Saving Yumi
After helping Yuko and her dad Takashi, Reina decided to move in with saving Yumi from episode 16. It wasn't exactly the right time when Hajime and Tsugumi found out about the circus yet, but Reina insisted of saving Yumi early. Right now she and her companions had arrived at the traveling circus; the circus was at a different town before it arrived at the place in episode 16. There wasn't a performance yet because everyone was practicing and getting everything ready.
"What are we doing at this circus?" asked Ren. "A child named Yumi who lives and works here is being abused by the ringmaster, who is also her father" answered Reina. "What?" said all the companions. Reina started to explain to her companions about Yumi and her twin sister Yuki. "Yumi and Yuki used to be really close to each other and inseparable like twins would," said Reina "but one day Yuki started to dislike her and not want to be with her anymore. The story is when those two started performing in the circus together, Yuki started liking all the attention she got. But she started liking the attention too much". "Oh so pride has taken over Yuki huh?" asked Wanyuudou. "Yes," said Reina "but it got worse when the twin's father started to spoil Yuki and praise her more than Yumi. Yuki started ruining Yumi's performances by sabotaging her equipment and getting her into trouble with their father. I'm afraid their father, the ringmaster, does not take kindly to mistakes during a performance and he abuses his own performers if they make a mistake. So because of Yuki, Yumi has been abused multiple times by the ringmaster and locked away in a storage shed. The reason why Yuki does this is because she was to be the main star of the circus and she doesn't want to share it with anyone, including her sister Yumi". "Oh so Yuki is a spoilt, selfish, narcissistic brat who has a bad case of main character syndrome" said Hone- Onna. "Does Yumi not tell her father what her sister has done?" asked Yamawaro. "Yumi tried to but that stupid man doesn't believe her; he favourites Yuki too much to ever believe she's a bad child" said Reina. "What are we going to do Reina-san?" asked Yamawaro. "My plan is to get Yumi out of this horrible circus and make that horrible ringmaster face his guilt," said Reina "and make those other performers realize their mistake and guilt too. That lot knows what the ringmaster has done to Yumi but all of them are too scared to stand up to the ringmaster. They fear they will lose their job and home in this circus if they stand up to him". "So we're punishing the whole circus" said Wanyuudou.
Reina started making her plan. "Yamawaro," she said "I'm leaving you to gather evidence this time. You are to spy on Yuki, and get evidence on her of sabotaging Yumi's equipment and get her to confess why she does it and why she likes putting Yumi in so much trouble with their father". "Yes Reina-san" said Yamawaro. "Hone Onna, Ren and Wanyuudou, you three are to blend in with the other circus folk and have words with them about Yumi's abuse" said Reina. "Ah talk them into their shamefulness" said Ren. "As for me I'm going to see Yumi and talk her into leaving this circus; staying here will not do her any good. She deserves a better life in a proper home with people who will care for her properly". "We not getting the circus ringmaster arrested or something?" asked Honne Onna. Reina sighed. "I thought about that, but if the ringmaster is gone then the whole circus is finished," said Reina "one thing about these travelling circuses is the circus people are born and raised in them. So working and performing in this circus is all they know. Once they lose the circus that's it for them, because they wouldn't know the first thing about living like a normal person". "So what you're saying is these people will become just jobless, homeless people without their circus" said Wanyuudou. "Exactly;" said Reina "that's why my plan is to make the circus face their guilt by losing Yumi". The companions understood.
While the companions were doing their business, Reina secretly made her way to the storage shed where Yumi was locked up in. Reina disguised herself as a 13 year old; she thought Yumi would feel better talking to someone her own age. She opened the door and saw Yumi whimpering in a corner of the shed, with bruises and scars all over her. To Reina it looked bad in the anime, but seeing it close was worse. "Yumi-chan, are you alright?" asked Reina. She was using her powers to make Yumi think she knows her. "Reina" said Yumi. Reina shut the door and went over to Reina. Then she took out a lot of rice balls, she created, from a bag and gave them all to Yumi. "No the ringmaster will find out" said Yumi, worriedly. Despite the ringmaster was their father, Yuki and Yumi only called them ringmaster or sir. "He and the other circus folk are too busy right now, so forget about him and eat" said Reina. Yumi ate all the rice balls because she had been very hungry; not only was she bruised and scarred all over, she was malnourished as well.
"Listen to me Yumi," said Reina "it's not right for you to stay here and get abused all the time because of what your spoilt sister Yuki has been doing. You should run away from here and live somewhere else". "What?!" gasped Yumi "But I like living and performing in the circus". "Listen," said Reina "nothing good will come to you if you stay here and let your sister and father continue of what they are doing to you. Your sister will keep on sabotaging your acts and harassing you and your father will keep on abusing you because of some mistakes you made. At this rate you will die because of your injuries. I've heard about people, especially other circus folk; die because of horrible abusing they go through, and your sister Yumi wouldn't care if that happened to you". Yumi gasped from hearing that. "Yuki and I use to be so close but then one day she stopped wanting to be with me and started disliking me" said Yumi, sadly. "That's because she wants to be the whole center of attention at this circus and she wants no one to take her no.1 spotlight and that includes you Yumi," said Reina "I hate to say this but Yuki, being a spoilt, selfish brat, will do anything to get what she wants including bad things. Being the no.1 star is what she really wants to be and that's all she cares about". Yumi didn't like hearing that; she didn't want to show off like Yuki does, all she wanted was just continuing performing together with her sister like they always did. "Take it from me Yumi;" said Reina "you will be a lot happy if you left this circus and lived somewhere else where someone would love and care for you, and you wouldn't have to fear the ringmaster or your sister anymore". Yumi stayed silent; the thought of living somewhere where her sister wasn't started to feel a bit nice.
While Reina was comforting Yumi, Wanyuudou, Ren and Hone Onna were going around helping the other circus folk. Hone Onna was talking to some ladies. "Do excuse me but shouldn't we do something for Yumi-chan?" she asked. The ladies went silent. "I mean she's been locked in the shed all day and the poor thing must be starving". "Sssshhhh we aren't supposed to talk things like that," said one of the ladies. "If someone is getting punished by the ringmaster, it's really best not to interfere with him nor stop him" said another lady. "But don't you feel sorry for her?" asked Hone Onna "I mean she's only a child and it's not her fault for making mistakes during a performance. It happens to everyone". "Sure we do feel sorry for her," said a lady "but if we go against the ringmaster and anger him, we'll be fired and lose our home here in the circus". "I get that bit," said Hone Onna "but what are we going to do if Yumi-chan dies from being whipped by the ringmaster so much? And what will you do if he does the same thing to your own children in the future?" The ladies flinched silently; they really didn't know what to do about it because they were scared of the ringmaster.
Meanwhile Yamawaro was spying on Yuki. Yuki had been talking to the ringmaster and some other circus folk and they were telling her what she and Yumi were going to do for the next performance. Of course Yuki didn't want to perform with Yumi, but they didn't know that. The trick was a disappearing trick, which was to have Yuki look like she disappeared in a box and then Yumi would appear at the back and then come onto the stage to take a bow. When the ringmaster and circus folk weren't looking, Yuki got ready to sabotage Yumi's things for the next performance. She grabbed Yumi's shoes and broke the heels on her shoes on purpose. What Yuki didn't know was Yamawaro was taking pictures of the whole thing.
After that Yamawaro went to visit Yuki in her caravan; this was to make her confess everything so he could record it. "Hello Yamawaro what brings you here?" asked Yuki. Thanks to Yamawaro's power, Yuki believes he's a friend of hers. "Came to see if everything was okay," said Yamawaro "I see you look all eager for the next performance tomorrow". "I sure am I love performing as you know" said Yuki. "I take it you've sabotaged Yumi's things for the show again?" asked Yamawaro. "I always do," replied Yuki "she doesn't deserve to get up onto the same stage with me". "Do excuse me Yuki," said Yamawaro "but hasn't it not occurred to you that when your sister dies by the ringmaster's abuse, the acts you two have done together will never been the same again?" "I don't care about that," said Yuki "it's her fault that I'm still being treated as half a person. I want to be standing on that stage all by myself. I want Yumi to hurry up and disappear already". "If you say so Yuki" replied Yamawaro, with a fake smile. What Yuki didn't know was Yamawaro recorded everything she said.
Later that day Reina met up with her companions. Yamawaro gave Reina the photos and recording tape. "It was as you said Reina-san," said Ren "the people here are scared to go against the ringmaster's orders and wishes to fight back against him". "They feel sorry for Yumi but they still won't make a move" said Wanyuudou. "We really do need to get that girl out of here; she doesn't deserve to live in a place like this" said Honne Onna. "We'll start making plans on getting her out of here after the performance tomorrow night," said Reina "tonight I'm going to work some of my magic to get Yumi to decide to leave". "What shall we do about Yumi's shoes that Yuki has broken?" asked Yamawaro. "We'll give new shoes to Yumi before she takes the stage and make Yuki get a real surprise" said Reina. That meant she planned to help Yumi perfect her performance just this once.
The next night the circus was performing again. Right now it was time for Yuki and Yumi's disappearing trick. Yumi was now hiding way behind the whole audience while Yuki was making her way on the stage. Just then she heard a voice; "Yumi, come outside quickly". It was Reina and she was telling Yumi to come over to her behind the tent at once. Yumi quickly made her way out the tent and found Reina holding another pair of shoes that looked the same Yumi was wearing right now. Reina had created them for her. "Quick change into these shoes, I noticed yours are broken on the heel" said Reina. "Thank you Reina" said Yumi, gratefully. She quickly changed her shoes and went back into the tent. Then Yuki disappeared with the box and then Yumi got up from the audience and made her way to the stage. This time she didn't trip on the stairs thanks to the shoes Reina gave her. So this time Yumi wasn't making a mistake during her performance.
After the performance was all over, Yumi got praised for a job well done. Yuki couldn't believe it; she noticed Yumi's shoes were not broken and she didn't like Yumi had successfully made a performance without any mistakes. 'What's going on?' thought Yuki 'I broke her shoes yesterday, how did she get those shoes? I'll have to make sure she's not so lucky next time'. For once the ringmaster was glad the performance went off without any mistakes, but poor Yumi was led back into the storage shed. At least this time she didn't get whipped.
"Why was Yumi placed back into the storage shed?" asked Yamawaro. "Because the ringmaster was still not satisfied yet;" answered Reina "Yumi may have performed well tonight. But because of all her past mistakes, the ringmaster is still not happy enough to let her out of the storage shed. I know it's unfair, but that's how it is with a very abusive ringmaster". The companions were not happy to hear that.
That night when everyone was asleep, Reina went to see Yumi who was also asleep. With her magic, Reina made Yumi end up with quite a few bad dreams. The first dream was about Yumi being whipped by the ringmaster over and over non-stop and everyone in the circus was just watching, not doing a thing to do that. The next dream was about her dying from her nasty wounds and Yuki was cheerfully watching her die saying; 'Goodbye Yumi now the stage is all mine'. The last dream was about Yumi becomg just like her father and sister; selfish, abusive, greedy and prideful.
Yumi didn't like her dreams and woke up screaming with fright. Reina, who had been waiting outside opened the door. "Yumi-chan are you okay?" she asked. "I just had the most terrible dreams" answered Yumi. She told Reina about her dreams. "So what do you want to do?" asked Reina "continue living here and suffer from the abuse till you die from your wounds or runaway from here and live a happier life somewhere else?" Yumi became silent for a moment. "I want to leave," she said at last "I want to leave and live happy somewhere else". She didn't want to continue getting abused and die. "Okay, I'll get you out of this circus, but first we must make you look like you've died" said Reina. "Huh?" said Yumi. "Listen Yumi," said Reina "if you runaway normally, the circus people will search for you, bring you back and then the ringmaster will beat you again. And if you keep on trying to runaway over and over again, the same things will happen over and over. Running away will not work, especially since the ringmaster won't let you off so easily and neither will your sister Yuki. So the only way for you to really escape is to make look like you're dead, and after the circus people are done dealing with your dead body and forget about you, then you can escape and live freely from them". Yumi was uneasy with the plan, but she really did want to escape. "What do I need to do?" she asked. Reina took out a bottle of liquid from her magic bag. "This is a sleeping draught that will make you completely unconscious and make you look like you're dead," said Reina "your pulse will stop and your body cold and you'll stay in a deep sleep". Yumi was shocked to hear that. "So the plan is this;" said Reina "once the circus people have buried your lifeless body, Ren and I will uncover your body when they are not looking. Then we'll get you out of here". Again Yumi felt uneasy, but she opened the bottle and drank the liquid. It wasn't long till she fell into a comatose sleep.
Reina got out of the storage shed, where her companions were waiting. They had been listening the whole time, so they know what the plan was. "Now we wait" said Reina. "I can't wait to see what the ringmaster's face will look like once he finds his daughter dead" said Ren. "Well whatever type of face he'll be putting on or emotion he'll be feeling, he will have to feel something once he realizes Yumi was telling him the truth" said Reina. "Indeed," agreed Hone Onna "but he will have to feel something once he learns his mistakes". "I wonder what his face will be like once his finds out it was Yuki's fault for Yumi's mistakes" said Yamawaro. "No doubt it won't be turn out good for him and no doubt Yuki will be in trouble for this too" said Wanyuudou. The others agreed.
The next day a woman who worked in the circus opened the storage door to give Yumi some breakfast. As Yumi was still looking asleep the woman tried to wake her up, but once she realized Yumi had no pulse she noticed Yumi was dead. It wasn't long till she told everyone in the circus that Yumi was dead. (Of course she's not really dead, but no one knows that) When the ringmaster saw Yumi's dead body he just stood there, looking completely emotionless and silent. Yuki just pretended to look upset of her sister's death; secretly she was happy to see her sister death.
Wanyuudou, who was in the crowd with the others, spoke up. "The reason why Yumi is dead is because of your abuse towards her Mr Ringmaster;" he said "keeping her locked in this storage shed, malnourishing her, and whipping her with the whip like crazy is what killed her". The Ringmaster just gritted his teeth in anger while looking at Wanyuudou. The other circus people just stared in silent; they believed Yumi's death was the ringmaster's fault too, but decided not to say anything. The ringmaster told everyone to bury Yumi's body, while he and Yuki walked away. Yuki was secretly laughing in her thoughts, happy that Yumi was no longer there.
It didn't take long for the circus people to dig a hole big enough for Yumi's body. They all felt pity for Yumi. "You see I told you Yumi would die from the abuse the ringmaster gave her" said Hone Onna. "Poor girl died an unfair, painful death" said Ren. "You all better watch out this happen to you or any of your future children" said Wanyuudou. The circus people just fell silent. Making the circus people feel guilty for never helping Yumi was part of their plan.
Very soon Yumi was buried in the ground and the circus people went back to their caravans. "Okay, Ren and Wanyuudou get Yumi out of the ground," said Reina "Yamawaro, you and Hone Onna go show the ringmaster the evidence of Yuki sabotaging Yumi's equipment and tell him what an idiot he has been". "Leave it to us Reina-san" said Hone Onna, then she and Yamawaro left. Ren and Wanyuudou got to work of digging up Yumi's grave at once. Reina set up an illusion barrier so no one would see what they were doing.
While that was going on Hone Onna and Yamawaro were at the Ringmaster's caravan and knocked on his door. "Come in" said a voice; it was the ringmaster. Hone Onna opened the door. "Please excuse us sir," said Hone Onna "but we have something that you might want to see". "What is it?" asked the ring master. "The reason why Yumi kept on making mistakes with her circus acts" answered Yamawaro. First Yamawaro showed the ringmaster the photos he took of Yuki sabotaging Yumi's shoes the day before yesterday. Next he played the tape recorder, which had Yuki's confessions of her sabotaging Yumi's performances, and about how she didn't care about Yumi's suffering and her wish for Yumi to disappear. The ringmaster couldn't believe it when he saw the photos and heard Yuki's confession. "Yumi was telling you the truth when she tried to tell you about Yuki did," said Hone Onna "and it's because of you spoiling Yuki too much, she has become a spoilt selfish brat who would do anything to be the main star of the circus alone, including getting rid of those who stand in her way, including her own sister. Poor little Yumi was innocent the whole time and you didn't believe her Mr Ringmaster. I bet Yuki is laughing with delight right now because she succeeded on getting rid of her own sister. Hate to say this Mr Ringmaster but not only did you kill one of your own daughters, but you turned your other daughter into a monster". The ringmaster flinched in silence. Then he got out of his chair and stormed out of the caravan. "Yuki's in trouble now" said Yamawaro.
Yamawaro was right because the ringmaster confronted Yuki at once about sabotaging Yumi's performances. Of course Yuki tried to sweet talk out of it, saying she didn't do anything. But when the ringmaster showed Yuki the evidence, Yamawaro gave him, there was no way for her to talk out of it. Before Yuki knew it, the ringmaster dragged her to the storage shed and locked her in there for a time out. He started to feel a bit bad for his mistakes.
Meanwhile Ren and Wanyuudou had dug Yumi out of her grave and placed back the soil. Ren held Yumi in his arms. "How long will it be till the drug wears off?" asked Ren. "Another few hours" answered Reina. Just then Reina got a telepathic message from Hone Onna, saying the ring master was on his way to Yumi's grave. "Hide with Yumi Ren, the ringmaster is coming" said Reina. "Right away" said Ren, and he disappeared with Yumi. Wanyuudou and Reina pretended to mourn for Yumi. Then the ringmaster turned up and he stared at Yumi's grave. "I found out Yuki was the one who made Yumi mess up her performances" said the ringmaster. "So you finally realized your mistakes of not listening and trusting your own daughter, who was more sensible then her twin?" asked Wanyuudou. The ringmaster said nothing. "You have no one to blame this upon but yourself Ringmaster," said Reina "you are the one who spoiled Yuki too much and abused Yumi to death by your own hands". Then she and Wanyuudou left, leaving the ringmaster to think about his actions.
"If that man has any sense of guilt in him, it will haunt him for the rest of his life" said Wanyuudou. "It was also haunt him forever when he enters hell," said Reina "the same for Yuki. Of course she'll never feel remorse for what she did. But hell will welcome her all the same". She and Wanyuudou walked over to the storage shed. Yuki was pounding at the door, demanding to be let out, but of course no one was listening to her calls. "No doubt that girl is never going to learn her lesson nor repent for what she did" said Wanyuudou. "She's too consumed by her own greed, selfishness and main character syndrome" said Reina. Then they left.
Reina and Wanyuudou met up with the others. Yumi was still asleep in Ren's arms. "Let's go" said Reina; it was time for them to leave the circus and get Yumi somewhere far away from it. Wanyuudou transformed into his carriage form and everyone got into him with Yumi. It wasn't long for Wanyuudou to start flying away. "What now Reina-san?" asked Ren. "We now take Yumi to an orphanage;" answered Reina "she will be safe there and can start a new life from there". "Good idea;" said Hone-Onna "she may even find new friends and maybe a new family there". "Once Yumi wakes up we'll explain what's going on now" said Reina. Reina healed all of Yumi's wounds with her magic. She didn't want anyone to see all of Yumi's cuts, scars and bruises.
A few hours later Yumi woke up. Reina and her companions explained to Yumi what had happened; about how the circus people believed she was dead, how they buried her in the ground and how the ringmaster, Yuki and the other circus people felt. "We got you out of the ground when everyone finished morning for you and then placed the soil back," said Ren "no one suspects a thing". Next Yamawaro told Yumi about when he got evidence of Yuki sabotaging her equipment. "After your funeral I gave the evidence to the ringmaster," said Yamawaro "he was pretty mad after realizing his mistakes. Yuki is now stuck in solitary confinement in the storage shed as punishment, and it doesn't look like she'll be out of her punishment for a while". "At least she'll see how I felt" said Yumi. "So the truth is Yumi you are now free from the circus and as for the circus people; well they will be living in guilt for never helping you and the ringmaster will be living in guilt for his actions". "What will happen to me now?" asked Yumi. "We are taking you to an orphanage;" answered Reina "there you'll be able to make friends and not have to worry about the circus. You may be able to find a new family there too". "Oh okay" said Yumi, sounding worried. "What we'll tell the orphanage is you were abandoned by your own family;" said Reina "you mustn't tell anyone, ever, that you came from a circus, okay and the real truth about your past?" "I understand" said Yumi. "Oh and another thing," said Reina "don't ever go anywhere near circuses again. Remember your circus believes your dead so you must make sure they never find out the truth by seeing you at their circus again". "I don't intend to" said Yumi; she didn't want anything to do with the circus again. She thanked Reina and her companions for everything.
So Reina and her companions took Yumi to the orphanage and introduced her to the owners. They explained, with lying, that Yumi had been abandoned by her own family and had no one else to care for her, and the owners believed them. Yumi was brought into the orphanage at once so now she was safe.
A few days later Reina checked on Yumi one last time; it seemed she got on well in the orphanage and made some friends. So Yumi was happy at last. Reina also checked on the circus. They were now moving away to their next destination. Yuki was still in the storage shed as punishment and the ringmaster just looked colder than usual. Because of what happened there was nothing he could do to change it, especially since Yumi was dead. No doubt the circus people were going to make sure what happened to Yuki didn't happen to anyone else again, and Yuki was going to be well watched over after this, just in case she tried to sabotage anyone else.
So Yumi started a new happier life at the orphanage while the circus people were going to live in guilt from their sins
Hope you like how I saved Yumi. Pity the ringmaster never found out Yumi was telling the truth about Yuki.