The Rose That Bloomed Alone

Maria-sama ga Miteru/Marimite fanfic. Youko meddles in other people’s lives because she wants them to find the happiness she believes she herself can never have.
(Youko/Sei) One of three stories written to loosely fit together, the other two being "A Sakura Among the Ginkgos" and "Kissing Cousins by the Koi Pond".

Read The Rose That Bloomed Alone

Disclaimer: Maria-sama ga Miteru and its characters belong not to me, because if they had, these two characters would have had a nice romance arc all of their own in the anime. Shiori? Who cares about Shiori?


I haven’t watched Marimite in a while, and even if I had I don’t think there was much mentioned about Youko’s past or family situation, although I could be wrong. Either way, I have never read the manga or the novels, and even my recall of the anime isn’t 100% at the moment, so I’m just making things up to be the way I want them right now. There, I’ve warned you. :D





The Rose That Bloomed Alone
---------------------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




Mizuno Youko was a meddler by nature. It was not, as some individuals that did not know her well might have suspected, a thing born from a need to manipulate others, oh no. Youko merely... cared. Too much and too compulsively at times, and because she was the kind of sophisticated and dignified young woman that she was, her concern for others most often found an outlet in her subtle – or sometimes not so subtle, for those that were very close to Youko’s heart – machinations to pull other people towards what she perceived as their happiness.

Watching other people achieve some measure of happiness was a source of wistful satisfaction for Youko, who knew well that her own chances of any real happiness were slim at best... one might even say nonexistent. Oh yes, Youko knew this, certainly.

Born the sole successor of a family of some wealth and note her parents had raised her to meet all the expectations of her name, yet remained as distant to her as the many teachers and tutors that had moved through her life in her younger years. They had raised an heir, not a daughter, although Youko did not resent them for it.

The compulsion to do well and rise to the expectations was deeply rooted within Youko by the time she entered school, and for each passing year the expectations became greater. She fulfilled them all, and in the process became well liked among her peers... yet had no real friends to speak of. Youko was simply too grown-up, too poised, and most of all, too revered, for her classmates to approach her casually.

When the Rosa Chinensis en bouton had approached Youko at the beginning of her stint as a first year Youko had been flattered and somewhat grateful for the attention. When she had been offered the rosary of the Chinensis family, Youko had not been surprised... it had been easy to see the similarities between the two Chinensis members and herself, and she had known she would perform well in Yamayurikai. Youko had been the first to join the Yamayurikai that year, her age-mates Eriko and Sei not joining them until some time later.

While Youko respected and liked her oneesama, and of course the Rosa Chinensis at the time, there had never been any stronger emotional bond between them. It had not mattered; Youko had been grateful and made sure to honour her oneesama as was proper, and to fulfil all her Yamayurikai duties to the fullest. If it were not for one particular person Youko would perhaps not even have realised that she had been missing something emotionally, much less lived to experience these things for herself.

The Rosa Gigantea en bouton at the time had spoken for a while of getting a petite soeur of her own, while Youko and Eriko were both already members of Yamayurikai, and had decided on a particular, by her own description, unruly child for the position. One day the impossibly tall woman had just waltzed in, an insolent smirk on her comely features, with a tall, scowling and pouting blue-eyed blonde in a firm grip. She had introduced the girl as Satou Sei, to which Sei had merely grunted in the direction of the rest of the room, then sat down to stare at her crossed feet for the rest of the meeting. The newly minted oneesama had merely watched her new petite soeur and grinned, leaving the rest of them slightly bewildered what to make of the newcomer.

Well, the rest of the Yamayurikai perhaps, but not Youko. Youko had taken one look at the pouting vision of Satou Sei and felt her stomach do strange and dizzying flips. It was a reaction that bewildered her at the time, and that would accompany every encounter with the lanky Sei for quite a while.

Sei had, when she had been made a petite soeur, been surly and distrusting of others, prickly about many things, especially her appearance and anything that could even remotely be considered a reference to her being half-Japanese. But with the camaraderie of the Yamayurikai, the easygoingness of her oneesama, and the acceptance and even friendship offered by Eriko and Youko, Sei relaxed her attitude over time. Soon enough it was easy to see an almost true familial resemblance between Sei and her oneesama, with similar roguish easygoing smiles and flirtatious nature.

The first time Youko had been the recipient of that wide roughish smile and a flirtatious wink, it had left her breathless and with a fluttering heart. Years later, Youko had still not recovered from the effects of Sei’s charming smile.

By the time Youko had realised the cause for her strange reactions to Sei, and self-examination had made her reach the inevitable conclusion regarding her feelings for the tall blonde, Youko, Sei and Eriko were all already second years. By then it was already too late.

Encouraged by Eriko, whom had realised the nature of Youko’s feelings towards Sei perhaps even before Youko did, Youko prepared how to best approach Sei with the matter of her heart. A final pep-talk from Eriko had given Youko courage, and she had set out to catch up to Sei in an out-of-sight spot beyond the church were she felt sure Sei would be, alone.

Youko had almost reached Sei, already raised her hand in greeting, Sei’s name already forming on her lips when... she saw her.

Long dark hair swaying with some private breeze as she strode gracefully directly towards Sei, dark eyes never leaving the blonde. And Sei, Sei... saw nothing else, knew nothing else, as Kubo Shiori smiling walked right up to her and into her arms with an ease that told Youko it was far from the first time.

Then the two kissed. And Youko’s heart... shattered.

She made her way back unseen, somehow, not shedding a single tear until she fell into the arms of the badly startled Eriko where she sobbed with a near-hysterical desperation that would never be repeated. Eriko’s first reaction as she awkwardly tried to comfort Youko was to locate her other friend and give her a good and unladylike thumping. In the face of Eriko’s indignation on her behalf Youko found the words to express the attitude towards Sei that she would then follow for the duration of her remaining school years at Lillian: Youko would hope for Sei’s happiness, and not interfere.

It took a few days, but eventually Youko regained enough poise not to be reduced to tears at the thought of Sei, and fortunately Sei’s presence was scarce around the Yamayurikai at this time. Eriko abandoned her stab at anger, as well, and during this time chose her petite soeur, Hasekura Rei. Encouraged by Eriko once more, Youko focused her attention on finding the one first-year student that would fit the Chinensis name one day.

She found her quickly, a simple glance into a classroom was really all Youko needed to know that she had found her petite soeur, although she did do all the proper research before actually approaching the girl. Ogasawara Sachiko was a young swan among the ducklings, and one glance at the girl, her regal bearing, her aloof concentration, and the almost tangible distance between her and the other girls that even then were staring at Sachiko in admiration, and Youko knew this girl would one day be a Rosa Chinensis.

When Sachiko accepted Youko’s rosary she would also bring a treasured source of joy to the latter’s life. In Sachiko Youko found a soul surprisingly similar to her own in some ways, and someone who needed her, someone who not only brought out but also accepted the mothering tendencies in Youko, and Youko loved her deeply and dearly. Sachiko responded to Youko’s love with her own, and a deep sense of admiration and respect that was humbling at first, before Youko learned to just accept it. It was not a romantic love between them, in any sense, instead it felt as if Youko truly had been gifted with a blood sister after all this time.

Doting on Sachiko in the various ways Youko did to help the girl grow more comfortable in her own skin was a source of peace, even if Youko was not above challenging Sachiko’s hidden temper for her own good upon occasion, something to hold on to in a time when Youko badly needed just that.

Sei was never around, and not even the summons of her oneesama, the Rosa Gigantea, would keep Sei’s presence at the Yamayurikai meetings for long. The two first-year additions to the group had barely seen Sei in her capacity as Rosa Gigantea en bouton, and Sachiko developed a kind of instinctive dislike for the tall girl whom appeared to shirk her responsibilities completely and, more offensive still, made Sachiko’s oneesama have the fleeting sad expression at times.

The Rosa’s finally made a joint decision to step in once rumours and Sei’s negligence had just gone too far. They tried the logic approach, they tried arguing. They even tried the impassionate plea from Sei’s oneesama, but it was to no avail.

Sei for some reason simply would not make Shiori her petite soeur, and while Shiori was not present at the Yamayurikai meetings, neither would Sei.

The Rosas shook their heads and sighed, Sei’s oneesama voicing their fear: this would not end well. It took some while still before Youko found out what worried them all so about Kubo Shiori.

No words could accurately describe the way Youko’s own heart bled to walk out on the platform at that train station to see that proud, free spirit so utterly and cruelly broken by her faithless lover. To have Sei’s love and throw it away... Youko could not understand Shiori’s reasoning. Youko herself would have given anything, sacrificed anything she had, for Sei’s heart.

But Sei would never see her.

Time passed and Sei bounced back, though never entirely the same as before, and somewhere during her worry for Sei, her unspoken love, her guidance of Sachiko and her efforts to keep Sei and Sachiko civil with one another – as Sachiko never quite got over that smidgen of dislike she felt towards her senior, and Sei, perhaps sensing Sachiko’s aversion, never missed an opportunity to try and tease Sachiko until her temper flared – Youko found herself a third year and the Rosa Chinensis.

The first of the new additions to the Yamayurikai was added already on the first day of the school year, although they would not get to actually be introduced to Shimazu Yoshino until a few days later, but since the subject of her cousin was the one thing Rei would inevitably veer off into regardless of the conversation, the rest of the Yamayurikai already felt as if they knew the girl somewhat. Rei even carried a picture in her wallet, and another in her weekly planner, of young Yoshino, it had been the subject of many disbelieving silences as it seemed everyone was aware of Rei’s feelings for her cousin besides Rei herself.

Then came the day that Toudou Shimako entered Sei’s life, and from the other girl’s attempts to hide her shell-shocked daze from Youko’s watching eyes, Youko knew it was a significant encounter. Youko would not let history repeat itself for Sei, even if she had to bend a few rules to do it.

Shimako was brought to the Yamayurikai, and in time, when it became apparent that despite all the work Youko put into making Shimako present and available, yes in fact Sei’s petite soeur in all but name already, Sei would still not act, Youko’s plotting took care even of that attempt at resistance. The slight but lingering rivalry between Sachiko and Sei served the purpose well, and Sei rose to the bait. There would be no repeat of the Shiori disaster on Youko’s watch.

Sei seemed to settle down once Shimako was her petite soeur, to Youko’s relief. The free-spirited blonde was not as happy as Youko would have wished for, but she was at least healing – Youko knew the healing properties having a petite soeur could have quite well – and that was enough for now. The three Foetidas were happy and Sei was healing... that only left Youko’s own precious little Sachiko to worry about.

And worry Youko did. Sachiko was buckling under the increasing strain of her familial situation, without a petite soeur to ease her burden. Youko tried to help but could only do so much, and then things were brought to a head with the unfortunate joint school play.

Youko tried, again, to convince Sachiko that she needed to take a petite soeur. Sei, with a bit of backing from Eriko, just did her worst to get on Sachiko’s nerves that day, and things evolved into a shouting match before Sachiko stormed out of the room.

Stormed right into the arms of Fukuzawa Yumi, and by rights there should have been some kind of cosmic sign, a clap of thunder or at the very least the ringing of the church bell, to signify the importance of that event. Despite the rocky start, Yumi entered their lives and their hearts, whether she meant to or not.

Sei especially took a liking to the girl, so much so that Youko for a while worried that she had done Sei a disservice by pushing her towards Shimako. As she watched, astonished, as a deep and sincere – and most of all, romantic – love grew between her precious petite soeur and little Yumi, though, Youko could not help but feel that things were as they should be. Although it was clear that Sei and Yumi had bonded and cared greatly for one another, it was not a romantic thing, and no-one could possibly doubt how deeply Yumi was in love with Youko’s petite soeur. Youko was happy knowing that even when she would leave the school there would be someone there for Sachiko, always and whatever happened.

The only one that would never have any measure of real happiness of that kind to cling to was Youko herself. She knew this, and while it hurt to watch Sei, to remain by her side for all the tumultuous events of their last year at Lillian, yet never have Sei look her way even once, she had no objections. On Mizuno Youko’s list of importance she herself had never held any prominent placing, ever. Life moved along regardless.

So, suddenly, came graduation. It almost hit Youko from a blind corner, even though the Yamayurikai had prepared for it for so long. After graduating Youko would move on to another prestigious school to finish the kind of education her parents wanted for her, and the daily lives of the Yamayurikai members would be lost to her. Even though Youko would keep in touch with Eriko and Sei, and of course her precious Sachiko, the distance would become greater and greater... and Youko would no longer be able to be there to personally make sure each of the people she cared about were happy and safe.

No longer would Youko look up from whatever she was doing to see Sei standing in the light by a familiar window, then turn towards Youko with that cheeky grin.

She had not allowed herself to falter, walked out the school gates with her back straight and her head held high, not looking back. She considered it her final act as Rosa Chinensis. She, Sei and Eriko had said brief goodbyes, as if they were to meet again the next morning, then each had gone on in their own direction, Youko home to follow her already packaged and transported belongings to the town where she would go to school next.

That night Youko had laid down on her bed and cried like a child, exhausted both physically and emotionally, feeling lonelier than ever. Her saving grace had been a phone call right before she was about to call it a night, from Sachiko whom worried and wanted to know if Youko had arrived alright. There had been tears in Sachiko’s voice, but just hearing the girl she had feared would no longer be her petite soeur had soothed some of the pain in Youko. Although they never said it out loud then, Youko knew that she would always be Sachiko’s respected older sister, even when the memories of Lillian itself had faded.

It had made the loneliness a little easier to bear.

Youko of course excelled at her new school, and she was quickly a name to respect and reckon with. It was not the same, however, meddling with the lives of strangers instead of meddling with the lives of those that been something between friends and family. Youko of course kept close contact with Sachiko and her family – and also the rare, spaced-out, letter from Eriko - and that meant that when things went so bad, Youko packed her belongings and took time off from her school to come back home where she could better support Sachiko.

At the time for Youko’s return, things were not yet so dire and Sachiko and her mother still clung to some hope. They spent most of their time at the hospital where Youko only rarely joined them, so for the most part Youko spent her time at her own home or in town, just feeling better when she could be there on a moments notice if she was needed.

She had hesitated at first to contact Sei, feeling uneasy with the sheer need she harboured to see the other woman again, but soon realised that she was being silly about it. The only thing that would seem strange to Sei was if Youko were in town and did not contact her old friend even briefly, so Youko did just that. Having failed to reach Sei on the phone, Youko merely appeared at the school gates at about the time when Sei would be making her way home for the day.

The reunion would prove to be surprisingly fulfilling for Youko... and just plain surprising.

Ignoring the many admiring looks sent her way Youko stood by the gate, somewhat anxiously scanning the crowds for a tall blonde form as familiar to her as anything. She was shocked to realise that her eyes swept past Sei’s form twice before it registered somewhere within that the tall, short-haired blonde in a white shirt and dark pants that was walking along chatting animatedly with a brunette with glasses was not a boy but indeed the woman Youko was looking for. Something of her shock must have shown on her face for a moment, because as they got closer the brunette noticed Youko’s stare and gave Sei a nudge in Youko’s direction.

As Sei’s eyes turned to her Youko briefly amused herself with wondering if little Rei knew that Sei had stolen her haircut, then all thoughts promptly left her mind all at once as Sei’s face broke out into a wide grin and the blonde called out her name. Sei immediately ran up to Youko and lifted her into her arms, spinning her around several times before engulfing the rather stunned Youko in a bear hug.

Instinctively Youko had thrown her arms around Sei’s neck when the other had started spinning her around, and as Sei did not release her tight grip around Youko’s waist even after their hug, Youko decided to let her arms remain where they were for the time being. It was a treat she had never imagined she would receive, after all.

The brunette came up to them and said a few greetings before walking off with an amused smile on her face, and then Sei and Youko began talking, staring at one another completely oblivious to the many stares and giggles sent their way by the other students as they walked slowly past them on their way to their respective homes.

“I’ve missed you.” The smile that never failed to leave Youko breathless made an appearance. “Have you missed me?” Though spoken in jest, the question had a touch of neediness that surprised them both.

“Yes, yes I have... yes I do.” Youko answered honestly, charmed to see a pleased expression on those loved features.

The hug this time was gentle, and sent a thrill down Youko’s spine when she both felt and heard the taller woman briefly put her nose in Youko’s black hair and take a deep breath. Youko’s heart was pounding madly in her chest, this greeting was almost unreal... Sei holding her, breathing her, looking at her like a lover would... it was something Youko only occasionally dared to let herself imagine in the dark of night. It was not something that could actually happen.

And yet it had.

“Youko?” Sei drew back just enough so she could look into Youko’s eyes again. “What has happened? I doubt you’re here just because I’ve been missing you.”

So Youko told Sei all about Sachiko’s family and her decision to return home for the time being so that she could offer whatever support Sachiko might need of her. In return Sei, concerned now that she found out that there had been more going on than she suspected, told Youko about the recent problems between Yumi and Sachiko. Youko’s heart bled even more to hear it, and Sei tried to comfort Youko with the promise that if Sachiko and Yumi did not work things out on their own pretty soon, they would find a way to offer them a little help along the way.

By the time the two former members of Lillian’s famed Yamayurikai reluctantly disentangled, all other students had long since left the area. Somewhat abashed Youko tried to act casual about their long embrace as if it was a commonplace occurrence for them, when both women were well aware that it was anything but. Sei saved her from the embarrassment when she impulsively grabbed Youko’s hand, fetched her abandoned things, and set of at a brisk pace towards her home, dragging the not unwilling Youko along with her.

Youko was entranced by the sensation of the large, strong hand engulfing her own in its warmth... it felt right, her hand in Sei’s, like it belonged there.

Feeling a tiny bit daring for a moment Youko carefully twisted her hand in Sei’s grip until she could entwine their fingers. Sei gave a small start and looked at their joined hands, but just as Youko was about to let go in fear that she had gone too far, Sei flashed her a huge, happily bright smile and firmed her grasp, pulling Youko a little closer as she resumed their speedy trek towards Sei’s home.

They would spend so much time talking that night snuck up on them, and Sei convinced Youko to spend the night. The following morning was hectic, but as they made their way outside they managed to make plans to meet later in the day for dinner, and then something happened as they were just about to part.

In a move too quick for Youko to quite follow, Sei leaned in and pressed her lips in a brief but firm kiss to Youko’s cheek. The taller woman spun around immediately after to make a mad dash in the direction of her school, not looking back, but Youko caught sight of the adorable blush on Sei’s cheeks as she moved away.

Youko was left standing there in a daze, hand to her tingling cheek, for a long, long time before she finally mustered up the will to move away from Sei’s door.

Amidst Youko’s visits with Sachiko and the more and more grave situation for her precious petite soeur, Youko and Sei began dating. It was a subject discreetly approached between them, neither of them saying a word to suggest that was what they were doing, but the dinners, the movies, the picnics and long walks in the park... finally it seemed silly to pretend to be ‘just friends’ when Sei showed up at Youko’s doorstep dressed to kill, and took Youko out dancing.

That night they shared their first real kiss, as Youko grasped her courage with both hands and pulled the woman who had just managed to steal her heart away all over again in for a sweet goodnight kiss.

Or that was what it was supposed to be. But Sei and Youko were grown women whose emotions and desires had been steadily intensified during their period of undefined dating, and in Youko’s case she had loved and longed for Sei for so very long. It was not as if they were strangers returning from their first date, or so Youko tried to justify events afterwards while Sei merely snickered and waggled her eyebrows.

When Sei responded to Youko’s kiss, all reason and propriety flew out the window. By the time they could somehow, with great effort, tear themselves away from the other woman’s lips the night air around them had turned them both cold as ice and they just could not bear to part.

It was a Friday night and nothing else mattered for the moment than the two of them. Youko invited Sei in, and Sei... stayed the weekend.

In Sei’s arms Youko discovered to her shock a wanton, passionate side of herself that the usually somewhat restrained woman had never imagined. In Youko’s arms Sei found a safe place to rest her heart at long last, though it was not a process completed that quickly. In Youko Sei found a place she felt she belonged, finally, and in Sei Youko found someone that did not require Youko to be the strong caretaker all the time, someone that would hold her as she wept and take care of her for a change.

Then matters with Sachiko got worse, and Youko was finally forced to act on her petite soeur’s behalf, bringing Yumi to Sachiko’s side in her hour of need.

Roughly a week later Youko had to return to her school.

Parting with Sei now, after waiting for all those years to finally have her love, was hard on Youko, as watching the only other woman she had dared to love in her young life leave her behind was for Sei, but they were old enough and intelligent enough to know that it was inevitable. They were also quite determined to make things work despite the distance.

When they had sat down to have the conversation, the first real one they’d had regarding their relationship, Youko had come right out and told Sei that if she wanted Youko to remain close by she would drop out of school and return for good. Sei, humbled and happy about the offer but well aware of how important the degree Youko was striving for might prove to be, kissed and hugged her lover and suggested instead that they try to put up with it, to go visit one another at any and all opportunities they would get and call as often as possible. Unbeknownst to each other both women began planning how to change their academic load in ways that would grant them an extra day off every other weekend, allowing for a weekend visit with each other.

The day Youko were to go, Sei did not follow her to the train station. Instead they said their goodbyes at Sei’s home, and Sachiko came by to follow Youko to the station. It was something Youko understood well, and she had not expected Sei to be able to see her off at that place, in fact she would not have wanted Sei to have to see Youko leave her behind at that particular spot, even if they both knew they would not be apart for all that long.

Just as Youko was about to board the train a young man in an outfit that boasted a floral delivery company came running shouting her name. Sachiko, lingering on the platform until the train left the station, intercepted him and managed to help him hand over some wrapped flowers to Youko before the doors were closing.

Alone in her seat after waving to her little sister one more time Youko carefully opened the slender package with some anxiety. The plain white paper came off revealing two long-stemmed roses in a small but thankfully sturdy flute, one deep red and one pure white, and a small card attached to them with a tiny red ribbon.

Blinking against the tears that had sprung to her eyes, Youko reached for the card... only to have something fall out into her hand with a tiny jingling sound. Surprised she focused on the cold and unexpected object first... and gasped.

It was a small silver necklace, the chain tiny and the locket a small, stylized heart with a single sparkling little stone set into it. It was not an expensive piece of jewellery, but it was tasteful and in a style Youko liked, although right then Youko would have loved anything no matter how gaudy a bauble had been given her.

Youko’s hands shook as she opened the card at last, holding the necklace reverently in one hand.

“Be mine”

It was all the card said and it was unsigned, but Youko would know Sei’s sloppy and slightly lopsided handwriting anywhere. Choking down a sob Youko lifted first the card and then the necklace gently to her lips, then she put the card and the flowers carefully aside, rewrapping them in their protective paper, before finally putting the necklace around her neck.

It was a perfect fit.

Youko smiled, blinking away a few tears that escaped. It was fortunate that she never went anywhere without her cell phone, she thought, and that she always made sure her phone was state of the art. The sleek black shell Youko pushed open with a tiny snap was more like a miniaturised computer than anything else... it would make finding a local flower shop and a jewellery store so much easier, not to mention finding a fitting gift.

Youko already knew what the card would say.

Forever yours.

Kissing Cousins By The Koi Pond

Maria-sama ga Miteru/Marimite fanfic. A kendo practice-session in the backyard with Yoshino brings a startling revelation for Rei. (Rei/Yoshino) One of three stories written to loosely fit together, the other two being "A Sakura Among the Ginkgos" and "The Rose That Bloomed Alone".

Read Kissing Cousins by the Koi Pond

Disclaimer: Maria-sama ga Miteru and its characters belong not to me, although if anyone should feel like giving them to me I promise to take good care of them. ;P


I haven’t watched Marimite in a while, I’ve never read the manga or the novels etc, and have not the faintest clue what Rei and Yoshino’s family story might be beyond the fact that they are cousins, best friends and next-door neighbours. I’m making all of this up, don’t be offended if you actually know the story from, say, the novels and it is nothing like what I suggest here – or that Rei’s mother isn’t named Keiko – and so on.





Kissing Cousins By The Koi Pond
---------------------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




While the Hasekura and Shimazu homes were separated by an old stone wall at the front like all the other neighbouring houses on their street, in the backyard the dividers had been torn down long ago when Rei and Yoshino had been small children, creating a surprisingly large and luxurious yard for the two families. It was more convenient that way, and besides, any lingering concept of privacy had been rather thoroughly smashed for either family once Shimazu Yoshino was old enough to get over to the Hasekura home on her own two feet to demand to see her precious cousin.

After that point the two girls would become inseparable.

As Yoshino had finally gone through with the heart-surgery she needed during her first year as a Yamayurikai member at the prestigious school of Lillian, her body was finally getting to be strong enough that the strong-willed and hot-tempered young martial arts fanatic had managed to somehow convince her far gentler, and somewhat over-protective, older cousin to accept her enrolment into the Kendo club where Rei was captain. Thus, during Rei’s last year in the Yamayurikai and Yoshino’s second, it was no longer an uncommon sight for either household to see the two girls train in the backyard.

Rei’s mother, Hasekura Keiko, smiled as she looked up from her cooking to catch a glimpse of the two girls through the kitchen window, but thought nothing out of the ordinary about it. Distractedly she continued with the preparations for the evening meal while chatting with her sister-in-law.

In the yard by the small koi pond Rei frowned for a moment, looking at Yoshino’s stance with a critical eye. Yoshino certainly had aptitude for kendo, and enough spirit to make up for the physical limitations she still had, but occasionally she tended to break form and try to skip ahead of herself. This was the reason why they had spent an hour already, training Yoshino in the latest set of moves Rei had instructed her in.

Rei would not be the captain of Lillian’s kendo club when the next school year came around, and she felt a certain... need... to make sure that she had taught Yoshino as much as she could and as well as she could before that happened. Not that the girl that would replace her would be a bad captain, far from it, but Yoshino was, of course, a special case.

Fortunately Rei knew quite a bit could be learned by watching, and it made the training easier that Yoshino had done that ever since Rei herself had first taken up the shinai. Yes... Yoshino’s eyes had never wavered from Rei, not even once.

Rei was surprised to find herself feeling slightly flustered at the thought.

Snapping out of the strange turn of her thoughts, Rei sighed as Yoshino once more broke form while Rei had seemed preoccupied, and with a wide, somewhat devilish, grin completed a few flashy spur-of-the-moment moves with a twinkle in her dark eyes.

Yoshino, Rei reminded herself wryly, also watched far too many samurai-type action movies, and not all of them were good.

Knowing that Yoshino usually took her training seriously and only started in on the ‘Yoshino school of anything goes kendo’ moves when she started to tire, or, of course, if she was deliberately teasing Rei, Rei decided to have one more go before putting a halt to their impromptu session. She chose a method she never used with anyone other than Yoshino, ever, and only very rarely at that.

When asked to Yoshino immediately dropped the playing to assume the starting position for the move, and then Rei, having put down her own shinai, moved in behind Yoshino.

The taller Rei moulded her form somewhat along Yoshino’s back, a knee nudging the back of Yoshino’s making her leg bend just so while a hand on Yoshino’s hip kept that in place, and Rei’s other arm came down along Yoshino’s to have one hand atop both of Yoshino’s guide the move on the shinai.

Although it was rare it had happened upon occasion that they had trained this way, and just why it was so different this particular day would be a question that Rei would ask herself time and time again in the days that followed. Yes, they had trained this way before... yet this time something shifted in Rei, and she found herself almost painfully aware of her slightly younger cousin.

The heat from Yoshino’s body blasted its way through two sets of clothing, bringing with it a sense of intimacy that made Rei’s face burn, and her body seem like it was melting. As if watching her reactions from some kind of inward distance Rei noticed with rising alarm and mortification that she gasped almost right into Yoshino’s ear and pressed her body slightly closer to that amazing warmth. Oh kamisama, what was she doing?

At the sound of Rei’s gasp Yoshino stiffened for a moment and answered with a tiny gasp of her own. Unnoticed to Rei the hand that had held a light, chaste grip on Yoshino’s hip moved and splayed out, no longer remotely chaste, and the hand that had been placed to guide Yoshino’s own changed from a gentle grip to a restless and unstopping caress over the suddenly very sensitive skin of Yoshino’s hands. Yoshino shuddered and leaned back into Rei.

Confused beyond rationality Rei merely stood there, staring at the familiar form in her arms and listening to the sound of Yoshino’s shallow breathing, neither she nor Yoshino noticing when the shinai dropped from Yoshino’s hands to fall to the ground with a small clatter. Rei’s eyes were fixed to the scar on Yoshino’s chest, the idle thought running through her mind that the skin there looked soft again and no longer lined with an angry red. Entwining her fingers with Rei’s Yoshino pulled Rei’s other arm to wrap around her waist while she shifted subtly in the surprising embrace, leaning her head back against Rei’s shoulder.

Rei did not realize that she was staring down Yoshino’s cleavage until the slight shift refocused her attention to the round swell next to the scar she had been unintentionally studying. Blushing even more furiously and internally cursing her strangely rebellious body Rei snapped her eyes away, finding herself instead watching Yoshino’s face.

A strange jolt reverberated through her first when watching Yoshino, head tilted slightly back, her eyes closed and her lips parted, then again as Yoshino turned in Rei’s arms to face her, dark brown eyes gone black with an emotion Rei did not recognise.

“Rei-chan” Yoshino whispered breathlessly as one hand found its way up to Rei’s neck and the other up to caress Rei’s face. The expression on Yoshino’s face made Rei’s mouth go dry, and Rei was suddenly aware of how very fast her heart was beating.

The first brush of Yoshino’s lips was so light and so brief that Rei would have thought it her imagination if not for Yoshino’s hold in her hair. The second reassured Rei that she was not imagining things, and the third revealed to her befuddled brain that Yoshino’s lips truly were incredibly soft.

By the fourth kiss Rei’s arms tightened around Yoshino’s waist and there were no more room for random observations as Rei were quite preoccupied responding to Yoshino’s kisses.

Keiko opened the kitchen window, shaking her head slightly at the sight of the girls’ embrace. Had Rei gotten upset about the thought of Yoshino getting hurt, again? No matter, Keiko could count on Yoshino to comfort Rei and soothe her fears. “Girls, you’d better stop for today... supper’s ready in a moment. Go clean up before it’s time to eat.”

Out in the yard Rei and Yoshino flew apart from their heated embrace in automatic terror of having been caught in the act. Both were blushing badly and looked similarly shocked, but Yoshino found her voice first. “We will, thank you Aunt Keiko.”

Unsteadily, aware of Keiko’s concerned gaze following them, they collected their shinai and each walked back into their own home to clean up and change clothing. Supper came much too soon and Rei could not taste a thing, poking idly at her food and only forcing the occasional bite down not to worry her mother, eyes firmly and nervously focused on her bowl even though she could feel Yoshino’s eyes on her all through the meal.

What remained of the evening was no better, she and Yoshino helped with the dishes and then it was the expected Hasekura-Shimazu girls TV-night, watching game shows and soap opera, all in all forcing Rei and Yoshino to remain in the same room yet never giving them even a single moment of being alone together. At least to Rei’s relief her mother did not mention what she had seen, although whether or not this was a good thing was still undecided.

By the time Rei was allowed to make her excuses and flee to her room, she was already a complete nervous wreck. Sleeping was out of the question, although she went through the motions of preparing to go to bed. What had happened? What had she done? And worst of all, what if Yoshino hated her now?

Rei knew for a fact she could not live without Yoshino.

She squirmed around in bed for a long time, the house going dark and silent around her, with the thoughts chasing one another in her head. Then there was a tiny popping sound on her window.

“Rei-chan! Rei-chan, wake up!” Yoshino was standing there under Rei’s window in her pyjamas, a few tiny pieces of gravel in her hand ready to throw again. “Rei-chan?”

Giving Yoshino a sign that she would join her Rei carefully sneaked through the house not making a sound, irrationally afraid her suddenly loud heartbeat would wake her parents up before she made it to the back door. Her hand shook slightly as she opened the door, terrified beyond words of what would happen next.

In the faint light outside Yoshino uncharacteristically looked as nervous and unsure as Rei felt. Her long dark brown hair was freed from the braids Yoshino usually kept it in, and Rei felt a twinge inside and an urge to run her fingers through the thick, glossy waves.

She blushed slightly and would not meet Yoshino’s eyes.

“Do you hate me now, Rei-chan?” Yoshino’s whispered voice sounded broken, and made Rei’s head snap back up in shock.

“NO!” Realizing that she had spoken much too loudly Rei lowered her voice and moved closer to Yoshino, the need to take away the other girl’s anguish overruling her own concerns. “No, never! Why would you say such a thing?”

With one hand on Yoshino’s back Rei gently urged the upset girl slightly further away from the house before carefully getting her to turn around until they faced one another. Rei could feel her heart breaking with the tremors that ran through the slender body underneath her hand and wanted nothing more than to make all Yoshino’s pain go away. She opened her mouth to say something although she was not entirely sure what, but Yoshino beat her to it.

“I’m sorry!” With the soft cry Yoshino threw herself into Rei’s arms, burying her face into Rei’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry Rei-chan, but I can’t help it! I, I, I just love you so much and...”

The rest of the sentence became a muffled rumble against Rei’s pyjamas while Rei automatically wrapped her arms around Yoshino’s smaller form. “Yoshino?”

When she got no reply she tried again. “Yoshino? I love you too, you know that.”

This time Yoshino tilted her face slightly so the words at least were audible, even if Rei could not see her face. “I know Rei-chan. But... the way I love you... the things I think of, the things I dream of and long for... it’s different.”

The hands against Rei’s chest curled into fist in a desperate grip on the pyjama shirt and Yoshino’s voice grew more and more hoarse and choked with each impassionate word.

“I’ve tried so hard to tell myself that one day I have to watch and do nothing as you marry some man and he is given everything I’ve ever dreamt of, the future with you that I should accept that I can’t have. That I should be quiet and not interfere when someone else takes my place by your side, that I have no right to become insane with jealousy at the thought of someone else being allowed to love you, someone else’s hands and lips touching you, someone else having your heart and sharing your days and nights. I’ve tried time and time again to convince myself that I should be satisfied with watching over your life, your happiness, from the house next door, but... but...”

The rest was a ragged whisper spoken against the skin of Rei’s neck. “I can’t. No matter how much I try, the truth is that I will always love you... I want you to be mine and only mine. See no-one else, love no-one else but me, the way nothing in this world will ever make me look away from you, make me love anyone else than you. I love you.”

The shock Rei felt at hearing the words that struggled to fall from Yoshino’s lips were nothing compared to what she felt at what her own thoughts managed to produce. During Yoshino’s impassioned speech Rei’s mind was racing as if to make up for all the time she had been ignorant to both her own heart and Yoshino’s. From the vaults of her memories came image after image, cast suddenly in a new light that gave quite a bit of insight.

Yes, Rei had always imagined that one day she would be married and have children, a family of her very own, and it was a dream that she cherished. But until now Rei had never realized that in her rose-tinted images for her ideal future there had never, ever, been an image of any unknown man in her life. No, instead in Rei’s dreams of family and children, the one she had seen by her side had been Yoshino. Always Yoshino... in fact the children she had imagined for herself held a suspicious likeness to Yoshino rather than herself now that Rei’s eyes had been opened.

It was the one thing all Rei’s dreams, whether asleep or awake, held in common – Yoshino was always there, always by her side. She had never questioned that, and the very idea that someone else could take Yoshino’s place seemed beyond preposterous.

Thinking about it now though, the thought of marrying a man and all that was connected to that left Rei feeling strangely... blank. It was as if the concept was so foreign that her mind could not imagine it and her emotions remained completely unstirred. In her thoughts Rei turned the concept towards Yoshino instead... and the strength of her own reaction, not to mention the ease by which far to intimate and... downright erotic... images came to mind stunned her. The image of Yoshino, naked in bed with her head thrown back and dark eyes gone black with that expression Rei had only now seen, was so vivid that Rei had to bite back a moan, heat rushing through her veins like a raging torrent.

How could Rei not have known about this? The love she felt was no surprise, but how could she not have notice this... desire... towards the one that was the centre of her universe?

Another thought came to mind. If Yoshino assumed that Rei would marry some man one day to raise a family with, then did it not stand to reason that Yoshino would do the same? Suddenly Rei understood Yoshino’s words about jealousy only too well.

‘NO!’

Rei gasped and tightened her already rather firm hold on Yoshino. No, she wouldn’t let anyone take her Yoshino away... she couldn’t, she needed Yoshino. She always would.

In the embrace Yoshino pulled her head back far enough to look worriedly up at Rei as Rei was being much too silent for the outpouring Yoshino had just managed. She had expected some kind of reaction, for good or bad, and the silence was unnerving.

Although the darkness stole the colours away, Rei could still clearly see the glittering tracks of tears on Yoshino’s face and the worried and anxious look directed up at her. Rei smiled.

When it came right down to it, all this thinking and procrastinating was just making a complicated thing out of something that was really very, very simple.

“I love you Yoshino.” Rei’s voice was warm, as was her smile, filled with the overwhelming joy of being in love and knowing that love to be returned. Then she leaned down to capture the slightly stunned girl’s lips into a kiss.

One kiss became many quite without intending to, and deep and hungry. By the time either was willing to part, if only so far as to be able to lean their foreheads together, Rei was slightly surprised to find that they were lying down on the ground. Rei felt grateful for a brief moment that they were located on the grass rather than on one of the gravel paths before her mind dismissed their surroundings as entirely inconsequential and refocused on what was important. Yoshino.

They shared a few leisurely kisses and happy, loving smiles before rolling over until Yoshino was resting with her head on Rei’s shoulder, Rei staring up into the star strewn night sky with amazement and a wide happy grin that didn’t want to let go anytime soon.

“Rei-chan? What will we do?” Yoshino asked softly after a long moment. Rei kissed the top of her head before answering.

“Our families love us both very much, I’d like to think that wouldn’t change when they found out about us.” Rei sighed a little. “I’d hope that though it’s not what they might have wanted for us, they’d get used to the idea in time.”

“I hope so too, Rei-chan, but...” Yoshino pressed a tiny kiss to the area above Rei’s heart. “I’m afraid of what they might decide to do before that.”

“Only as long as we live with them.” Yoshino’s concern darkened Rei’s thoughts and the words came out a growl, despite the fact that her and Yoshino’s parents were good and loving people which Rei had a hard time believing would deliberately try to do something so hurtful as a forced marriage for either of them. “If it comes to that, we’ll...”

“They probably wouldn’t notice anything unless we do something terribly obvious.” Yoshino soothed, picking up on Rei’s distress. “We’ve always been very...” She did her best to sound playfully mischievous. “...affectionate, after all.”

Rei chuckled despite herself. “That’s true. Mom certainly didn’t seem to realize what she had seen today, at least. It’ll be ok.”

There was a brief silence as both girls thought of the future.

“You will be going away to another school by next semester.” It was a subject that had been looming over both girls for some time now.

“...yes.”

“I know you’ll be getting a small place of your own while you’re there, I’ve heard our parents talk about it.”

Rei nodded, forgetting that Yoshino wasn’t exactly looking at her at the moment. It didn’t matter, the knowledge that not only would Rei go to school in a different town for the next couple of years but also live there during the week was the reason Rei’s graduation from Lillian was such a feared and avoided subject for both girls. They had simply never been that much apart since Yoshino had been born.

To say that Rei would get ‘her own place’ was a bit of an overstatement, although the room she would be renting was generously spaced and the house large enough that Rei and the kind old lady that owned the place – an old graduate of Lillian herself – would still have a measure of privacy, but to Yoshino’s eyes it probably counted as long as it was away from the rest of the family.

“I spoke to the landlady...” Rei hesitated, she did not want to pressure Yoshino into choosing her school just so that Rei could be near her, still she wanted to make sure Yoshino knew of the option. “...she agreed to let you come stay there with me if you wanted, I mean, if you needed...”

Yoshino sat up and cupped Rei’s face with both hands. “I will work hard and make sure I have all the grades, all the qualifications, so I will have to be accepted at your school next year, I promise!” Even in the dark Rei imagined she could see the gleam of unbreakable determination in Yoshino’s eyes. “I promise!” Yoshino swore, and Rei knew that with Yoshino’s stubbornness and dedication they could count on Yoshino making the cut next year.

Rei gently ran her fingers through Yoshino’s hair. “Yeah... that’s decided then.” They kissed and cuddled for a while longer before Rei wryly shook her head.

“We shouldn’t stay out here all night... want to stay in my room tonight?”

Even in the dark Rei could see the mischievous look Yoshino had when she replied, sounding terribly coquettish all of a sudden. “Oh my, darling, how bold!” Rei blinked, dimly aware that one of Yoshino’s hands was doing things at the front of her pyjama jacket that made Rei’s ears beginning to feel rather hot. “Are you sure your room is soundproof enough for the two of us, Rei-chan?”

Forget her ears, the things Yoshino implied and the sultry tone of voice she somehow managed made Rei collapse back on the grass with her face on fire. Yoshino giggled.

“Go ahead... go inside, save yourself.” Rei croaked, waving weakly. “I’ll just lie here and combust.”

Amongst more giggling and many encouraging kisses, Yoshino helped Rei back on her feet and the two walked over to the Shimazu back door. They lingered there for a while, kissing some more and exchanging words of love, before finally, reluctantly, they drew apart.

“Sweet dreams... my Yoshino.” Rei whispered as Yoshino finally made her way inside the house, her smile wide and bright with the giddy happiness that was bubbling inside. As she started back across the grass she just couldn’t stop herself from doing a few unladylike cartwheels in sheer exuberance before jogging up to her own door.

Before she could go to bed she had to write an entry in her diary, Rei decided, she had to write down the date of the day the world changed so she would never forget it. The future had never felt quite as bright as it did right then.

After she had done that, well... then she would get out of her wet clothes.

A Sakura Among the Ginkgos

Maria-sama ga Miteru/Marimite fanfic. A certain easily overlooked tree has stood silent witness to many important events of the heart for Shimako, so it was only right it should witness one more.
(Shimako/Noriko) One of three stories written to loosely fit together, the other two being "Kissing Cousins by the Koi Pond" and "The Rose That Bloomed Alone".

Read A Sakura Among the Ginkgos

Disclaimer: Maria-sama ga Miteru and its characters belong not to me, but if they did... well... Shiori would have been returned for a spectacular butt-kicking by Youko, and all the girls would be happily planning their various weddings to one another by now... or something. ;P


I might be changing the anime story a little in some detail here and there to better fit what I’m writing, or just plain because I can’t quite remember exactly how it goes – haven’t watched Marimite in a while now, and I’ve never read the novels or the manga – please bear with me. ^_^




A Sakura Among the Ginkgos
------------------------------------------------
by Carola “Ryûchan” Eriksson




Shimako ran her hand across the rough bark of the old cherry tree with a smile of contemplative affection tugging at the corner of her lips. This beautiful tree, this lone sakura tree among the ginkgos, was so easily overlooked, especially now that no pink flower petals decorated its limbs as spring was already over. No, all that the casual passer-by would see of this tree now was dark green leaves and tiny buds that promised to become desirable fruit in due time.

It was perhaps now, between seasons, that Shimako most identified with this tree she cherished so; singular and solitary it stood in the mass of its neighbours, yet so easily overlooked in a place where all trees were supposed to be the same. Perhaps she was being morose about it, but this tree always did feel like a good symbol for Shimako herself.

That alone would have drawn Shimako to this tree, certainly, but it was not the reason this one cherry tree among many in the vast property that belonged to Lillian was so dear to her heart, oh no. It was underneath these sheltering branches that she had at long last been made the petite soeur of her beloved oneesama, the fickle Rosa Gigantea.

Shimako had known and loved the rebellious member of the school’s much-respected student council for a long time before Sei had ceased to keep her at arm’s length to instead take her hand. Despite what others might think of her, Shimako had no illusions that Sei would ever have taken that step on her own, had not her well-meaning but meddlesome friends of the Rosa Chinensis family decided to act. No, as natural as her hand had felt in Sei’s that day, Shimako knew well that Satou Sei would not have offered her rosary to Shimako, perhaps most of all because it felt natural to them both.

Satou Sei was a complex woman, for all her brash flirtatiousness and devil-may-care attitude. How ironic that the woman that was considered the playboy of the school – if such a term was appropriate for an all-girls’ school like Lillian – and conquered hearts by the dozen it seemed, was the one whose own heart was the most guarded. Shimako had never asked her oneesama about the events that had taken place before Shimako’s arrival to the school, with Sei’s passionate and, ultimately, profoundly disastrous relationship with Kubo Shiori. Now that Shimako knew the gist of what had transpired through other sources – Yumi and Yoshino – she had gained a deeper insight into the woman she had loved so dearly.

How doubly ironic, really, the strange way Shimako herself, Yumi and their two oneesamas Sei and Sachiko were interlaced after a fashion. Shimako knew that while Sei had not intended to make Shimako her petite soeur originally, Sachiko had indeed wanted her. Certainly, the proposal was undoubtedly performed strictly on Sachiko’s own oneesama’s directions, the respectable but ever-meddling Rosa Chinensis Mizuno Youko, but Sachiko had her own designs for Shimako. Sachiko had decided that Shimako had enough poise, discipline and grace to hold true the values of the Chinensis family... and Shimako had secretly been shocked at how little her friend knew her. Shimako was no Chinensis and never could have been, regardless of whom had held her heart back then.

Then along came Yumi, sweet, clumsy and most of all kind-hearted Fukuzawa Yumi. Sachiko had harboured no intention of making the girl her petite soeur beforehand, in fact Shimako felt certain that the current Rosa Chinensis had at the time not even known of Yumi’s existence, even though Yumi herself had carried quite a crush for the famous Yamayurikai member for quite some time. Pure chance and, in Shimako’s eyes at least, a touch of selfishness on Sachiko’s part had made Yumi Sachiko’s petite soeur, but Sachiko would have propositioned any unattached girl that had stepped through that door that day. Sadly, Yumi had been level-headed enough to realise this... Shimako felt a stab of sympathy for her good friend.

While Sachiko might have needed time to truly warm up to her unlikely petite soeur, Shimako’s oneesama had adored the girl from day one. What it was, exactly, that drew the two together was anybody’s guess – although Shimako suspected that the way Yumi was absolutely open about her emotions for most part and seemed to lack any kind of basic duplicity might have appealed to her oneesama – but not only did Sei get attached to the newest member of Yamayurikai, but she also quickly became irreplaceable in Yumi’s own heart. Not that anyone could accuse Yumi of loving anyone other than her treasured oneesama Sachiko, but they all knew who Yumi wanted to run to whenever hurt or confused by Sachiko’s words or actions.

Shimako smiled to herself and traced a pattern in the bark of the tree.

She had never been jealous of Yumi, in fact, Yumi was just too endearing a person to inspire any negative feelings for long. Instead Shimako had gained a surprisingly strong, and lasting, friendship in both her age-mates Yumi and Yoshino, the kind she would treasure for the rest of her life. Sometimes it amused Shimako to think of next school year, when she would be Rosa Gigantea for the second year in a row and Yumi and Yoshino would be Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida, respectively. They were such close-knit unit, the three of them, and they would complement each other well... Yoshino was stubborn, fierce and hot-headed, while Yumi was tender-hearted and compassionate, perhaps also slightly traditionalist compared to Shimako and Yoshino. Shimako herself, well... she supposed she was something of a silent rebel, quiet, level-headed and observing of duty when it served her, but would go her own path regardless of opposition and let duty hang if it came to that.

Then Shimako would feel guilty for thinking of such things. When the next school-year came around Yumi and Yoshino would know the pain of being parted from their beloved oneesamas, like Shimako herself had already been. It was not a pain to wish upon her dear friends, especially since she knew both girls loved their oneesamas deeply and sincerely.

Involuntarily one hand reached under the sleeve of her uniform, fingers searching for the silver rosary of the Gigantea family that no longer rested there.

Shimako had not been the only one to love Satou Sei, she knew that. If nothing else the whole Rosa Kanina fiasco had served to drive that point firmly home, made Shimako see the others that were suffering silently with unanswered love for her incorrigible oneesama. Briefly Shimako’s thoughts touched on the dark eyes of Mizuno Youko and the old pain hidden in them. No, Shimako had been far from the only one to love Satou Sei.

Not that it mattered, Sei had gleefully moved on, and although Shimako knew her oneesama attended school not far from Lillian itself, neither of them had sought the other out since the graduation. Yumi had, of course, and brought news to Shimako of her oneesama’s new life, new haircut, and new friends. Shimako had accepted that the cut had been swift and clean, and tried in her own way to get on with life. What else was there for her to do?

The pain had dulled with the knowledge, in time, that what was lost was something that had never been hers in the first place.

The sombre mood lifted from Shimako’s spirit somewhat, and she smiled again.

Then something had happened that changed everything, right here, beside this very tree. Shimako had been standing there underneath the blossoms, deep in thought, when she had entered her life, oh so unexpectedly.

Nijou Noriko. A newly transferred first-year, beautifully proper and demure at first glance- if one did not look into her dark eyes – but giving her teachers and classmates a hard time with her unwillingness to comply with the many rules of Lillian she objected against. Not perhaps an open rebellion on her part, but a girl that stubbornly walked her own path regardless of what others might say or do.

Not that Shimako knew all that then, at their first encounter. No, she had just looked away from the pink rain of petals to find herself suddenly no longer alone, and as she looked into those dark, astonished eyes there had been a small but earth-tilting... shift... within herself.

They had met there often after that, beside this tree, during what Shimako secretly thought of as their courting phase. For anyone else it would have been innocuous enough, but Shimako knew there was something... something... going on with the way she would anticipate each meeting, and the joy seeing the slightly younger girl would bring. Her friends noticed as well, and history repeated itself somewhat: Shimako’s hand was forced, and while not executed with as much grace or decorum as Shimako might have liked for Noriko, the silver rosary of the Gigantea now rested looped around Noriko’s wrist.

Noriko. The one that took one look at Shimako’s offered heart, climbed inside and made herself at home there. The one whom Shimako could trust with all her secrets.

She and Sei had been too much alike, Shimako realised as she felt sure Sei had before her. They respected each other so much it was impossible to ask, and neither of them whole enough inside to volunteer information on their own. Theirs was a silent understanding, but silence can only go so far. They both needed someone who would ask, who would see, who would reach out and touch when they did not know how.

Noriko asked the questions, and accepted the answers. She did not speak to hear the sound of her own voice, but she was not one to keep silent either... and most of all she drew Shimako out, made her want to speak, to ask, to know... Shimako blushed slightly. Made her want to touch.

A tiny gust of wind found its way between the trees to lift Shimako’s long blonde curls and make the leaves of the cherry tree rustle above her. Shimako closed her eyes and enjoyed the sound with a smile. It was time now.

Inside Shimako said her final goodbyes to Satou Sei and the lingering hold Sei had held on a tiny piece of her heart. Shimako had no regrets, and it was time... time to release herself to be free to love Noriko completely, with all of her heart... and Shimako would. The smile widened and the wind twirled around her briefly, and then it was gone.

Something not quite a sound made Shimako turn around.

There she was, more beautiful to Shimako’s eyes than ever, dark eyes wide and open, plainly revealing admiration, respect, love and even a touch of desire, causing a delightful thrill to run down Shimako’s spine. Shimako’s own smoke-coloured ones darkened with a sudden and somewhat naughty image, and by the tilt of one surprised eyebrow, Noriko noticed.

Shimako suppressed a sudden urge to giggle and beckoned Noriko to her. No more holding back, Shimako promised Noriko in her mind. She would give her everything, if only the dark-haired girl would have her.

Then Noriko’s warm, strong hand grasped her own, and they were standing close together. Shimako closed even that small distance to put her arms around Noriko’s neck, causing the other girl to blush slightly before she tentatively put her own arms around Shimako’s waist. Shimako stood a long moment merely looking deeply into Noriko’s eyes, enjoying the swirl of strong emotions shown there, and the bubbling sense of happiness in her own heart.

The words she had never spoken sprang to her lips oh so easily.

“I love you Noriko.”

The dark-haired girl gasped and her eyes brimmed with tears at the declaration, Noriko unable for a moment to reply. Shimako waited patiently, the smile still on her lips and her fingers idly playing through Noriko’s almost shoulder-length hair. Finally she had her answer.

”I love you too, Shimako.”

Throwing caution to the wind, not caring in the slightest if anyone should catch them kissing on school grounds, Shimako pressed her lips to Noriko’s in a tentative first kiss that, amidst gasps and tiny sounds, escalated quickly until Shimako was pressed up against the bark of the cherry tree with Noriko’s lips and tongue hot and hungry against her own.

Shimako really, really loved that tree.