Twenty Three
Yoshino and Yumi were sitting at the Roses' table during lunch the following week with a look that clearly said they were in deep trouble. Fortunately for them, Sachiko and Rei wouldn't be able to actually ban them from attending the event that would be happening on Saturday this week. The two fifth graders knew that if they ever do that, they would be staying with their petite soeurs throughout the night. They wanted to spend the night with their petite soeurs, and they really did want to see their petite soeurs in dresses. So they came up with another punishment, though each differed from the other. Sachiko wasn't going to speak with Yumi for two days, and she wondered if this was Yumi's punishment or the both of them. As for Rei, she was going to be harder on Yoshino more than usual. However, both of the younger girls weren't aware of the punishments that had been decided by their Onee-samas.
"Umm…Onee-sama…" Yumi softly said as she chanced a glance over to where Sachiko was sitting beside her, hoping that the raven hair beauty would utter one word to her. The girl knew that she was in trouble the moment that she had arrived back from cleaning the church. Sachiko was waiting at the Strawberry Dorm's gate for her with a very unhappy expression. Well, unhappy wouldn't be it, it would be disappointed. She had never seen Sachiko that disappointed, including the cold look that the older girl was giving to her. Sachiko never said a word when she approached her. The raven hair girl only turned and started to walk towards the dorm while Yumi followed behind her.
The Ogasawara heiress continued to sip her tea in total silent. She had heard her petite soeur's desperate tone when the girl had tried to reach her. However, a punishment was a punishment and she wasn't going to let Yumi off of the hook, even if she loved the girl dearly. She hoped that Yumi would learn her lesson, although at the back of her mind she already knew that the younger girl already did.
"…Rei-chan…" Yoshino began from the opposite end of the table as she slowly lifted her gaze up to Rei. She also knew that she was in trouble from the stern stare from her cousin when she arrived back with Yumi after cleaning the chapel on Sunday. She didn't know what her punishment would be, though she hoped that there wouldn't be any to begin with. Unlucky for her, Rei wasn't going to give her any slack when the latter had reached the point that discipline should be taught properly upon the younger girl.
"Onee-sama." Rei sternly corrected as she looked over at her cousin. "I will not answer you next time if you do not address me properly, Yoshino."
Yoshino was slightly stunned at the rather cold voice that Rei was emitting. So she looked away from her cousin and casted her eyes down at her lap, while her hands were curling up into fists upon her lap. "I…I'm sorry, Onee-sama…" She uttered out a quiet reply before firmly pressing her lips together so she would be able to stop herself from saying anything further that would make mutter worse.
Although Shimako desperately wanted to help her two friends, she couldn't. She knew that in the seniors' eyes, she was the wiser and more mature of the other two. So if things like this would to happen, she was supposed to be there and guide them out of it. Yet, she was with them all because of her one selfish reason; Nanto Yaya. Even though Sei had let her off of the hook because the older Rosa Gigantea wanted her petite soeur to actually have some fun, Shimako couldn't help but feel guilty over her two closest friends' punishment. She had already figured out the two punishments, and she doubted that the other two had come even close to comprehend the punishments yet. So when she couldn't do anything but watch on, she let out a small sigh before casting her eyes away from the two young victims.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Yaya, Hikari, Tamao and Nagisa were having lunch together but they didn't stop to observe the situation coming from the Roses' table. Even though they had properly been punished by Sister Hamasaka, cleaning the chapel together with the three youngest Roses was actually fun. They didn't expect that Yoshino and Yumi would be receiving yet another punishment from their Onee-sama, however. So Yaya and Hikari had entered the cafeteria and joined the table where Tamao and Nagisa were occupying in, they had felt the tension from the Roses' table when they had walked past it.
"I'm not sure if we should help them or not." Hikari said quietly as her eyes travelled from Yoshino to Yumi with sympathy in her eyes. "They look like their mothers had banned them from eating sweets."
"I'm sure that Shimako-san can think of something." Nagisa said in a hopeful tone as she studied the dark blonde girl. Unfortunately, she had misunderstood the look of desperate and guilt from Shimako that she had thought the girl was trying to think of a way to pull Yoshino and Yumi out from their punishments.
Yaya sighed and shook her head. "Shimako-san is at a loss. Even she can't think of anything to help. After all, she was with them." She said as her eyes studied Shimako's face expressions.
"Yeah, and even if one of us was to go over there, I can't imagine what would happen." Nagisa said as she began to imagine the consequences. When an image of Sachiko giving her a very cold look that could chill her to the bone, and an image of Rei telling her that it was none of her concern in a voice that could freeze her for all eternity, she couldn't help but shudder at just the thought. "That is…scary…"
"I wonder how long their punishments going to be." Tamao said as she continued to watch the Roses. Even with all that was going on; the eldest of the Roses didn't seem to have any difficulty to chat to each other and laughing with one another. They acted as if they didn't even feel any tension that was going on around in their table. They were so mysterious in their own way that it had confused Tamao. She couldn't get a proper reading on them.
-x-
"So you got asked to be a girl's date this Saturday?" Sei asked Eriko, thoroughly amused at the fact that Eriko wasn't too pleased that she had attracted girls in a way that she didn't even want to.
"How many times do I have to answer this?" Eriko asked with annoyance clearly shown in her voice. "I had politely declined her request and told her the reason. Is that not enough for you?"
Sei gave her a toothy grin and shook her head. "I want detail! As in…I want to know the girl's expression when you told her that you're straight!"
Eriko could only sigh as she really wanted to put her face in her hands. She didn't know why but Sei could always push her buttons to the point that she just wanted to bang her head against a wall, or a table. She even wondered how Youko could even deal with such a woman. If she could see what Youko could see in Sei, she knew that things would be different between Sei and her. Unfortunately, they had started to fight during elementary school and even though the memory wasn't pleasant, it was at least one of the fondest memories that she had with Sei. After all, it was because of the fights that they had become friends.
"Sei." Youko spoke softly as she giggled behind her hand. "I think we can all imagine the look on that girl's face. Also, I'm very sure that Eriko has forgotten about it."
Sei let out a big sigh of disappointment as she leant back with her arms crossed. "That's such a shame. It would have been quite entertaining to see Eriko's face while she describes it too."
"Idiot." Eriko retorted as she shot a challenging look at the oldest blonde of the Roses.
"Big forehead." Sei countered indifferently. That had gotten quite a stir from the subject, however, though she didn't quite care. She watched as Eriko's eyes began to twitch, then her hands began to twitch and before long the girl's forehead had formed quite a huge frown line.
"Y-You!" Eriko half exclaimed as she pointed a finger at Sei, completely forgotten about her surrounding much to her Lillian's title. "I will get you for this!"
At first, Sei only gave her a look of disinterest before she burst into laughter. She was clutching her stomach as her laughter only increased and she knew that if Youko and Shimako weren't sitting at both of her sides, she would actually roll off of her seat and laugh on the floor. While the older Rosa Gigantea was laughing, Youko was giggling softly behind her hand as she tried her best to not join her object of desire. Unfortunately, Youko couldn't quite hold it in anymore so she let it out but her laughter wasn't as loud or bad compared to Sei's. Shimako had stopped her train of thoughts when she felt her Onee-sama shaking beside her. She had turned to see what had gotten into the older girl and wasn't at all surprise when she witnessed Sei doubling over in laughter.
When the laughter had died down, well, when Youko's laughter had died down, she had wiped a single tear from her eyes due to her laughter as she turned to look at her friend. "I'm sorry, Eriko." She said, sincerity coaxing her words.
The brunette sighed and shook her head. She then turned to observe the people at her table before sighing again. There was an unspoken objective between Sei, Youko and herself and unfortunately that objective hadn't been reached. Sachiko, Rei, Yoshino and Yumi weren't amused or paying attention to what the three older Roses had played out for them. At least it had caught Shimako's attention even though the girl wasn't as amused as her Onee-sama was. She knew what the younger girls did wasn't acceptable in their Onee-samas' eyes, except for Sei, but the punishment was a little bit harsh when they had already paid their debt to Sister Hamasaka. She just felt sympathy towards the younger Roses that were under their Onee-samas' punishments.
"You four," Eriko started after clearing her throat to gain the four girls that she was addressing to. When she received absolutely no response, she sighed and shook her head before trying again. "Ogasawara Sachiko, Hasekura Rei, Shimazu Yoshino and Fukuzawa Yumi."
At the sound of the current Rosa Foetida's commanding voice, all four girls that had been called out turned their attention to the older Rosa Foetida. The brunette looked at every single one at them before letting out a sigh. "You four…are giving us a headache."
Sachiko blinked, unsure of what Eriko had meant so she looked over at Youko for guidance. The latter quickly noticed the questioning look and smiled gently at her. "What she means is Yoshino and Yumi already had their punishment from Sister Hamasaka. We all both know that Sister Hamasaka is very strict, so there is no need for you and Rei to be giving your petite soeurs punishments when they have already learned their lessons." She then turned over to look at the two younger girls and smiled. "Right, girls?"
Both of them nodded in confirmation before looking over at their Onee-samas. Youko chuckled before turning back to her petite soeur. "We are here to learn, make mistakes and learn from them. We are also here to make friends and have fun. If you don't loosen up a little bit, you will let the world pass you by without any knowledge behind the true meaning of having fun."
Sachiko sighed, knowing that what her Onee-sama said was right. Yumi had received enough punishment from Sister Hamasaka, the woman herself was scary enough to be her punishment anyway. Besides, she did wonder if she could go two days without talking to the girl that she loved. She doubted that she would be able to. She also knew that would only make Yumi panic and that was the last thing that she wanted the younger girl to feel. So, with a small sigh, she turned to look at her own petite soeur and offered the girl a small smile.
"Yumi, I apologize for being too hard on you."
Yumi smiled brightly up at the raven hair girl, having to hear the latter's voice after for so long even though it was just several hours. The smile quickly faded as she shook her head. "No, Onee-sama, I was at fault and for that, I should be the one apologizing."
And before Yoshino, Rei or Sachiko could utter a word, Sei loudly cleared her throat to stop them. When they all looked at her, she grinned and offered them her peace sign. "Apologize in your own time, right now I'm truly interested in what happened during the punishment."
-x-
"Grande soeurs to the rescue huh?" Shizuma commented with amusement as she and Miyuki watched the Roses table from where they were sitting. It wasn't the first time that Miyuki had lunch with Shizuma. It was just far too long that she had finally gotten Shizuma to sit down with her and have a nice lunch.
"They are not as strict as their petite soeurs." Miyuki said with a little chuckle. "Although, I can see that the elder Roses are more relaxed and well maintained than the younger ones."
Shizuma turned to look at her friend skeptically, before she burst into a fit of quiet giggles. Miyuki turned to raise an eyebrow at her friend, wondering what had gotten to her. After Shizuma had calmed down, she motioned her head over to the Roses' table before getting started on what she thought of them, especially Rosa Gigantea, Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida.
"You may think that they are well maintained, Miyuki, but you must know, they are not like us." Shizuma gave her friend a small smile before sighing. "You know that I like to observe people, and from what I can see from those three girls they are only putting up a brave face so their petite soeurs wouldn't worry about them."
"Well, what have you gathered from observing them, Shizuma?" Miyuki asked as she brought her teacup to her lips.
"Satou Sei seems to be torn between her feelings for Mizuno Youko and the scar in her heart." Shizuma began as she gazed down at her tea. "She acts all out-going and happy on the outside, but inside she is confused and unbalanced. One wrong move from Youko would turn her world upside down."
Miyuki sighed and shook her head. "And Youko-san has feelings for Sei-san but she is too afraid to tell her, is that it?"
Shizuma chuckled and nodded her head. "Yes, and don't look so disappointed Miyuki. There are plenty of fishes in the sea."
Miyuki shot a glare at her friend before sighing once again. "There's a very high possibility that I will be seeing my fiancé this Saturday. I'm not going to chase after a dream that will not come true."
Shizuma just shrugged before she set her eyes on the older brunette of the Roses. "Torii Eriko, although she seems to be well maintained and calmed, but when it comes to deal with the attraction of the female population at our three schools, she seems to be on the edge of it all." She paused just to let out a small chuckle. "We all know that she's straight but it's still amusing to see the girls chasing her as if she is some fine specimen."
"Every single one of these girls is a fine specimen to you, Shizuma." Miyuki scolded her lightly.
"Not really." Shizuma softly commented as her deep hazel eyes glanced over to where Nagisa was sitting. "Only one of those fine specimens can bloom into a beautiful flower."