34A/N: Hello again all! How are all my favorite story groupies? ^_^
Sorry for the LONG (four months!) delay in getting this out. This story has been a hard one to write so far, as it touches on a subject that I have had some personal experiences with. I had started writing it back in February and put it on the back burner to finish Confrontation. Then in June of this year, Slayer0109 wrote a similar story that reminded me that I needed to finish this. So, Slayer0109, this story is (kinda-sorta-not really) all your fault! ^_~
As always, I do not own nor am I associated with Maria-sama Ga Miteru. All such honors belong to Oyuki Konno, Shueisha, Yamayurikai, and Nozomi Entertainment. Only the story concept presented below is mine.
And now...
"End Game"
Prologue
It was raining. The dark gray skies were punctuated by occasional booms of thunder. It reflected her inner turmoil and mood perfectly.
Colorless and neither light nor dark. Noise, chaos, and distractions all around her in every direction. There was no clear way out of her current circumstances. Only the ground she currently held was known, much too well known for her liking. It was ground she was desperately trying to get away from. But every time she was close to breaking free, they brought her back to reality. Her father and grandfather insisted that tradition be upheld. That she must honor their agreement. An agreement made without her consent before she was even a year of age. The Ogasawara's and the Kashiwagi's never ending quest for lineage, prestige, influence, and power had been passed down to become her legacy to fulfill. She was to be married to their choice, produce their child and begin a whole new generation of family for their draconian ideals to be passed on and miserably adhered to, all in the name of respect and nobility.
It was a thinly veiled excuse to cover up the greed that it really was.
And it disgusted her to no end...
Only one person could help her out of this maddening stupidity her family chose to perpetuate. A lone bright star in the darkness that she was surrounded by. The one thing that made her life bearable and worth fighting for. Her one true love.
But that person wouldn't be coming. No. Not ever again in this life.
Two nights before she had callously pushed that person away from her forever. The heartless manner in which she had been forced to cast away that person had sickened Sachiko to her core. Because her grandfather had been present and listening in, she had been ruthless in her reasons for separating from her love. She had stood in that person's house and said the words that had destroyed the beautiful soul she had worked so very hard to help bring out, all seemingly without remorse. She had worn her mask well. She had displayed no regrets, no emotion, and no conscience about what she had been instructed to do.
And her love had taken all of it. Her lips trembling at the more hurtful words, and stoic for the rest. Her love had stood there and taken it all in. She hadn't even shed a single tear or called Sachiko so much as a bad name. Once she finished, her love had politely thanked her before turning and gracefully walking upstairs without another word or sound. It should have made Sachiko proud.
Instead, it had shattered her heart. More so, because she had seen that it broke her, it had also broken Sachiko...
Another onslaught of tears began to cascade down her face as she continued to stare outside the window. The thought of her love and the pain that she had caused her to suffer allowed her name to almost soundlessly slip past Sachiko's lips between her grieving sobs. Almost.
"Yumi..."
-0-0-
Across town, another set of eyes took in the weather with an ominous foreboding. Her day had started off with her being in a melancholic mood. As the day wore on, it had only gotten worse. The current frustration she felt concerning her petite-soeur's situation wasn't helping to ease the feeling at all. Her eyes squinted as she began speaking to the other occupant of the room.
"I don't like it Sei." She said. "Something is off. She isn't answering her cell phone and the house staff is insisting that she isn't available no matter what time I call. I know something is wrong."
Sei's grey eyes took in her partner's pensive mood and posture as she sat quietly sipping her fifth coffee of the day. "You know she gets like this when she's vexed, love." She replied. "Considering that her father and grandfather are forcing this marriage issue down her throat so far that she's practically choking on it, she has probably gone into her usual hysterics. She's likely to remain that way until she either gets what she wants or figures out how to get around it."
Youko stood silent for several moments before countering with. "I am afraid it is far worse this time Sei. I just have this feeling..." She then lapsed back into silence.
Sei left her friend be for the moment. She knew that there would be no appeasing her until Sachiko called back. Her own immediate concern was for their friend Yumi. Like Sachiko, she had also gone quiet. No telephone calls, no text messages, no e-mails, nothing. It was like she had dropped off the face of the earth. Even Yumi's family was letting their answering machine take all phone calls.
When Sei couldn't take it anymore, she had stopped by the Fukuzawa residence. She had been told by Yumi's mother Miki that she wasn't up to seeing anyone yet. Miki had then thanked her and the rest of the Yamayurikai for their concern for her daughter before abruptly closing the door. The whole visit had left Sei feeling even more concerned.
As she watched her girlfriend's barely controlled annoyance growing, she vowed to give the pair one more day. If nothing changed by tomorrow, then Sei would find a way to force one or both of the Chinensis sisters into contacting them.
-0-0-
02-05-2015 22:39 hrs.
