AN:
This is, obviously, AU (alternate universe). It pulls a few actual timeline events to form its setting. This WILL contain SPOILERS for everything past disc 2. And yes, I did write that poem. ^^ (Which is why it’s so bad. ^^;;) Standard disclaimers apply.

And yes, I am VERY much aware that I sort of jumped into this. I’m so sorry. Really! *nervous grin*

Title translates to Sweet Tragedy.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Tell me that you love me.
That’s all I want from you.
It’s all I’ve ever wanted:
To hear those words from you.

For you to hold me gently,
For you to be with me,
For my eyes to cry with yours
When sorrow comes freely;

Those were my desires,
My thoughts from times since past.
But now I’ve got my wishes,
And I’m certain they’ll last.

While definitely not her best, Izumi found it expressed her sentiments very well. She had gotten a high score for the poem, which was what she had aimed for, but still she felt slightly displeased. She knew for a fact that no one would truly understand what she was trying to say — who she was really speaking to. Most of them would probably say the speaker was talking to a boy she loved. That was, of course, the superficial interpretation. And, in fact, she would rather have it be that way.

In reality, though, she was writing about her relationship with her mother. At first she had refused to admit to herself that she wanted her mother’s love and attention. She made it seem to everyone, herself included, that she didn’t really need the Chairman at all to do well at school and tennis — and baseball. But she did. And when she finally accepted it — when both mother and daughter decided, albeit separately, that it was time to change that —, they began to form bonds between themselves.

Izumi could finally say her life was going well.

As her classmates was busy with work from other classes — this was an afternoon class, and they had been given the last minutes of it as a free period —, Izumi’s thoughts drifted to the conversation she’d had with her mother the night before.

“Okaasama,” Izumi said, addressing her mother. Once the older woman had glanced up at her, she continued, “what was your relationship with Grandmother and Grandfather like?”

Keiko looked toward the ceiling and frowned a bit, searching for the memory and the words to convey it with.

“Well…it was a lot like ours,” she said, looking slightly unsure but then nodding to confirm the statement. “I was never missing anything, and I did very well in school. Not in athletics, though — that you got from your father.” The two smiled and the Chairman continued. “But…they never really showed me that they loved me. They never told me. Oh, they did, very much so; I knew they did, but it was left at that. At one point I thought about purposefully failing exams to get attention, but I didn’t because it would harm my chances at the future I wanted for myself.

“My father was away on business often. I hated that, but what I hated more was that even then my mother had other things to do and, seemingly, less time to spend around me — at the very least around. It was frustrating…” She paused to look at her daughter, who seemed to have an empathetic sadness in her honey eyes. Keiko then smiled and concluded, “but I always loved them, and I still love them. I never would have become the person I am if I had grown up another way.”

Izumi smiled too, realizing how stupid her anger toward her mother had been, and grateful for having realized it before she went through what the Chairman had. She knew it must be difficult for Keiko — as well as for herself — to forget her pride and dare to take steps toward the relationship they both wanted so dearly, deep inside. “I guess we’re more alike than I had thought, then.”

“Himuro-san.”

Izumi snapped out of her reverie at the teacher’s call. Coach Kido was at the door, looking concerned. Frowning, and after receiving her teacher’s nod, the young girl stood and followed the older man out into the hall, a bit away from the door. When she was close she realized he seemed very worried. Yanagida was also there.

“What is it?” she asked, wanting to get to the point quickly.

Kido frowned, searching for the right words to speak, but his hesitation only heightened Izumi’s own worry. Yanagida did the same. She frowned, trying to hide the urgency she felt, and repeated herself more forcefully, “What is it?”

Again they seemed to stall. This time the girl had to control herself in order to keep herself from yelling, but even so it seemed to her that it had sounded rather loud:

“What is it?!”

“Izumi-oujosama…” Yanagida said, still trying to find a proper way to begin. Finally, resolving for the facts, he simply spoke. “There was an accident on the way back from this morning’s meeting…”

Seeing that he let the sentence trail, Izumi rushed him, “Yes?”

“Several other cars were involved, and…”

“Please, Yanagida-san, just tell me — please!”

“Keiko-oujosama… She was…”

Even before he had finished the sentence, Izumi knew what he wanted to tell her, and she froze at the very mention of her mother’s name. Kido finished for the older man.

“She was hurt very badly.”

Izumi blinked several times; at the same time she tried to conjure words, or at the very least her voice, which seemed to have abandoned her.

“I see…”

“I’m very sorry, Izumi-oujosama.”

“So…” said the girl, after a very short lapse of time filled with silence. “…Okaasama… She’s…she’s de—”

“Oh, no, no,” Yanagida said quickly, correcting the words Izumi hadn’t even pronounced. “She’s alive… but…” He paused, looking around as if the walls held the words he should say, hoping the girls’ baseball team coach would complete the statement.

And he did. “Maybe it’d be best if you came and saw her.”

Shocked as she was, Izumi had a remarkably clear mind. “But I — I have class now. I can’t just —”

“It’s been taken care of,” Kido said simply.

The usually hung over man looked more serious than the girl had ever seen, and that alone would not allow her to say no. She silently followed the two men out and into a car parked just outside the school gates. She said nothing on the trip and nothing when they arrived at their destination. She turned their words over and over in her head, trying to make sense of what they said. When they stepped inside the hospital and the smell of it filled and nearly overwhelmed her, she stopped and simply stood, staring out toward the front, unblinking. Slowly, she turned her head to look up at Yanagida. She frowned, taking just a second to mentally run over her choice of words, then more stated than asked her question:

“She’s not conscious, is she?”

Yanagida lowered his head as Kido returned from the front desk. Izumi felt suddenly angry.

“She’s in a coma, isn’t she?!” she nearly spat. “That’s why… That’s why you wouldn’t tell me, right? Because you wanted me to see her first? Why didn’t you just tell me when I asked you to! Why did you have to leave me to figure it out on my own!! It’s such a simple thing to say! ‘She’s in a coma’ ! How hard is that!? Why didn’t you just tell me!!”

Kido’s firm grip on her shoulders didn’t stop her from going on.

“If you’d told me I wouldn’t’ve come!”

“Himuro,” Kido’s sure voice tried to silence her.

There’s no use coming to see her now! What were you thinking!? What were both of you thinking!?”

“Himuro!”

That was when she realized her coach’s hands were on her shoulders. That was when she realized the scene she’d made and where she had made it. That was when she realized she was angry at them for being polite and not blunt.

That was when she realized her mother’s condition.

She breathed in a slow, shallow, shaky manner. She blinked almost compulsively, trying to sort through the myriad of thoughts and emotions boiling inside her, wishing Kido would let go, wishing he wouldn’t.

She could only say one word.

“Okaasama…”

Neither of the two men expected her to cry. Himuro Izumi didn’t cry easily. She hadn’t done so in so long she wondered if she’d forgotten how to do it. But even so she didn’t cry. Her internal battle, one which involved many things at the moment, crying being one of them, was, ironically, calming her down. After a while — which seemed like a very long while to Izumi, even though it had really been only a few seconds —, Kido released her shoulders. She stood as tall as she had before. She only had one decision to make right now.

“Take me home.”

Again it had been the expected reaction. It really did seem like a waste of time to have brought her this far, but it had been what they were supposed to do. The men escorted her outside and got into the car with her, Kido in the driver’s seat.

* * *

To be continued…eventually…

Well now. Here I’ve gone and destroyed one of my favorite character’s life. How typical. But that’s okay — this is just an experiment. I thought it up on our way to S.S. to celebrate Rosh Hashannah, which was the day I published ‘Secret Kept’. (Thanks for all the reviews! ^^ I love all of you!)

Now, Princess Nine is one of the only series I’ll use Japanese with, and with good reason — the implications!!! Izumi could call Keiko a number of things meaning ‘mother’, but she uses okaasama. Now, I’m not a formal student of Japanese, but from my books I gather enough to formulate opinions on that: either she really respects Keiko, or she just wants to keep her distance by being formal with her all the time. It’s such an Izumi thing to say! ^^

As for Yanagida, well, I love the fact that he calls both Keiko and Izumi ‘oujosama’, which would be ‘princess’, if I’m not mistaken. I think it’s so sweet, or so respectful, or so — Yanagida. ^^ He’s such a sweet man. ^^

As of a while ago, I only own upto disc 3. As I gather the other discs (hopefully before next year), I will incorporate more and more canon occurences and character traits into this. So please do be patient with me. ^_^

Yours sincerely,
GataFairy (and her ridiculously long author’s notes ^~)

AN: I’ve finally seen the entire series, and NOW I can make this REALLY work. Sorry for the huge delay. Um… I just noticed a misspelling in the previous chapter: it’s ojousama and not oujosama. I have no idea what I was thinking when I typed it that way. I’m going to cut back on the Japanese usage. And sorry for the light narration in this chapter! *pout!*

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Rumors were floating around at school the next day about Izumi’s early departure. Being late once more, Ryo was forced to listen to them as she jogged to the locker room, where the members of the girl’s baseball team would get together despite the fact that they would not be playing the rest of this season.

Just listen to them! she thought. They’re making it out to be something like a scandal! They probably don’t even care what Izumi is going through.

The fact was that she didn’t know what the girl was going through either. Nobody does. Therefore, no one should be talking about things they don’t know about.

The brunette entered the locker room with a smile.

“Morning, Ryo!” greeted Nene. The sentiment was echoed by several of the other girls. Mao was less loud with her greeting, and Yuki just offered a nod and a smile. Ryo had learned to expect that from all of them.

But the sight of them without one of their team members was, in a way, eerie.

She wanted to bring up the subject — she knew she had to —, but she didn’t want to sound like all the other girls in school who only cared about the gossip. She bit her lip, then found the words that sounded best.

“The other girls are talking about it as if it were a break-up.”

She didn’t have to tell them what “it” was for them to know.

“Idiots,” Seira muttered.

Ryo shook her head. Maybe I didn’t say it right.

“They just don’t know what it’s like to live without a mother,” Koharu said suddenly.

If there had been a silence before the comment was uttered, it could not compare with the cold, tense one that reigned supreme after Koharu spoke. Mao, Nene, Yoko, and Hikaru appeared uncomfortable — they had perfect families. Yuki looked as listless as ever, but something in the depths of her eyes tried to say otherwise. Kanako obviously took the comment to heart. Seira looked angrier than usual if possible, and Koharu almost mimicked that look. Ryo tried her best to keep herself collected. She nodded. She wanted to agree, but she didn’t know what being motherless felt like.

“It’s true,” Kanako murmured after a while, shattering the quiscience like a hammer hitting a thin sheet of glass. “It’s difficult.”

Seira found herself resisting the urge to spit. “She’s practically alone, even though there are probably servants at the house.”

“It’s awful…” Yuki almost whispered. “Especially when… neither parent is there, supporting you…” The black-haired girl looked up, locking her gaze with Ryo’s, telling her things with her eyes.

Ryo understood. She nodded. She agreed.

“Izumi needs support. That’s not to say we should overwhelm her — just… just,” Ryo glanced at all the girls, “just support her. Be there. Be friends.”

Given everything the blue-haired girl had done to the team the past semester, Ryo knew it would be hard for some of them to consider Izumi a friend. But she knew these girls, trusted them — they were all wonderful people, and they as well as she could see the good inside everyone. Even someone like Izumi.

Thus, she knew she didn’t need to hesitate to suggest, “Let’s go see her today. All of us.”

“Yeah… We can bring her today’s school work,” Hikaru said, smiling. “She might actually like that.”

“Maybe a treat could help!”

Ryo grinned, glad that Nene was starting to act like herself again.

And so in a matter of minutes, the Kisaragi Girl’s Baseball Team had planned the visit to their missing team member’s house.

* * *

Izumi sat erect on the bench before the piano. She held the instrument in an inexpressive stare. It had been that way for over an hour: the girl could not make her hands touch the keys and play. Silence was better for her then. Silence was the only noise, or lack thereof, that managed to encourage and discourage reflection and contemplation.

She never skipped school. Izumi’s grades were stellar and she had no reason or desire to skip. She knew the kids in her class would be wondering what happened. The word would spread like wildfire through both the Kisaragi schools. It wasn’t something that could be helped, therefore she was not worried.

In fact, she there wasn’t much at all she was worrying about. There was nothing she was really feeling. There was too much to deal with for her to allow herself to slip into emotions. That would weaken her, and Izumi was nothing if not strong.

“Izumi-san, there are some girls who want to see you.”

She hadn’t noticed the door had been opened until Yanagida spoke. At first she just nodded. When he informed her that they were still at the door, she offered a blank, “I’ll go meet them now,” then waited till he left before she stepped out of the room.

Listless was her expression as she walked down the stairs and then the hall. She had no real desire to meet with anyone, but even in moments such as this courtesy seemed difficult to get rid of. The visitors were probably in the foyer, she thought, which was better, much better for the girl with blue hair.

I can think of what to say to make them leave soon, she mused.

Hearing their soft voices as she drew near to the visitors, Izumi hoped it wasn’t Kyoka, Tomoko, and Miho wanting to give her mere praise and gossip. That was the very last thing she needed. Second to her mother’s death, of course.

That thought set off a small wave of anger. She wouldn’t have been able to explain why she was angry, though. Even if she tried. Even if she could trace the emotion back to that one thought, she still could not begin to say why.

She stepped into the room where the girls were and stopped short at the sight, her face blank once more.

The girls’ baseball team fell silent upon seeing their final member enter the room. Some of the girls were unsure of whether or not they should smile, namely Mao, Kanako, Hikaru, Yoko, and Nene; instead they sported small, cautious half-smiles. Koharu, Seira, and Yuki weren’t smiling at all. Ryo, while feeling awkward, made the first move by smiling gently and stepping forward.

“Hi, Izumi.”

Izumi just stared as she had been doing since she walked in. Her amber eyes were pools of an emotional void. It frightened Ryo; she hoped she hadn’t been wrong about coming to visit the blue-haired girl.

“Hi,” Izumi returned.

Relief washed over Ryo. Thank you. I knew you wouldn’t shut us out. “We just came by to give you our school assignments,” the brunette went on.

“And I made you some cupcakes!” Nene said, in a cheerful yet comforting voice. She held out a covered plastic tray.

Izumi took the proffered gift and set it aside. She didn’t seem to think it would hurt Nene’s feelings. In truth, the bubbly girl bit her lip to keep herself from telling the Chairman’s daughter she was being very rude.

After what seemed like many minutes, Izumi said, “Thank you, but I don’t think it was necessary for all of you to come just to give me two little things.”

Seira snorted and uncrossed her arms. She past to the blue-haired girl, stopping when their backs were facing each other.

“That’s what people do,” the redhead whispered in a husky sort of voice.

A flame flickered momentarily in Izumi’s eyes. She clenched her right hand into a fist.

Hikaru handed Izumi the class assignments and, followed by the other girls, gave the blue-haired teen support through their words. They each said they would’ve stayed longer if they didn’t have other things to do. In the end, only Ryo was left. She wished Koharu or Yuki had stayed behind as well.

She felt uneasy as it was, but having Izumi’s stare fixed on her was unnerving. The silence didn’t help.

Izumi saw no reason to be polite.

“Don’t you have to go as well? Help your mother with the customers?”

The blue-haired girl’s ability to speak with such a hollow voice surprised Ryo. She was caught completely off guard. “Ahh… N-Not today,” was all she managed to say.

Izumi continued to gaze at her.

“You must have somewhere else to be.”

“No…”

“A date with Hiroki, perhaps.”

“No,” the brunette snapped. She instantly regretted having done that, but Izumi was unaffected. “I just wanted… to see how you are, that’s all.”

Izumi said nothing for a while. She just studied the other girl.

“It wouldn’t bother me if you start going out with him, you know.”

Ryo met the other girl’s eyes for a split second but turn away quickly. Looking into those eyes was like submerging oneself in darkness, nothingness.

“Are you okay?” asked the brunette, trying to change the subject.

“Of course I am,” Izumi said, and for once she appeared to be feeling something. She looked proud and conceited. This was, at least, something Ryo could deal with. “Why should I not be fine?”

Butt even though the former junior high school tennis star stood erect, Ryo could tell that she had been wrong about her having felt anything for longer than a second. The amber eyes were still like vacuums. The brunette couldn’t look at them for fear of having all her happiness sucked away.

However, Ryo did not quit.

“Well, considering what happened, I doubt if anyone could be so strong.” She refrained from using, “as strong as you are,” because somehow she could sense that Izumi was just wearing a mask.

“I see no reason to be weak,” Izumi continued, her voice not as loud as it had been a while ago. “Is that all?”

“Just…” Ryo paused for just a second. She had to look the other girl in the eyes. She knew Izumi was just pretending to be fine. If she wanted to get through, she had to try to look within her. I wasn’t scared of you before and I won’t be. Ever! “Just that I’m here for you — we’re here for you if you need us.”

Izumi nodded once.

“Thank you for coming.”

Ryo then nodded. She walked back to the entrance, unaware of the other girl’s footsteps behind her until she was almost out the door.

“Ryo.”

The brunette turned to face the azure-haired girl. She met her gaze without thinking and a feeling of warmth swept over her. Izumi looked touched. She was almost glassy-eyed. Evidently, visiting her had been the right thing.

“I really do mean ‘thank you’.”

Ryo grinned and would have done so more widely if possible when she saw Izumi manage a small smile of her own.

“Will you be at school tomorrow?” asked the brunette.

“Yes.”

“See you then.”

“Ja ne.”

When the door closed, Izumi stared at it for a second from within the house and Ryo kept a hand on it as she smiled for a second from without the house.

* * *

To be continued…

AN: Sorry for the huge hiatus… Been busy and all. It may take another long period before I update, but I really like this story, so odds are I will update… sooner or later. (More likely later.)