by Sean Gaffney
Author's Notes: Follows on from the Lunch fic, showing what Yumi did the day after her talk with Tsutako. It doesn't go quite as planned.
The girls stood at one end of the classroom, trying to see if they could escape. But Yumi and Touko were blocking the way to the door, still facing off. All the others could do was watch as the scene played out.
Yumi stood by the door, one arm held out. A rosary was gripped in her hand. Touko was at the teacher's desk, looking as if Yumi was holding a snake.
"What do you think you're doing? I thought that you of all people would know better!"
"I didn't choose to do this lightly, Touko-chan."
"Why did you choose to do it at all?" The girls were rather startled at Touko's emotions. After months of being ostracized by them, the girl had almost completely shut down. Seeing her so upset, almost shaking as she accused Yumi, was unnerving.
"This isn't something for me, Touko-chan. I'm trying to do what's best for you as a proper Lillian student..." And yet, as Yumi said this, her eyes briefly edged over to light on the other girls. They flinched back, wondering why she looked at them.
Touko seemed to know, though. She stopped shaking and drooped, almost falling to the floor. "So that's it. In the end, this is about pity."
Yumi realized what had happened, and stepped forward. "That's not--"
Touko held out a hand, cutting her off. "If you can say to my face that you are not handing me that rosary partly because you want to get the class to speak to me again, I promise I will take it."
Touko looked up, her eyes almost boring a hole in Yumi's head. The girls at the back of the room held their collective breath.
And then Yumi broke the gaze, and looked down. Her arm fell back to her side.
Touko sighed, for a moment looking sad. "May I be excused, Rosa Chinensis En Bouton?"
Yumi didn't look up, but nodded, and shifted to one side. Touko walked out as fast as she could while retaining decorum.
The girls all breathed out in relief. The air was already feeling more clear. They turned back towards Yumi, who would need comforting after having been rejected...
And then they dropped back again, terrified of the look in Yumi's eyes. If it wasn't Yumi, sweet, wonderful Yumi, they might almost have called it a nasty look.
"If I hear anything more about Touko-chan being ignored, ostracized, or anything else by any of you, I will be very disappointed in you."
The girls almost cried. Disappointment from someone like Yumi would be far, far worse than anger or revenge. They all swiftly nodded and assured Yumi that nothing else would happen.
Yumi nodded, and then it was her turn to fall back, sinking into a chair with the rosary still in her hand.
A brave first year stepped forward. "Are you all right, Yumi-sama? I can't believe, no matter what the reasons, that Touko-chan wouldn't accept your rosary."
Yumi continued to stare into the middle distance. "Every time I think I've figured it out... every time I think I've finally managed to stop humiliating myself..."
She focused again, and got up. "It's not enough," she said, and left without even looking back.