Nine

Youko decided to hold off her questions for Sei when the Yumayurikai were all hanging out in the Strawberry Dorm's lounging area. There were less students coming to them and asking them questions regarding to St Lilian, and they were glad because they had some peace to themselves. However, that didn't mean that they weren't the talk of all the three schools! The Red Rose was well known for their politeness and formalities that St Miator hadn't seen for years. Yumi and Youko weren't ones to be difficult to approach, not when they always had a welcoming air around them. So for other students, it wasn't difficult for them to come up to those two to have a short, yet, normal chat. Sachiko, on the other hand, was more than difficult. Even though she had joined a club it still didn't mean that she was easy to approach. Yes, Sachiko was polite but from the other students' point of views, it looked as if the raven-haired beauty was forcing herself to greet and smile at them in a polite manner. To the people that know her it was the opposite. Sachiko just didn't seem the type to loosen herself up unless it was for Yumi's sake.

"So how is your club going, Sachiko?" Youko asked out of interest and concern for her soeur.

Sachiko took a small sip of her tea first before answering. "It is progressing quite well, Onee-sama. The girls there are very creative."

"Hmmm," Came Sei's voice as she studied the young Ogasawara. "I can't see you as the creative type, Sachiko." Of course, what she had just said was a challenge. As for Sachiko, she had never backed away from a challenge, whether it was direct or indirect.

The raven-haired beauty glanced over to the current Rosa Gigantea, narrowed her eyes at the older girl before setting her teacup down on the table. She then folded her arms, her lips pressed in a firm line. "And you think I won't be able to write one creative story or poem, Rosa Gigantea?"

Sei chuckled as she knew that the challenge had been accepted. She was looking forward to reading whatever Sachiko could come up with. "It is not a matter of thinking you can't do it, Sachiko. It is a matter of you providing the evidence."

Youko sighed and shook her head. She couldn't really stop Sei from teasing her petite soeur, and she couldn't really stop Sachiko to glare daggers at Sei. She knew that the both of them didn't really hate or dislike each other, it was just their routine. It was somewhat of an entertainment and thanked to Sachiko taking Yumi in as her petite soeur, that entertainment only increased. She loved every single member of the Yumayurikai group even though there were times that they would drive her insane. She wondered how she could handle all of it, especially when her sanity was concerned. She let out another sigh as Sei continued to tease her petite soeur while Sachiko responded to Sei with a cold demeanor.

"Rosa Chinensis?"

Youko quickly turned to the soft voice that was addressing her. It was the first time that she heard such a voice, and she knew that it wasn't from one of the members in Yumayurikai. So when the voice had addressed her, the banter between Sei and Sachiko stopped as the rest of the Yumayurikai turned to the source of the voice. The only person that recognized the voice was Shimako since the girl was in her club. It also didn't surprise her that Sei didn't recognize the girl's voice. Sei didn't interact with her as much as she did. So when the girl had spoken up to the current Rosa Chinensis, she wondered what the girl could possibly want with the older girl. They were both from a different school, and Rose Chinensis was a lot older than her.

"Yes?" Youko answered as she acknowledged the girl with a warm smile.

The girl, or rather, Kagome, was quietly debating herself whether to ask her a direct question or not. She had been sitting with Kizuna and Remon while watching the Roses' table. Something about the Roses intrigued her but she didn't know what it was yet. However, she wasn't as much interested in any other Roses family as much as the Red Rose family. It was as if there was something behind them that she couldn't quite decipher; a puzzle that she couldn't complete. The first Red Rose would have been Sachiko herself, but the more she watched them the more she came to realize that it was Youko that she wanted to decipher first. There was something about Youko that made the younger girl wanted to reach out and wipe the invisible tears that were gathering below her eyes.

"My name is Byakudan Kagome." The first year said softly as her eyes flickered over to the group for a short moment before they settled on Youko once more.

Youko smiled at the younger girl's introduction and even though she wanted to know what had gotten the girl to ask for her attention, she didn't mind the least. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Kagome-chan. My name is Mizuno Youko, what can I do for you?"

Kagome didn't answer straight away. She was still debating whether she should ask or not. Youko was growing a little uncomfortable under the girl's gaze and she wanted to look elsewhere, but that would seem to be rude of her to do so. So she waited patiently for Kagome to speak up, while the rest of the members at the table were more than curious to what Kagome wanted. For a good two minutes that seemed like an hour to Youko, Kagome moved a little bit closer to her before lifting her teddy bear's hand towards the side of Youko's face.

"Why are you sad?" Kagome asked softly, her voice filled with concern as she let the teddy bear's hand gently graze Youko's cheek.

Shock that the younger girl even asked such a direct question. Not only that, Kagome's voice was filled with so much concern that Youko just wanted to cry in the little girl's arms. No one had even asked her such a question before. No, scratch that! No one had ever observed her and saw right through her mask in such a short amount of time! And here stood the little girl that she had seen around the Strawberry Dorm, the girl that she had absolutely no idea about, asked her such a question that it sent a sharp pain through her heart. She wanted to tell the younger girl that she was fine, a lie that she knew the girl would see right through her. To make matter worse, she could feel all of her friends' eyes on her. She closed her eyes, breathed out a soft sigh before opening her eyes to look up at the younger girl. She tried her best to put on that strong mask of hers, and hoped that the younger girl wouldn't question her any further even if she would to see right through the mask.

"I am not sad, Kagome-chan. Whatever makes you think that I am?" Youko replied with a little chuckle. Then she reached her hand out towards the younger girl's face, caressing her cheek for a short moment with a smile. "Thank you for your concern, Kagome-chan."

Kagome didn't believe those words that Youko had provided her. She knew that there was something wrong with Youko, but the older girl had such a strong resolve that she couldn't reach in it and grasp the real problem. However, she would have to let it go since it was clearly written in Youko's eyes. The older girl was silently pleading her to not question it further. It looked like the older girl knew that she could see right through her. Kagome acknowledged the older girl's silent pleading for another second before nodding her head. Without much of a further word, the younger girl turned and walked back to where her group of friends was.

Youko let out a small, inaudible sigh before she turned back to face her group of friends. All eyes were on her when she looked up at the group. They were piercing through her in so much concern that she could feel her mask started to crumble. Yes, she was sad. She was sad at the fact that no one seemed to understand her. She was sad at the fact that she had to suppress her feelings rather than pouring them out on the table. She was sad at the fact that the one woman that she had been in love with would probably never going to return her feelings. She was sad at the fact that she had been silently suffering for all these couple of years without much of a complaint. So instead of letting her mask crumble, she put up another one along with a force smile as she waved her hand to dismiss the subject.

"Come on now, you all know that I am perfectly happy." She said with a little chuckle. "Don't be concerned about me. There is absolutely nothing for any of you to worry about."

The other girls were still looking at her in concern but with the reassured smile that she had put her on face, they let out a shrug and went back to whatever conversation that they were having before Kagome appeared. Even though Sachiko was more than worried about her Onee-sama, she couldn't do anything but to let it go if Youko didn't wish to talk about it. She was raised better than to push her Onee-sama into talking to her about her problems. And because of that, she let it bothered her not knowing that Yumi was now concern for both Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Chinensis en bouton. She hadn't been around the two that much so she couldn't really figure out what was wrong with them. And by the look from everyone else, they seemed to let it slide when she knew they were curious about it also.

-x-

Later that night in Youko's and Sei's room, the two girls were getting ready for bed when the taller girl had stopped gathering her textbooks for tomorrow's class just to look over at Youko. The other girl was preparing herself to have a bath before bed, oblivious to the stare that she was receiving from Sei. However, to her utter surprise, the dark-haired girl felt a pair of arms encircled her waist as she was being pulled back against the front of the other girl's body. Soon enough her brain registered what was happening for her cheeks began to heat up into a little blush. If the wordless hug came from what had happened at the lounge today then she had to clear it up as best as she could. She didn't want her companion to be worrying about her when the girl had nothing to worry about.

"Sei…" Youko sighed out her name only for the latter to tighten her hold around her.

"What's wrong?" Came the other girl's soft reply. Youko could feel the warm breath on her neck as the other girl rested her chin against her shoulder. She suppressed the shudder that was traveling down her spine. Her body was fully aware of what the taller girl was doing to her, even if it was just her hot breath.

"There's nothing wrong." Youko replied as she tried to wiggle herself out of Sei's embrace. When Sei didn't let go off of her, she feigned a frown with a shook of her head. "I want to get a bath before bed, Sei. If you keep holding me like this I won't be able to go to bed until very late."

Letting out a soft sigh, Sei reluctantly let go off of Youko as she took a couple of steps back. She wanted to know what was wrong with her friend. And by the look of it, her friend didn't want to talk about it with her.

"Sorry, I'll let you have your bath then." Sei responded as she shrugged. If today wasn't much of a success, she was sure that there would be another day for Youko to be open with her. The only problem was, would the other girl be open with her or not.

Youko turned and smiled in thanks at her, and the blonde could easily tell that the smile didn't even reach her eyes though she didn't comment on it. "Thank you, and don't wait up for me." And with that said, the current Rosa Chinensis turned and made her way towards the bathroom. Once she had disappeared from the blonde's sight, Sei let out another sigh as she plopped herself down on her side of the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"What am I going to do with you, Youko?" She murmured to herself as she heard the sound of running water in the bathroom.

Once the bathtub was full, Youko turned off the water before she stripped off of her clothing. She hung her uniform against the door before moving herself towards the tub, and climbing into it. She eased herself down on the warm water, and once its warmth started to untie the knots in her body, she let out a sigh of contentment. Then her mind drifted back to the short conversation with Kagome and began to wonder how long the girl had been watching her. Then her mind drifted towards Sei before she let out a frown. She had forgotten to ask the other girl why she was near St Miator's Academy today.