her. She knew that Chikaru wouldn't use that method to any other girl, and she would like to know why the girl had done it to her. Of course, it was a pay back from yesterday since she had done the exact same thing, and it had gotten her a nice little squeak from Chikaru. But for Chikaru to copy her and try her best to get the same squeak out of her? Well, she certainly hadn't thought that the girl would actually try.

"It seems like we already have a winner." Chikaru said with a happy smile.

Sei looked at her, confused to why the girl was smiling so happily when the winner wouldn't be her. As if reading her mind, Chikaru just shrugged as she turned to face Sei with a look of curiosity. "I wonder who you're going to take out on a date, Sei."

Sei let out a chuckle and shrugged. "Oh, who knows. I haven't quite decided it yet." She knew that it was a lie, but there was no way that she would tell the other girl that she was going to pick her for her date partner. Already, she could feel a tiny bit of regret from the very deep of her heart about it. She knew that Youko had already known of the winner's prize, and even though the girl had no objection towards it, Sei knew that if given the chance she would hear the girl's complaints all night.

"Oh, this is too interesting." Chikaru said in amusement as she giggled. She had a small idea of who Sei would be taking on her date, and she knew it wouldn't be Shimako but she could be wrong. Since they had all of tomorrow to find who the winner and the winner's choice of a date partner within the club, she simply could hold out just a little bit longer.