Twenty Two
"Midnight tea party?" Shimako asked from her desk.
Yumi had returned to the room and had found her roommate sitting there with a worried expression. Even though the blonde didn't express it with her words, she sure did express her concern for her friend with her serene face. Yumi had felt a little guilty for taking longer to return to the room than usual, but she knew that after explaining things to her roommate, the girl would understand. Yumi's hope for the other girl to understand wasn't unnecessary, not when Shimako had listened to her reason with pure curiosity and concern that she had dismissed the worry that she had before Yumi had returned. The dark hair blonde had concluded that there was nothing to be worrying about after Yumi had explained to her. However, when Yumi had asked her to come to the midnight tea party with the other girls, she couldn't help but be concerned once more.
"Isn't it against the rules?" Shimako asked again, this time in worried.
"Well," Yumi started as her resolve began to falter. 'If only Yoshino was here…' she thought as she looked over at Shimako. How could she persuade Shimako when the girl was sitting there with the uttermost serene look on her face? She couldn't even imagine Shimako getting into any kind of trouble, and yet placing the girl's innocence on the line was something that she couldn't do. However, it was too late for her to decline the request, and she didn't want Yoshino to have to go alone. Plus, she didn't want Shimako to stay in her room alone while worrying about her as well. "Umm…yes, but…well…you see…" Yumi fidgeted with her fingers as she tried her best to muster out a good explanation to why they were having a midnight tea party. She knew that the reason for the midnight tea party was because her friends wanted to taste Tamao's red tea, and if she told Shimako that reason Yumi wasn't sure that the blonde would agree.
Shimako watched on as Yumi fidgeted and seemed to struggle for words. After a short moment of Yumi still struggling to find words, she let out a warm smile and stood up. "Yumi-san." She softly said to gain the other girl's attention. When she had Yumi's attention, she continued to let that smile spread. "If you really want me to go, then I will."
"Eh?" Yumi exclaimed in surprise. When she calmed down she smiled brightly but soon frowned. "You're not going to ask why we are having such a tea party that would get us into trouble if Sister Hamasaka found out?"
"Well, I am a little curious about why you are planning such a tea party at midnight, and I am worried that we might get caught but," Shimako paused and smiled a small smile at Yumi. "It is quite a thrill, don't you think?"
"Eh?" Yumi exclaimed once again in surprise. She didn't think that Shimako would say such things. If anything, Shimako would say the complete opposite and would refuse to come.
The blonde giggled softly at her friend's expression, she could clearly read the other girl's face without much effort. Then again, Yumi's expressions were quite easy to read from the very beginning. Shimako turned to look at the clock and sighed, it was quite a long way until the midnight tea party. She didn't know who would be coming other than Yumi, Yoshino and herself. However, she was looking forward to this small event. The thrill that she was getting from it was quite…something. She had never done anything that would go against the rules of any kind, that was more of her Onee-sama's job than hers.
"It's almost time for dinner, Yumi-san." Shimako stated as she turned towards the door. "Come on, we don't want them to wait for us, right?"
Yumi smiled and nodded enthusiastically. "Right!"
-x-
The midnight tea party was at eighty percent until completion. They were only missing the two first years and while they were waiting, the other two Spica girls couldn't help but stared wide-eyed at Shimako. They had seen Shimako around the campus, but that was only from afar. To actually come face to face with the Angel of Lillian wasn't something they were expecting to, especially at midnight either. Not to mention, they shared the same thought that both Yumi and Nagisa were thinking. They didn't think that Shimako would actually join them in breaking one of the rules of Strawbery Dorm. Not to say, joining them to take the punishment as well if they were to be caught. Unfortunately, their stares were making the dark blonde girl a little nervous, especially when both of them had thought highly of her.
"So you're Toudou Shimako-san!" Yaya quietly exclaimed as her dark hazel eyes looked over at the said girl.
Shimako sighed inwardly before turning to look at the long ebony girl, the girl that she had been having trouble keeping off of her mind. She smiled softly at Yaya and nodded her head in confirmation. "It's a pleasure to have met you..." She let her sentence hung while looking at the other girl with expectation that she would finish it for her.
"Yaya! Nanto Yaya!" Yaya replied with a smile of her own. Then she turned and motioned a hand at her roommate before introducing her. "This is my roommate, Konohana Hikari."
Hikari blushed under Shimako's gaze before she bowed her head in a greeting. "H-Hello!" When she looked up, her blush seemed to deepen in shade when Shimako was still looking at her with that serene smile. "Um…Amane-sempai had told me of your concern for me. T-Thank you!"
Yaya blinked in surprised. She hadn't heard about this before. In fact, Hikari didn't even mention it when she came back to the room after Amane dropped her off that day. The only think Hikari had talked about when she got back was how Amane wanted to hear her sing again. Yet, she didn't mention anything about Shimako's concern for her at all. She felt something then. It might have been jealousy, or it might have been something that she didn't quite know yet. However, right now she was dead set on the little of jealousy that she was feeling. Unfortunately, she didn't know who to direct that jealousy to; Hikari or Shimako? If she was to direct that feeling toward Shimako, then that would be that not only she had Amane as her competition, she also had Shimako as her competition to win Hikari's heart. But, if she was to direct it towards Hikari, then would that mean that she wanted Shimako to be concerned about her and not her best friend? Such troubled thoughts left her sighing as she looked down at her cup of tea. What she didn't know was the sigh that had escaped her lips had caught Shimako's attention. The darker blonde couldn't voice out her curiosity then, especially when she didn't want to be rude to Hikari.
"There is no need to thank me, Hikari-san. I just don't want to see anyone upset, that's all." Shimako said softly and when Hikari wasn't looking, her eyes quickly glanced over to Yaya in concern. When Hikari started to speak again, her eyes immediately turned back to look at the other blonde.
"But…you're in St Lulim." Hikari said quietly.
Yoshino giggled as she tried to suppress the sound by clasping her hands over her mouth. When her giggle subsided, she wiggled a finger at Hikari with a grin. "Whether Shimako-san is in St Lulim, St Miator or St Spica, she still doesn't want to see anyone upset! And because of that she always tries her best to resolve whatever it is that is bothering the students! That is why she is the most beloved Rosa Gigantea en bouton! The successor of Rosa Gigantea when she graduates!"
Shimako let out a quiet sigh. She knew that the election wasn't even up yet, not when both of the Roses' members weren't even present. She also knew that she didn't have that kind of admiration from the other students, she didn't quite pay any attention to them unless it had brought up to her attention. She also knew that she didn't want to become Rosa Gigantea when her Onee-sama graduates; she didn't want to be burdened or trapped down by anything. So after Yoshino had said what a friend would have said, she shook her head in denial before looking away from the eyes that were looking at her in surprise.
"I do not plan on becoming Rosa Gigantea." She softly said.
Yumi had to place a hand over her mouth to suppress the shock that she had heard. Yaya was quite surprise by the fact as well, especially when Yoshino's words had her believed that Shimako would make a great Rosa Gigantea even though she didn't understand the system that well. So when Yaya turned to look at Yumi's face after hearing some kind of a choking noise from the girl, she understood what Yumi wanted to say from her expression. So while no one had taken the chance to jump at Shimako for an explanation, she took that chance to do so.
"Why not, Shimako-san?" The ebony hair girl asked curiously.
Shimako opened her mouth to reply but before words could come out, there were noises coming from outside the room. Curious and quite scared, a feeling that she didn't think she would feel, as she turned to look at the door. She could feel her heart beating loudly within her ribcage, and if she was to listen closely to everyone's heart that was in the room, she could hear their heart beats as well. So whatever the noise was, she could feel that it wasn't going to be good. Her instinct was right when the door was opened and Sister Hamasaka appeared with the two first years in front of her, looking very depressed. 'Well, it seems like we have been caught.' She thought and although she wanted to giggle at the situation that the group was in, she had to hold it in.
"I see, a tea party." Sister Hamasaka commented as she shot each and every single one of the girls a look that could chill their bones, yet Shimako was completely unfazed by it. "You have broken a rule, and I know what kind of punishment you will be taking. Please, report to me in my office tomorrow bright and early in the morning." She then turned before speaking again, in a stern tone. "Please, go back to your own room now."
The rest of the girls quickly stood up and returned to their rooms. While Yumi and Yoshino were a little shaky from receiving Sister Hamasaka's wrath, Shimako was quite amused by the situation that she had let herself be caught in. She knew that the punishment might not even be easy tomorrow, but at least she had gotten some sort of an amusement out of tonight. Also, she had gotten to know the name of the girl she had been thinking about, Yaya. She would be able to get to know about Yaya more tomorrow, and that was the only reason why she was looking forward to this 'punishment' that Sister Hamasaka was speaking of.
-x-
All seven girls were standing inside a chapel while wearing a maid outfit. The punishment that Sister Hamasaka had bestowed on them was to clean the chapel's staircase spotless. Since the chapel had been left unused for such a long time, it had gathered dust to the point that it was quite thick. Normally, the chapel would be taken care of by the nuns of the school, but since Sister Hamasaka wanted them to rest she had thought that the girls would use a little bit of exercise. Then again, she had said that the girls could use this punishment to cleanse away their sin for breaking the Strawberry Dorm's rule. And with all the instructions had been given out, that the girls had to clean every single step of the stairs until the middle of the afternoon, the Head Sister left. The girls had been staring up at the chapel with a defeated look, except for Shimako and Yoshino, and wanted some kind of miracle to come and save them.
"I got us into this mess!" Chiyo quickly said as she turned and bowed her head in shame. "I will clean all of the steps!" And with that, she set off to do her task while Tsubomi following suit, chanting that she wanted to help to.
Shimako giggled at the two energetic first years before she turned to the remaining girls and smiled that serene smile. "Let's help them, ne?"
The other girls nodded with a determination smile as they gathered up cleaning tools and started to clean the stairs. Shimako, Yoshino and Yumi had offered to take the stairs at the top while Hikari, Yaya and Tamao taking the ones in the middle. The two first years and Nagisa were taking the one at the bottom. They were working quite hard in order to clean the stairs, though not a single one of them didn't stop to look up at where the younger Roses were at. Yumi was patiently cleaning each of the steps, while Yoshino had taken it up as a challenge to make the stairs sparkle. The two girls' enthusiasm didn't quite compete with Shimako's. While the darker blonde was swiping down the dirt of the stairs, she still held that angelic look as if she was blessing the stairs with her serene smile. When the sunlight had changed its cause, it had let its ray to shine down upon Shimako to make her truly look like she was blessing her holy light down upon the stairs that she had touched. Such a sight would be difficult to forget.
"I feel a little guilty for this tea party." Nagisa said softly as she continued to gaze up at Shimako. In her eyes, it looked like she was gazing up at a real angel that she had called her friend. Such a word had made it unbelievable that she would actually have an angel as a friend.
"But she's having fun though." Yaya commented as she smiled up at the darker blonde. As if the latter had sensed her smile, Shimako looked down and over at Yaya before she flashed a warm smile upon the ebony hair girl. If Yaya was blushing, she had done a great job of hiding it.
"You're right, Yaya-chan. She's smiling, isn't she?" Hikari said with a happy smile. To be able to gaze up at a girl that resembled so much to an angel, she had thought to herself as being extremely lucky and blessed.
"She really is enjoying herself." Tamao said with a joyful nod. Then a clattering sound caught her ears and when she turned to look, she saw Chiyo was carrying a heavy ladder towards the stairs. Worried about the girl's safety, she was about to go and offer the younger girl some help but Nagisa had quickly risen from her spot and had ran down to offer her help to the younger girl.
"Chiyo-chan, let me help you!" Nagisa said enthusiastically as she offered out her hands. Unfortunately, the younger girl was being quite stubborn as she shrugged off Nagisa's offered hands.
"It's alright, Nagisa-onee-sama, I can do it on my own." Chiyo said in a strained voice as she continued to heave the ladder up on her shoulder, while dragging her feet towards the stairs.
"Oh my." Shimako gasped quietly as she had quickly noticed what was going on below. Upon hearing her gasp, Yoshino and Yumi had halted what they were doing and looked down at the surface below. Their eyes widened at the sight and they let out a sigh. It looked like that Chiyo was refusing Nagisa's offer to help like the red head was no good to her.
While the fourth graders were watching on with the small commotion that Nagisa and Chiyo were creating, they wanted to pitch in and help. Unfortunately, Nagisa had stopped them from doing so when she had given them a 'It's alright' look. So they were left to only watch on while hoping that Chiyo would accept their friend's helpful offer. However, their hearts picked up its beat as Chiyo's foot started to slip from the steps. Nagisa was walking behind her and since the fall was so sudden, she didn't have the chance to stop it. In fact, she and Chiyo had both fallen from the stairs and down towards the bottom. Nagisa was taking all the damage because she didn't want the younger girl to be hurt. So because of that, she received quite a scratch from the fall upon her knee. The girls that were watching on had already reacted when they saw the fall. They had quickly descended the stairs and were about to offer their help when Chiyo burst out crying. Nagisa had stopped them with just a smile and a shake of her head when she noticed them coming over. Then the red head turned to look at the younger girl and smiled softly.
"Chiyo-chan, I'm alright." She said reassuringly. The younger girl just shook her head as tears still streamed down from her face. Nagisa gently lifted the girl's face up and wiped the tears away with her hands, before she reached into the front pocket of the apron to retrieve out her handkerchief. "Here, Chiyo-chan." She offered the younger girl the handkerchief with a smile that Chiyo thought it was too adorable.
The girl blushed and tentatively took the handkerchief in her hands. When she felt that there was something hard within the handkerchief, she unfolded it and blinked in surprise at the object before her eyes. It was the card that she had received from the Room Temp election. She had lost it yesterday when she had fallen and made a mess of the upperclassman's room. She had thought that she wouldn't be able to find it again, even though she had looked everywhere for it and even worried over it as well. So when the card was presented right in front of her, she couldn't quite hold back her tears anymore. So she let the tears freely fall from her eyes as she clutched at the card that Nagisa had made for her.
"I-I thought that I h-have l-lost it." She murmured. "I thought I w-wouldn't be able to s-see it again."
Nagisa chuckled softly as she stroked the girl's head. "I found it before I bolted out of the room yesterday." She said with a couple of nervous chuckles. "When I saw it lying there, I thought that the person that received it didn't want it anymore. When I had that thought, I was so upset but when I found that Chiyo-chan was the one that received it I was a little happy. However, I began to think why it was on the floor in the first place, and why Chiyo-chan didn't say anything about it." She paused and flashed the younger girl a happy smile. "But after hearing what you just said, it made me happier! Thank you, Chiyo-chan, for clearing out my concerns and worries."
The younger girl blushed even harder at the praise. The rest of the other girls watched on with adoration in their eyes. It was a rare moment for them to see Nagisa's sweet side towards the underclassmen. They were smiling at the two girls at they talked about their worries and concerns, especially when the younger girl's worries had been cleared by Nagisa. It looked as if they were real sisters.
"Nagisa-chan is amazing." Hikari said in amazement.
"As expected from Nagisa-san." Yoshino said as she smiled at the scene below her. The other girls nodded with a knowing smile.
The scene was so touching that Shimako couldn't hold in her emotions anymore. She let her tears freely fall without her notice as she watched on. Yaya was the first to notice the tear when she had quickly glanced over her way. Even though the sight of Shimako smiling and enjoying her time with the girls was enough to move her, the sight of Shimako crying moved her even more. She had seen Hikari cry before and it had upset her when she saw those tears in her best friend's eyes. Yet, when she saw Shimako's tears, it hurt her more than it was supposed to. It was as if a sharp-pointed arrow had pierced through her heart, and she would give anything to see Shimako's smiling face once more. So without much of a word or knowledge of her action, her body acted out on its own. Before she knew it, and before Shimako and the other girls could figure out what was going on, Yaya had lifted up her hand and gently wiped the tears away from Shimako's face. The sudden move surprised Shimako and had made her cheeks warmed up at the other girl's touch. When Yaya had realized what she was doing, her cheeks turned scarlet as she quickly withdrawn her hand and turned her head away to hide the crimson blush.
"I…um…I'm sorry." She quickly stuttered an apology while not expecting the dark blonde to accept it.
"It's alright. I don't mind." Shimako murmured softly before she turned to Nagisa and Chiyo, whose were watching the scene that had just played out. She flashed them an encouraging smile before she turned to motion her head towards the stairs. "Shall we finish this up?" The girls all nodded in response as they resumed back to where they were working at.
Yaya was quite surprise that the Angel of Lillian had accepted her apology, and she couldn't help but feel happy because of it. When she turned towards Shimako once more, her dark hazel eyes met with the dark grey ones and she had to blush at the depth within the other girl's eyes. Although their eyes only met for a few seconds, to her it was enough to make her heart beat as fast as it was at that moment. She surely didn't know what was going on, especally when she couldn't just go and ask her heart what the heck it was beating fast for. Her face then turned a few shades darker when Shimako offered her a sweet smile.
"Thank you for taking care of me before, Yaya-san. I really do appreciate it." The darker blonde said as she turned to move pass Yaya to climb up the stairs. However, she didn't fail to pass on another message that only Yaya could hear on her way up. "I hope to spend more time with you, Yaya-san."
Yaya was too stunned to respond and when she had managed to turn around, Shimako was already at her previous spot on the top of the stairs. Her heart began to warm up with the latter caught her staring up at her, and descended a smile that Yaya thought was for her. With a feeling that she couldn't quite figure out yet, she turned back to her previous task with a smile that she normally wouldn't wear, even with Hikari around.