Twenty Eight

How hard was it to tell the other girl about her feelings? How hard was it to actually witness the mask that her beloved was wearing because of her? The current Rose Gigantea couldn't stop but let her eyes stayed glue to the Rosa Chinensis at lunch that day. It was the shortest lunch that she had ever had, and the amount of time that she had been spending on was gazing into nothingness until the head of the Red Rose family showed up. However, she wasn't just staring at Mizuno Youko without a reason. She was preparing herself for a talk with Youko if she could get her alone. Well, she should be able to get Youko alone since the latter would have to return to their shared room. If she had to skip anything just to have a moment with Youko, she would do it. Hell, she would have stalked the girl if she was so desperate to have that one moment alone with Youko.

Evening greeted both of the girls after they resided themselves back to their own room. At first Youko was reluctant to go back to her own room. She wasn't ready to face Sei just yet, but somewhere in the back of her mind Shizuma's words of advice, more of an encouragement now those three words echoed through her mind, had given her the strength that she needed. Sei had already excused herself to go back into their shared room before her. All she had to do now was to turn the doorknob, pushing the door open and letting herself in. Yet, she was standing outside the room, in front of the closed door, with her eyes tightly shut and a clenched hand pressing against her chest. Her heart was beating so fast that she was having a hard time calming down. After a few minutes or so, she finally opened her eyes and readied herself for whatever was going to happen inside this room.

Inside, Sei lifted her head as she heard the noise coming from the door. She turned her eyes towards the door, and had to force a smile upon her face when the very woman that she wanted to see that night had returned. She had to force a smile when Youko laid her eyes on her. She didn't want the other girl to see that she was upset because of her.

"Welcome back, Youko." Sei greeted warmly.

Youko smiled back at her even though it was a weak smile. She closed the door behind her after letting herself inside, and stood at the entrance as if she wasn't sure if she should move to her own bed or not. "Thank you, Sei." She murmured.

Sei watched as the dark hair girl fidgeted in her place. She also watched as Youko hadn't even left her post to move over to the bed at the other side of the room. If the pain in her heart was a tad bit unbearable last night when Youko didn't return to their shared room, it was truly unbearable now. The shorter girl acted as if she was a stranger, and that hurt more than anything else that she had experienced.

Sei sighed as she ran a hand through her blonde hair. She stood up from the bed that she had been sitting on, and walked over to where Youko was standing. She could see that Youko was watching her every movement, and she could clearly see that the other girl was trying as hard as she could to not crumble and break on the floor. The head of the White Rose didn't think that being in the same room such as her would cause the other girl such grief. Well, she needed to get her feelings across to the other girl. She needed Youko to understand her, at this very moment. She needed to clear the misunderstandings before she could feel a little bit of happiness for having Youko in her life, even if the latter didn't want to have anything to do with her.

While Sei was approaching her, Youko tried her best to calm her nerves down. She felt as if she could just tremble under Sei's gaze. She didn't think that she would let the blonde see the fragile part of her being. She should be strong, not only for Sei's sake, but her sake as well. She had been hiding her secret love for Sei for so long, and just a short amount of time at the Astrea Hill, she couldn't believe that she could let herself be so free and letting her walls down for Sei to enter. She shouldn't have done that. Sei was her weakness, she knew that. She knew that once she had given Sei her heart, whether the latter knew it or not, she would get hurt more than the blonde if something was to happen. Well, that something did happen. Suddenly the image of the kiss that had tormenting her mind popped up. Youko turned her head away from the blonde, her eyes tightly shut as she tried to chase the image away.

"Youko."

Youko didn't realize that Sei had already reached her destination. She also didn't realize that the blonde was so close to her that Sei's scent was bombarding her nostrils. Of course, she had been close to the blonde before and her scent had never made her head spin like this. Yet, it was different tonight. Sei's scent was too strong and she was afraid that if she didn't stand her ground, she would have been overwhelmed by the White Rose's scent and succumbed into it.

"Look at me, Youko." Sei more than demanded as she placed both of her hands on either side of Youko's face.

When the Red Rose opened her eyes, she was greeted with Sei's hand and that was when her eyes widened in surprise. When she turned her head to look straight ahead, she let out a low gasp as dark chocolate orbs met with a pair of dark blue eyes. Youko could feel her face burning up at the closeness of both of their faces. If she could actually sniff in the scent of Sei, then she knew that Sei was that close to her but she didn't expect Sei to be…all up in her face! She was too stun to say anything, and just looking into the deepest pool of ocean blue she could feel herself drowning in them, and never wanting to come up.

Sei was afraid of this. She was afraid of the silent Youko. She was hoping to have some sort of reaction from Youko since she was this close to her. Yet, all she was receiving was the look of utter surprise and shock, and a quiet Youko as the shorter girl gazed into her eyes. She didn't know what the other girl was thinking. She didn't know how to ask the other girl what she was thinking. So she just stood there, her eyes searching for anything that would insure her that her Youko was still in there. Unfortunately, the only things that she could see from Youko's dark chocolate eyes were the pain that she had caused, and…doubt?

"Youko, please say something." Sei murmured softly and soon enough her voice turned out as pleading at the end. "I don't care what you're going to say. You can yell at me. You can push me away. You can call me any bad names in the world. Just please…say something so I know that…you don't hate me."

Youko's eyes only widened as she heard the last part. Hate? How could her hate Sei? What possibly have led Sei to think that she would do such a thing? So the Red Rose opened her mouth to respond but then quickly shut it close. She didn't realize that the small action would set a tear to roll down Sei's face. The last time that she had seen Sei cry was so long ago. To see the blonde's tear, all because of her, was just too much to bear. She didn't know if words would convince the other girl that she didn't hate her. So, after summoning what courage she had, Youko placed both of her hands on Sei's cheek and closed the small space between their faces. Their lips touched briefly, and even if it was just a light kiss, both girls could feel a faint jolt. Yes, even though it was faint, it was still there for both of them to feel.

Youko pulled away seconds later, despite the fact that she didn't want to look at Sei but she willed herself to gaze directly into those dark blue eyes. "I don't hate you Sei," the Red Rose said with a weak smile. "I love you."

Eyes wide, mouth agape, heart pounding, and her heart beat was all that she could hear. Sei was speechless. She didn't expect a kiss. She didn't even expect the confession. She didn't expect any of that. All she expected was to hear Youko's voice and the latter saying she didn't hate her. That was all she was expecting, but surely not all the added extras that she had received.

"Youko…"

"Don't." Youko quickly said as she turned her head away. After the kiss and the confession had registered in her head, she felt weak. Now it was her tears to fall. "I know you don't feel the same way…But I…I just want you to know how I feel…"

Sei frowned as she made Youko to look at her again. Youko's eyes widened when Sei crashed her lips upon her. When Youko didn't respond to the kiss, Sei applied more pressure against the shorter girl's lips until the latter responded to her. She knew for a fact that words wouldn't convince Youko that she was more than willing to return the feelings. So if words couldn't reach her, then she would have to settle with her actions. Then again, it was her actions that got her into this mess.

When the need of air beginning to hit both of them, Sei slowly pulled away as she tried to regain her breathing. Both of the girls' faces were flushed, though Youko's face was flustered more than Sei's. Once Sei had gotten her breathing back, she moved in again. This time, the kiss was gentle and Youko didn't seem to be hesitating like before. Unfortunately, despite how Sei wanted the kiss to last a little longer, she pulled away again.

"We need to talk." Sei said as she pulled her body away from Youko. Once Youko nodded her head in understanding, the blonde turned to walk over to her bed and sat down. She then watched Youko did the same but to her side of the bed. The White Rose let out a small sigh as she placed her arms on her lap, her upper body using them for support. "Where were you last night?"

Youko's bit her lower lip gently as she looked away. "At Sachiko's."

"I see." Sei responded, the pain evidently showed in her tone.

Youko quickly turned her head to look at Sei. Something tugged at her heart, making her feel guilty for avoiding Sei and hurting the blonde in the process. So she bit her lip again, her eyes lowered as she spoke. "I'm sorry for avoiding you, Sei."

Sei chuckled but it was emotionless. "I understand why you would want to avoid me." She then frowned. "Actually, I don't understand why you would."

Youko sighed and shook her head. "I didn't know what came over me," She began softly. "After I saw you…kissing Chikaru, my mind wasn't working right. I ran…" She sighed again. "Yes, I ran. My first destination was our room but I quickly thought against it. The only person that I could go to was Sachiko and I knew that she wouldn't be in her room. So I went there instead. I…shut myself in her room until she returned."

"The kiss between Chikaru and I is meaningless." Sei firmly stated.

Youko quickly shook her head. "It looked…so real."

Sei snorted slightly. "My back was facing you when she caught me off guard. Of course it would look real!"

"She caught you off guard?" Youko asked as she looked up at her companion in surprise.

Sei sighed and nodded. "Yes, she did. You see, she was just trying to push me to confess to you. Since I doubted your feelings for me, she had these outrageous plans to get me to literally see that you feel the same way. Unfortunately, I did actually see that. And I'm terribly sorry for hurting you…unintentionally."

Unconsciously, Youko lifted a hand to touch her lips. "So, that kiss earlier…"

Sei smiled, and for once, the smile reached her eyes that day. "I really did mean to kiss you, Youko. I thought that if I told you that I love you too, you wouldn't believe me." She then chuckled as she leaned back, her hand reaching up to scratch at the back of her head in a nervous manner. "So I thought that if I could prove my love into my own action…then maybe you'd see that I'm telling the truth."

Youko blushed as she diverted her eyes from Sei's. "You're an idiot, Sei."

There was a soft sound of movement from the opposite side from Youko's, and the Red Rose didn't have to turn to see that Sei was making her way to her. Soon enough she felt a light pressure under her chin as the White Rose gently lifted her head up. Once again, dark chocolate orbs met the deep ocean pools. And once again Youko felt like she could drown in them.

"You love this idiot." Sei said with a smirk as Youko chuckled.

"Ah, I guess I do. I hope that you don't mind having this meddler in your life." The dark hair girl said with a glint of playfulness in her eyes.

Sei chuckled as she lowered her head, closing the space between her and Youko. "I don't. In fact, I love this meddler." Her lips claimed Youko's once again, and this time she poured all of her feelings into that kiss. She could feel the smile from the other girl, and because of that she felt a smile of her own surfacing.

When Sei pulled away, she rested her forehead against Youko's, a smile still attached to her lips. "I hope that it is not too late to ask, but will you be my date to the dance tomorrow?"

Youko grinned as she shook her head lightly, then giggled at the fact that Sei's head was following her movement. "It is not too late, and I would be delighted to be your date to the dance tomorrow."

Somewhere in another part of the Strawberry Dormitory, and inside another students' room, two figures were enjoying themselves with the board game that one of them had took out. Minamoto Chikaru and Torii Eriko were seated on the floor with the only thing that separated them was the chess game that Chikaru had pulled out in the middle. None of the girls was winning and they were already at their second game. To think that they always ended up in a stalemate every time one of them thought they could take a win. Despite that fact they were thoroughly focused on the game. They didn't take the first stalemate serious. In fact, they took it as a challenge, a very interesting challenge. Occasionally there would be a few giggles and laughter being exchanged. To Torii Eriko, rooming with Minamoto Chikaru certainly was the greatest idea that the student councils had thought up, only because she found Chikaru to be extremely interesting to observe. To Minamoto Chikaru, she was thoroughly impressed by the Yellow Rose's intelligence and appearance, not to mention the title that the other girl was holding. The Yellow Rose was very interesting to converse with.

"I've never thought that I would come to meet another meddler." Eriko suddenly said as she picked up a Pawn, and moved it a square forward.

Chikaru chuckled as she studied the chess board. "I've never thought that I would come to meet an observer as good as myself."

Once Chikaru had placed her Knight to where her Queen was, threatening and blocking the Queen's movement, Eriko let out a small chuckle. "Well, I do hope that the pain that you've caused them was well worth it." She then picked up her Queen and moved it across the board, away from Chikaru's advancing Knight.

Chikaru brought a finger to her chin as she studied the board once more. "Mmm, I hope that they've made up by now." She then placed her Knight piece to where Eriko's pawn was, and smiled. "And I do hope that they don't hate me for it."

Eriko chuckled as she glanced over to her companion. "You really are an interesting girl, Chikaru."

Chikaru lifted her eyes from the board and directed them over to the brunette. Her smile widened a little as she tilted her head, her eyes twinkling with amusement. "Does that mean that you are interested in me, Eriko?"

Eriko blinked before a whole-hearted laugh escaped her lips. "You're setting your hope just a little bit too high, Chikaru. I wouldn't want to crush it."

It was Chikaru to laugh then. "So, should I be waiting for you to take an interest on me or should I be taking an interest on you?"

"Hmm," Eriko seemed to be thinking about her answer as she looked back down on the chess board. She then took the Pawn that was the closest to Chikaru's Knight, and moved it up a square so that on the next move, she'd be taking the Knight out if Chikaru didn't rescue it. "It all depends on how interesting you can make yourself seem to be, Chikaru. Then again, it all depends on me."

Chikaru smiled and nodded in understanding. 'One step at a time,'she told herself as she focused her eyes on the chess board again. Even if things wouldn't turn out the way that she wanted with Eriko, the brunette would still remain her friend. That was one thing that she would never let go of; friends.

A/N

No, I'm not thinking of putting Eriko and Chikaru together. That would be playing fire with fire. Just imagine what both of them can do as friends. Putting them together is like...I don't know, I can't find a way to describe it, other than both the Strawberry Panic characters and Marimite characters are going to be fearing these two.

Anyway, the next chapter will be the last chapter. I might make a sequel though. Marimite time with Strawberry Panic is not over until I say it is! Which will be after Summer School. Our Marimite characters should be wearing bikini too ~