CHAPTER 5

Time passed by quickly. With so many changes in Layla's life, she didn't expect to be any different. She had spent the last month focusing on getting the McKnight's Corporation headquarters moved to Tokyo, what actually was going smoother than she thought it would be. All the employees of the Corporation had already relocated, including Andy and Cole, which made her life so much easier. They still had not opened the office building for the business, so all the most important work was done from the McKnights mansion. Between dealing with the relocation and keeping up with all the corporations' partners and contracts, Layla still had to juggle her Japanese lessons with Sei and Yoko;

"Sei-sama, could you please help me with this text? Yoko-oneesan asked me to translate this article to Japanese, but I am not sure if I did it correctly…" Layla asked from outside Sei and Yoko's room.

"Hi hi, come in." Sei invited the younger girl inside her bedroom.

The blond was standing and staring at the bed she shared with Yoko. The bed at the moment was full of Sei's clothes. She was in the process of unpacking. Alfred had told her two weeks ago, that the maids could have her stuff put in the proper place in no time. Sei had refused the offer under the pretenses that she could also do it in no time. Apparently, her no time had taken longer than Yoko could stand, so Sei was given until the end of the day to organize it all.

Sei moved some of the clothes out of the way and sat on the bed.

"Here, let me see it…" The blond extended her hand asking for the notebook Layla was holding.

Layla walked towards Sei and looked at the mess behind the blond. She held in a laugh.

"You know Sei-sama, the maids can fix this for you in no time…" Layla said picking up a shirt that was on the floor and placing it on the bed amidst the mess.

"I'm pretty sure Alfred told me the same thing a couple of weeks ago." Sei answered while reading the text in her hand. "I'm just not used to this maid thing yet…"

"By the way, would you know where Yoko-oneesan is?"

"Yoko went to Lillian to hand the rest of your paperwork in. She should be getting back soon." Sei closed the notebook and smiled at Layla that was now sitting at one of the chairs they had in the room. "Your writing looks good. You need to be more careful with your calligraphy though, it was sloppy at some parts. Also, pay close attention to the characters you are using so you don't change the meaning of the sentence… nothing that cannot be polished. Overall, you already improved considerably since we started a month ago."

Layla blushed and grabbed the notebook from Sei's hand. "Arigatou, Sei-sama. That is all thanks to you. I'm glad that you had a break from your classes and could help me out."

"Ara ara, I'm happy to help you out whenever you need. I have to tell you, summer classes were killing me... I am a little too excited to have another month off. Nooow… Layla-chan, since I have helped you with the assignment Yoko bestowed upon you… What do you think about helping me out with the assignment she bestowed upon me?"

Sei put her arm around Layla's neck and pointed at the bed full of clothes. Layla gave Sei a sideways glance and took a deep breath. Before she could answer someone knocked on the bedroom door that was already opened.

"Layla-sama, has arrived and is looking for you. He is waiting in the main office downstairs." The maid announced from the door.

Sei let it go from Layla, who had a relieved smile on her face.

"Well, Sei-sama, maybe next time…" The younger girl said walking towards the door. "Oh, Aki-san," She addressed the young maid standing beside her. "Would you please help Sei-sama with her chores? And please keep it a secret from Yoko-oneesan. Sei-sama needs to score some bonus points with her." Layla playfully smiled at Sei and the young maid and left the room.

"Well, well Aki-chan… I really hoped Layla-chan could spend some time with me without having to work or study. Since that is not possible… I think you and I will have a wonderful time together fixing this mess." Sei flung her arm around the now embarrassed maid and studied the clutter in the room.

Lillian Academy for Girls

"Thank you very much, headmaster. Gokigenyou." Said Yoko closing the door of the principal's office. She paused in front of the closed door, fixed her clothes and sighed in relief.

"All done. Layla is enrolled in school and will be starting next week." She told herself while walking down the hallway of the administrative building.

Yoko checked the time on her wristwatch, it was still early, Natsume-kun probably wasn't there yet. "I should pass by the Yamayurikai and check on Sachiko… They are probably working on the preparations for the school festival at this time."

When she got to the Rose Mansion, Yoko spotted Rei at the door;

"Rei-san, gokigenyou."

The taller girl turned in response to the greeting.

"Yoko-sama, gokigenyou. How have you been?"

"I'm doing well. Thank you. Is Sachiko around?"

"Yes, she should be in the meeting room. Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea?"

"That would be great…" Yoko paused before continuing. "How is Sachiko doing?"

Rei glanced at the floor with a troubled expression on her face. She raised her head and took a deep breath;

"To tell you the truth, I am worried about her. She has been living every day as if nothing has happened. She is back to her old ways; closed from everyone, hiding her feelings. She barely speaks or spends time with us. The only time we get to see her is when she is at the Yamayurikai."

"I'm glad I came by then…" Yoko had a serious look on her face. "May we go in?" She asked while extending her hand to the door, asking for Rei to lead the way.

Rei and the former rose proceeded inside.

Sachiko was sitting at her usual seat, at the head of the table. She was immersed in a pile of papers in front of her. Beside her, sat an empty cup of tea. Other than the Rosa Chinesis there was no one else in the room. Upon hearing the door opening, without checking who had walked in, Sachiko spoke;

"Rei, how did it go at the…" She stopped herself. When she turned her attention on who was walking into the room, Sachiko's blue eyes focused on the person who was accompanying Rei.

"Onee-sama? Gokigenyou. I'm sorry, I wasn't aware of your presence." Sachiko got up from her seat. "What brings you here?"

Yoko walked towards the table where Sachiko was standing. Sachiko looked the same. However, Yoko's petite-soeur was always very good at masking her troubled feelings and moving on without dealing with them. Although deeply hidden, Yoko could sense the shadows that were troubling Sachiko.

"Gokigenyou Sachiko. I had some personal matters to settle at the main office. I also wanted to see you, it is been a while."

"Please, take a seat Yoko-sama," Rei said while placing a cup of tea on the table for Yoko and refilling Sachiko's empty cup. "If you would excuse me, Yoshino, Shimako and Noriko went to the Advertisement Club to work on some banners for the upcoming events, I am going to go check on them." Rei left the room leaving the two soeurs alone.

Yoko took a seat, Sachiko followed sitting once again on the chair behind her.

"How have you been Sachiko? Have you had a good summer so far?" The former Rose sipped on her tea.

Sachiko in response took a deep breath. She really wasn't in the mood for an interrogation. Even so, she put a smile on her face and got ready to answer the question. After many years of strict training, it was automatic to her to behave in such a manner. She knew, however, that she wouldn't fool her Onee-sama.

"My summer is going well. I have been very busy with the Yamayurikai."

"I see…" Yoko took another sip of her tea. "What about yourself? How have you been?" She stared straight at Sachiko's eyes that had become stern.

Sachiko knew she was getting cornered by her Onee-sama. She really couldn't stand it anymore.

"Onee-sama, if you came here to bother me with such questions, you are wasting your time." She shouted and quickly stood up from her seat. "Please go straight to the point."

Yoko's calm air always threw Sachiko off. The younger girl knew how her Onee-sama operated. Redundant questions always led to a more specific issue. Mostly, to something Yoko wasn't happy about, or something that Sachiko was doing but that her Onee-sama didn't approve of.

Yoko placed her cup of tea on the table. Getting up she walked toward her petite-soeur.

"Sachiko…" She paused and took a deep breath. "I know that what you are going through right now is not easy. I can only imagine how much it hurts… You don't need to deal with it all at once and by yourself. You have Rei and the other members of the Yamayurikai, they worry about you… Needless to say, I am also here for you…" Yoko placed a hand on Sachiko's shoulder smiling lightly at her.

Talking about her feelings was never something Sachiko was used to. There was only one person who was able to crack her shell and make her more open to her friends. That person wasn't there anymore, and the more she taught about it, the angrier she got. She knew she shouldn't be angry, but all her mixed feelings always surfaced as anger and impulsiveness.

"Onee-sama." Sachiko took a deep breath to calm herself down and to avoid being impolite towards her Onee-sama. "As you can see, I am doing just fine. I don't need to take my time to deal with anything, especially when it is already in the past and it cannot be changed."

"If that is the way you see it…" Yoko pulled her hand off Sachiko's shoulder and walked towards the door stopping at the threshold. "I have something to ask of you…"

Sachiko stared at her Onee-sama who was trying to pick the right words.

"… Don't go back to your old ways. I hope someday you will find someone who can fill that void left in you. I am always here for you, don't forget that." Yoko closed the door behind her, leaving Sachiko alone in the room.

The current Rosa Chinesis walked towards the window and stared at the blue summer sky above. Without noticing, tears started to roll down her cheeks;

"Yumi… am I going to be able to forget you one day? Should I forget about you? I don't know what to do anymore…" With these thoughts in mind, and tears running down her cheeks, Sachiko clenched her sailor uniform right above her heart.

On her way out, Yoko stopped by the statue of Maria-sama and paid her respects. Natsume-kun was already waiting for her outside the car that was parked in front of the main gate.

"Yoko-sama, I hope everything went as you planned." The young chauffeur said smiling at Yoko and opening the backseat door for her.

"It could have gone better. Oh well… I guess I just need to try harder next time…" Yoko replied walking into the car.

An hour later, McKnight's mansion

"Welcome back, Yoko-sama." A smiling butler welcomed the brunet home.

"Good evening Alfred-san. I hope you had a good day. Would you know where I could find Layla and Sei?"

"I just saw Sei-sama walk outside to the backyard. Miss Layla is in her room finishing some work that Mr. Andy brought in today. She also left some papers in your room that needs your signature. You will find them on your desk."

"I see. Has Layla had any downtime today?"

"She was very busy today."

"Alright, thank you. Let me go find them."

"Of course. Dinner will be served soon."

Yoko excused herself opening the veranda door that led to the backyard. The dim light of dusk was barely illuminating the backyard;

"Interesting…This reminds me of the Ogasawara residence…" Yoko thought while walking through the stone walkway, which was lighted by a few light posts that were starting to turn on with the last light of dusk ending.

The pathway took Yoko deeper into the woods. There were not many backyards like this one in Tokyo. The back of the McKnight's mansion was surrounded by a dense forest that resembled a natural park. Further down, the stone walkway forked; to Yoko's right, the forest gave room to a paved area where an outdoor swimming pool stood. The area was also lit by light posts. Adjacent to the swimming pool, Yoko spotted Sei's silhouette. Sei had her back turned to Yoko, she was focused on an empty dark space ahead of her. The brunet made her way towards her girlfriend, making sure to be as silent as possible not to be noticed.

Sei was immersed in her thoughts. She had been exploring the backyard for about thirty minutes now. Whenever she saw the pool area she got interested and walked in that direction to check it out. However, she was not expecting to find another very particular feature in the McKnight's property. In front of her, surrounded by rusted metal fences, stood a very old tennis court. The vegetation had taken over the rusted fence and the tennis court's surface was all cracked, but surely not, that was a tennis court.

"I bet they even forgot that they have a tennis court in the property…" Sei mumbled and scratched her head.

Suddenly, two arms wrapped around Sei's waist. The blond got startled. But not even a second later, she recognized the familiar embrace and scent that she so very much loved.

"What is this beautiful woman doing here all by herself?" Yoko asked while resting her chin between Sei's shoulder and neck and nibbling on the blonde's earlobe.

Sei took a deep breath and turned around. She looked into Yoko's deep grey-green eyes; they were full of yearning.

"You know, it is pretty dangerous to walk alone in the forest… especially at night time. There are hungry wolves that could eat you up." Sei said putting one of her arms around Yoko's waist pulling her close to her.

"I hope they are very hungry," Yoko replied while using her index finger to contour Sei's lips.

Sei was caught by surprise by Yoko's reply. The taller woman mischievously smiled and lifted Yoko's chin with her free hand.

'Beautiful blue eyes…' Yoko thought while falling in a trance.

Sei leaned forward and slowly started to kiss Yoko's neck. She began at the collarbone moving up all the way to the brunet's ear. While nibbling on her earlobe, Sei could hear Yoko's breathing speeding up. She pulled back and stared at Yoko's face that was blushed with pleasure. Sei pushed Yoko back against the fence behind them and bluntly kissed her on the lips. Yoko parted her mouth so Sei could use her tongue. The brunet grabbed Sei's shirt pulling her even closer, in response, the blond slid a hand under Yoko's shirt caressing her ribs and stopping right under the edge of her bra. They parted from the kiss, gasping for air and pleading for more. As Sei leaned in to initiate another kiss …

"Hrm … hrmm…"

The two girls jumped in surprise, Sei quickly pulled her hand from Yoko's bra. Yoko turned toward the noise pulling her shirt down and blushing in embarrassment.

"A-Alfred…"

"You know Alfred-san, we were just…" Sei tried to explain but since she couldn't find the right excuse she stopped, grinned at the man and scratched the back of her head as she always did when in trouble.

"My ladies, I don't think I need an explanation for what was going on here," Alfred playfully smiled at the two blushing young ladies.

"As Sei was trying to say…" Yoko tried to back up Sei.

"Yoko-sama, seriously, no need to explain. I was once your age," The Buttler said turning his back and walking in the direction of the house. He suddenly stopped remembering why he was there. "Oh, I almost forgot, I came looking for you because dinner is ready. I was wondering if you would rather shower before it is served or after?"

"Thank you, Alfred, we will shower after dinner." Yoko answer and Sei nodded her head.

As Alfred made his way back to the house, Sei hugged Yoko from behind and whispered in her ear;

"We will have to finish this later, my Little Red Riding Hood."

By the time Sei and Yoko got to the dining room, dinner was already served and Layla was seated at the table going through a block of documents.

"Yes! Roast-beef and mash potatoes! Great job Alfred!" Sei said taking her usual seat at the table.

Hearing Sei, Layla put the documents that were in front of her away and glanced towards her. Sei had an exciting look at her face while staring at the food, she was almost drooling. Yoko was still standing and grabbing Sei's and Layla's plates. When they had western style dinners, the kitchen staff usually set the table in a family-style, Yoko habitually always served Sei and Layla. Yoko had asked Alfred not to use any staff during dinner time, that way they could spend some private quality time together talking about their day. A routine that Alfred was more than happy to see implemented into Layla's life.

"Welcome back, Yoko-oneesan. Did you have a good day?" Layla asked from the opposite side of the table.

"Thank you Layla-chan," Yoko placed a plate of food in front of Sei, proceeding to serve Layla next. "I went to Lilian today to turn in the rest of your enrollment papers and to speak with the headmaster." She paused looking at Layla and peaking at the documents on the chair beside the younger girl. "I have heard from Alfred that Andy passed by today… I hope he didn't take most of your time." She grinned sarcastically at the younger girl that was now blushing nervously.

"Y-yeah… he did come by…" Layla pushed the chair closer to the table to get the documents out of Yoko's sight. She had forgotten that she wasn't allowed to bring work to the dinner table. Oh, she was in trouble. "But, I didn't spend all my day with him, Sei-sama helped me out with the Japanese translation you asked me to do… R-right Sei-sama?" She turned to Sei who had her mouth full of food.

Sei swallowed the food and stared at Layla's face who was supplicating for help. "Yeah, yeah… Oh talking about Layla's homework, I also finished mine! All my stuff is in place, the bedroom is in an impeccable form!" She smiled at Yoko who was dumbfounded by the answer and kept digging in her food.

"Well, I have to say, I am impressed with both of you." Yoko sat down to start eating. "Mostly by Sei finally putting her stuff in order…"

"Sei-sama worked very hard on it…" Layla giggled while Sei smiled and winked at her.

"Layla, you start school next week. Make sure you don't take on too much work so you are not too tired. I spoke to the headmaster and we had a long conversation about your situation. Lilian doesn't allow students to work while attending school, she has made an exception for you. She has asked for you to keep it hidden from the other students for as long as possible."

"I understand," Layla replied playing with the food on her plate.

"I have also brought your uniforms. I'm excited to have you try them on. We will also have to get together tomorrow so I can explain some etiquette and rules you have to know when attending a Japanese high-school. " Yoko smiled at Layla that was blushing.

"Layla-chan, I bet you will look adorable in them! Now I am excited to see it as well!" Sei said poking Layla's cheek.

"Seeei-samaaa… Please stop…" Layla blushed even more.

"By the way, Layla-chan, isn't about time for you to drop the honorific after my name?" Sei stood up putting her hands on her hips. "Call me Sei, after all, we are family, aren't we?"

Layla froze in place. She looked at Sei and at Yoko, both were smiling at her. She placed the fork she was holding on her plate and dropped her gaze. She wanted to agree with Sei, she was happy she had said something like that. However, she couldn't make herself to say any of that. Her mother's face flashed in her head, then her father's… lastly her sister's face… all her family, they had all left her behind. She felt her chest getting tight. In response, she grabbed the papers from the chair beside her and stood up.

"If you excuse me, I'm tired. I will be going to my room." Layla answered in a low tone and walked out of the room leaving her plate of food mostly untouched.

"Lay…" Sei tried calling for the younger girl who was leaving the room but she stopped. Perplexed by what had just happened, she turned toward Yoko who had her chin resting on her fists, and a concerned look on her face. "Hey, Yoko, did I say something I shouldn't have?"

Yoko took a deep breath and slightly smiled at Sei, trying to reassure her. "Not that I am aware of," She said also in a concerned tone.

To be continued…