A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you had a good Christmas! I'm sorry about the long update we've have family in town for about a week and all my finals for school and I'm sure you all are experiencing similar things! Anyways, things are finally settling down here so I was able to finish this chapter which is the final chapter in this story. :( I feel I've learned some things from this story which is always a good feeling, but ending a story is never fun for me. No turning back now was really tough to end and so is this one. Anyways I will put another note at the bottom so I don't spoil anything here.
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"You were suspended?" Yumi's father asked as Yumi put her head down and nodded slowly. She wouldn't see her fathers smile because of this. She didn't want to see his face, he was probably highly upset with her after all this was the first time she had been suspended. ". . .I just hope you knocked some sense into her," he said as Yumi lifted her head with surprise written on her face.
"You mean?..."
"You are not in trouble Yumi, how can we punish you for sticking up for yourself?" Her mother asked as Yumi's smile grew a little bit before giving both of her parents a hug.
"...So does this mean I can spend the night?" Yumi asked as her parents shared a knowing look but both shrugged it off.
"Yes, but remember our talk we had the other day," her mother reminded her as Yumi nodded, though her parents were pretty certain she didn't care.
They would be right too as Yumi laid next to Sachiko late that night with not a care in the world that either of them were completely disregarding what their parents had said earlier that day. They most certainly did not keep their hands to themselves, in fact as soon as they could the door was locked.
Yumi smiled as she stretched once again before snuggling close to Sachiko, "Do you think we will get in trouble for this?"
"Do I really care?" Sachiko answered with another question and a smile as Yumi chuckled a little. "To be honest, I think they somewhat expected this," Sachiko continued as Yumi raised an eyebrow at her and thought of the warning again, "keep your hands to yourselves."
"I guess you're right, but even if we do get in trouble, I am alright with that," Yumi concluded as she kissed Sachiko's bare shoulder that her head was resting by.
Sachiko glanced to the clock she had in her room before looking back to Yumi, "you know we still have quite a few hours before anyone wakes up."
Yumi just glanced to the door briefly before smiling and running her hand down Sachiko's side until it rested on her hip, "did you have something in mind?" Yumi asked innocently as Sachiko grinned before moving her face closer to Yumi's.
"I have only one thing in mind," Sachiko breathed as her lips almost touched Yumi's, ". . .you," Sachiko continued as her lips finally touched Yumi's in what would be not the first and definitely not the last time they would touch this night.
Yumi's face was flushed though she didn't feel embarrassed, in fact when Sachiko pulled away from the kiss Yumi stopped her by going back for another. Sachiko broke the kiss and sucked in her breath when she felt Yumi's hand move from her hip to a more sensitive spot. Yumi of course didn't notice this and instantly went after Sachiko's next with her lips.
"If you give me a hickey they will know for sure," Sachiko breathed though she did nothing to stop Yumi from doing what she was doing.
"Then I guess we will see if they really were concerned," Yumi answered between kisses which Sachiko barley heard as Yumi 's touch one again made her mind go blank.
-X-X-
Youko took a deep breath as she went silent for a minute thinking to herself. She could feel her palms sweating and her heart beating fast. She thought of Sachiko and Yumi at this time and what they had gone through at a time like this.
"You wanted to tell us something?" Youko's parents asked after a minutes of silence, they could tell whatever it was on their daughters mind, it was serious.
Youko just simply nodded before lifting her head and taking another deep breath. "I-I. . . I've fallen in love with Sei," Youko said as she instantly put her head down ashamed to look at her parents.
Instead of waiting like she had been told to, Sei stepped into the room quickly joining Youko's side and taking her hand in her own. Youko lifted her head slightly but not too far, only enough to realize what was going on.
"Y-You're a lesbian?" Her father asked as Youko shrugged as her only answer, she now not only felt scared, but extremely ashamed because of what she did to Sachiko and Yumi.
". . .I don't know," Youko said as she lifted her head now showing the tears in her eyes, she was scared. "I just know that I love her a lot more than a friend should," Youko admitted as her father kept silent thinking to himself.
"What about you?" Youko's mother asked as Sei glanced to her and gave a nod.
"I also have feelings for your daughter," Sei said with a deep bow.
"For how long?" Youko's father asked as Sei stood up straight.
"For a long time sir, I only just confessed to her recently though," Sei answered as Youko's father looked to Youko.
Youko glanced to Sei for a second before turning back to her father and nodding, "I have also for a long time. . . I wanted to tell you because I know in my heart this isn't a phase, so please don't try and tell me it is."
"I wasn't going to suggest that," Youko's mother said as she stood up and looked to her husband with a look that said he should follow. "I cannot and will not try to change how you feel about her, I just want you to be happy."
Youko looked to her mother who just simply smiled at her, "if you don't mind I would like to speak to your father privately about this. You two just enjoy your time together, just be home by midnight and call me to check in alright?"
Youko just simply nodded as her parents left the room.
"See that didn't go so bad," Sei said before immediately being forcefully hugged as Youko continued to cry. "Hey, what's wrong, they didn't seem upset," Sei said trying to calm her down as Youko shook her head.
"I just can't believe they are not upset," Youko said as Sei smiled and patted the top of Youko's head.
"Well they told us to enjoy this night, so as a surprise to you, I have planned out our first official date," Sei said with a smile as Youko glanced up to her with a raised eyebrow. "I planned the date if this went alright, I prepared a place for you to sleep in my room if it didn't," Sei shrugged as Youko smiled this time before giving Sei a quick but unexpected kiss.
"I love you, Sei," Youko said as she released her from the hug and went to grab her things. Sei just smiled feeling like a weight had been lifted off her chest. Shimako had been taken care of, things with Sachiko and Yumi were better than ever, and for the first time in a long time she was as happy as she could possibly be. Seeing Youko enter the room again with a fresh change of clothes only made her smile as she went and took her hand. She had finally gotten what her heart was chasing after all this time. Still, she couldn't believe that it would be Youko who brought her this love and happiness.
"Come on, let's go, I don't want to waste any time."
-X-X-
Rei glanced around as she waited, she kept trying to tell herself to calm down, but it wasn't working. She had already knocked too, so running would be awkward if the door was answered as she was running down the sidewalk. She just had to settle with telling herself this had to be done repeatedly, even though her whole body was scared.
"Rei," Yoshino's mother answered as Rei looked up at her paralyzed with fright, when had the door even opened?
"I-Is, Yoshino home?" Rei asked as her Yoshino's mother nodded and let Rei in the door.
"Let me go get her for you, she has been a little off lately, I want to make sure she is feeling well," Yoshino's mother said as Rei gave a nod though she knew Yoshino was not sick. She just waited patiently for a few minutes glancing around a house she knew so well, but feeling as though it was foreign.
When Yoshino's mother reached the bottom of the stairs she shook her head, "I'm sorry, she says she doesn't want to see anyone right now."
Rei just nodded with a sigh as she turned towards the door and opened it, stepping out as Yoshino's mother grabbed the handle and held the door for a moment. "You wouldn't know anything about why she has been so weird lately, would you?" Yoshino's mother asked as Rei turned around kind of surprised by the question before shaking her head.
"N-No, I'm afraid I don't know why," Rei lied knowing full well why Yoshino was like this.
Yoshino's mother frowned a little before thank Rei and going to close the door.
"She is being stubborn again isn't she?" Rei thought for a split second as she quickly put her hand up stopping the door and catching Yoshino's mothers attention.
"I know why she is acting like this," Rei said not knowing exactly where it had all come from. Yoshino's mother opened the door farther with a confused look on her face as Rei glanced to her. "I would rather not say out here."
Yoshino's mother gave a nod and let Rei in the house, "I thought you said you didn't know?"
"I lied. . ." Rei said as she looked off to the side realizing the hole she had dug herself. "I know exactly why she is acting the way she is, especially towards me, but I can be just as stubborn."
"Stubborn?" Yoshino's mother asked confused as Rei looked up at her with a serious face.
"I love Yoshino and I know she feels the same way about me, she just won't give me the chance to apologize for a mistake I made," Rei explained as Yoshino's mother blinked once or twice.
"Y-You love her?" Yoshino's mother asked as Rei nodded.
"Yes and she has personally told me that she feels the same way, that is why I need to talk to her, I need just one chance to tell her how I feel," Rei explained as Yoshino's mother had already gone towards the stairs to call Yoshino down.
Rei's breath was once again caught in her throat when she heard footsteps on the stairs soon after Yoshino's mother had called her. She glanced towards the stairs and just as soon as Yoshino reached the bottom she took what felt like her only chance.
"Rei is here to see you," Yoshino's mother said just as Rei grabbed Yoshino by her arms to hold her in place before kissing her on the lips.
Yoshino eyes went wide not because Rei was kissing her, but because she was doing it in front of her mother. As soon as she could Yoshino broke the kiss and avoided eye contact with her mother.
"Why are you doing this to me?" Rei asked as Yoshino glanced up to her and saw the tears rolling down her face. "I know I screwed up, but you can't keep doing this to me because of that," Rei cried never letting go of Yoshino's arms, ". . .I love you, Yoshino, I love you more than anything in the world and if that means I'm a lesbian, I don't care. I only care about you and with the way you've been ignoring me, I just hope I haven't done enough damage for you to not care about me anymore," Rei continued as she put her head down.
Yoshino just paused for a moment glancing to her mother who looked thoroughly confused by the entire situation but remained silent. Yoshino's gaze went down to Rei who was holding her in position, she felt all the feelings she had for Rei swirling around inside of her. The courage Rei had to do something like this, Yoshino felt horrible.
"I'm sorry," Yoshino said as Rei lifted her head with a devastated look on her face, which Yoshino quickly shook her head at. "I'm sorry for ignoring you," Yoshino said with a smile as she lifted her arms enough to where Rei let her go. "I'm sorry for not giving you the chance you deserve to make it clear to me how you feel," Yoshino said as she hugged Rei tightly for a moment before Rei hugged her back.
"So all this lesbian talk is true then?" Yoshino's mother interrupted as Yoshino nodded even though she was stilling hugging Rei. ". . .In that case I think you two have something to talk about for awhile. Your father will be home soon, I would like it if we can talk about this then."
"I think that would be a good idea," Yoshino said as she pulled away from the hug and took Rei's hand in her own. "Let's go to my room we can talk until my dad gets home," Yoshino suggested as Rei smiled and gave a nod feeling different inside like a weight had been lifted.
-X-X-
Sachiko glanced out the window of the car as it came to a stop outside the gates of Lillian, everything seemed normal but she felt different. She was happy and for once not stressed out about being at school though she knew the name calling might still be around.
"Are you ready?" Yumi asked as Sachiko glanced back to her before smiling with a nod and opening the car door. Once out of the car she glanced around again happy that no one seemed to care that she had arrived.
"Here let me help you," Sachiko said as she turned and took Yumi's hand to help her out of the car.
"Sachiko, Yumi!" A voice called as they both glanced over to see Yoshino running towards them with her usual energy, but this time her face held a big smile. It was also interesting to see Rei walking down the sidewalk, she must have been walking with Yoshino. Rei's slight smile gave it all away though when she noticed Sachiko glance at her.
"You seem different," Yumi said as Yoshino raised an eyebrow and Yumi shrugged, "I don't know you just seem really happy."
"Well I guess you could say I'm happy," Yoshino answered as she turned and took Rei's hand.
Yumi smiled when she noticed them holding hands, something she hadn't seen for awhile. "You mean. . .?"
Rei gave a nod before smiling herself, "things are better now."
"How are you two doing?" Rei asked as Sachiko looked thoughtful for a moment recalling the other night.
"Our bad day had a very happy ending," Sachiko said as Yumi's smile vanished and her face went red instantly. Both Rei and Yoshino laughed as Yumi looked up to Sachiko with a glare expressing everything she was thinking. "Shimako got expelled, I didn't think that would happen that day," Sachiko answered as Yumi looked at her blankly.
"But I thought you were talking about. . ." Yumi paused as Sachiko grinned.
"A really happy ending?" Rei asked as Yumi quickly shook her head causing Rei and Yoshino to laugh. Sachiko joined in with a chuckle too as Yumi pouted knowing she had expressed their entire night through her facial expressions. She couldn't feel too bad though as Sachiko basically tricked her into it.
"Sachiko, Yumi!" Another voice called as all four girls turned and saw Youko and Sei waving at them. "Come over here, we want to show you something," Sei said as Sachiko glanced down to Yumi and took her hand before looking over to Rei and Yoshino with a nod as they all started walking towards Sei and Youko.
Sei smiled at Yoshino when she saw her and Rei holding hands, something she wasn't expecting to see for at least a little while longer.
"Follow us," Youko said with a smile as the girls all raised an eyebrow at Sei and Youko's happy mood before following them down a familiar path.
"Why are we going here?" Yumi asked though the only answer she got was Sachiko glancing down to her briefly when Youko and Sei didn't respond. All they could do was follow them all the way up to the council room.
Sei pushed the door open with a smile as Youko entered the room followed by Rei and Yoshino then lastly Sachiko and Yumi. All girls raised an eyebrow when they saw the principal, a few teachers, and a bunch of students in the room.
"Ah, they have finally arrived. I'm glad you could join us this morning," the principal said as Sachiko and Yumi shared a confused look for a moment.
"We hadn't realized the severity of what was going on in this council as of late," the principal started as Sachiko interrupted.
"I don't think you realized anything."
The principal paused momentarily scratching his head, "well... We are trying to move past that mistake.
"Took long enough," Yumi said with a roll of her eyes, Youko just smirked, it seemed Sachiko had rubbed off on Yumi a bit.
"Eh hem, regardless, we haven't brought you here to discuss that, but rather remedy it."
"Remedy it how?" Yumi asked as the principal looked around at the teachers and students gathered there.
"We have all gathered here because you do have those who support your decisions," a teacher explained as she looked down to the girls in front of her.
"I'm sorry we didn't stick up for you," one of the girls said with a deep bow as Sachiko glanced to Youko and Sei who looked just as confused as them.
"I thank you for the apology, but they are not required. I hope it's common knowledge that the only thing I ever needed to get through it was always with me," Sachiko responded as she put her hands on Yumi's shoulders as she was standing behind her.
"Yes, thank you, but I have to ask why did you wait?" Yumi questioned as the girls kind of shied away from the question.
"We were scared," one responded with a voice full of shame, "we saw what they were doing to you and didn't want it to happen to us. I know what you must think of us. . ."
"I think you made the right decision," Sachiko answered as Yumi glanced up to her kind of surprised before smiling. It seemed Yumi's gentle ways had affected Sachiko to the point where she could answer in a Yumi kind of way. Youko's smirk quickly returned at this, Sachiko wasn't as tough an ice princess since Yumi walked into her life.
"I'm glad you are able to understand our fears," one of the girls bowed as the principal smiled before clearing his throat.
"Yes, we as staff are glad you were able to stay strong throughout this entire situation until we could resolve it."
"Actually we resolved it, but please continue," Sachiko responded leaving the principal speechless for a moment yet again.
"Right you are. . . Anyways we gathered here and asked you to meet us for one thing. We would be honored as a school if you all would rejoin the Yamayurikai. We think it may serve as a good stepping stone towards tolerance of lesbians on our school grounds."
"While having tolerance would be nice, it simply won't happen in the time we have left at this school," Sachiko responded as all eyes looked to her as she thought for a moment. "That being said, it could show the rest of the girls that who we love does not make us less of a human being than them. While it may not come to be in our time at this school it could help some other couple in the future dealing with the same issues we are."
"I agree and I think they could all the help they can get," Yumi said as she glanced towards the principal who more like a verbal punching bag at this point.
"Is this is a yes I'm hearing?" The principal asked as Sachiko looked to Yumi for a moment as Yumi nodded.
"Yes, but under one condition," Sachiko said as the principal raised an eyebrow. "We have at least two straight girls join with us. I would like to hold a vote for who they should be by the rest of the school. The girls who want to try for the spot need to know they are joining a student council that has open lesbians in it. I think if we are able to work with them that tensions may calm down and the students will see that lesbians are not monstrosities."
"Religious views will still work against you," a teacher brought up as Sachiko gave a nod.
"You're right," Sachiko agreed before pausing a moment. "I don't seek to change their views on anything. There will be those that hate us because of what they believe and that is fine as long as it's just that, hate. When they verbally abuse us or physically attack us that is when it is no longer alright. I could tell everyone what I believe, but it will do no good because of the fact that I am in love with Yumi. I cannot believe in anything due to this in societies eyes, I am truly a monstrosity to them. Which is fine because I do not live to serve them as they do not live to serve me. We have differences in beliefs and that is absolutely fine, in a good world we would express this by simply avoiding that person. Destroying their things and trying to ruin their lives though. . ." Sachiko shook her head in disgust thinking what had happened to Yumi, "that is something we simply cannot allow to pass as acceptable behavior."
"Having both straight and lesbian girls on this council might show that we are not whatever they think we are," Yumi added as Sachiko nodded. "If we vote too much in favor of something though they might label us as a lesbian run council still."
"Then I think it's time the council changed how it's issues are dealt with. Perhaps it's time to end the Yamayurikai and perhaps make something new where more students are involved if need be so that decisions are as fair as possible," Youko suggested as Sachiko glanced to her and nodded.
"I think that sounds like the best course of action," Sachiko agreed as the principal glanced between the two.
"I-I do admit that does sound like something that would work and we do have the room for it."
"Let's talk about this maybe at the beginning of next week. I think the students should ultimately be the ones to decide. After this big deal, I think the smartest and safest thing would be to let them decide for us. As I said, all I ever wanted has been right here," Sachiko explained before receiving a hug from Yumi.
"I expect you will be able to manage this seeing as though you have so much free time on your hands," Sachiko said with a glance towards the principal who just simply cleared his throat and nodded, he was already in some pretty big trouble, he might as well try and fix his screw up.
Sachiko smiled before patting the top of Yumi's head who was still hugging her, "come on Yumi, I'll walk you to class."
Yumi just simply smiled with a nod before taking Sachiko's hand and following her out the council room door with their friends right behind them. Things may have still been a little chaotic with rumors, but for the first time in a long time, both Sachiko and Yumi were alright with being at school.
A few weeks later. . .
Sachiko smiled as her eyes slowly watched the way Yumi's hair moved when she lifted it with her fingers. She almost had forgotten they were sitting on a bench at school while in this dreamy moment. She loved these moments with Yumi, moments where she didn't care that the rest of the world existed, moments where only her and Yumi existed and she could get carried away by Yumi's slightest smile.
"Look at them," a voice said as Sachiko glanced over to two girls passing by who immediately turned away.
Yumi glanced to Sachiko who just simply sighed, "well we both knew we couldn't expect everyone to leave us alone."
"Oh well, at least they don't ever really say anything to terrible. At least most girls don't anymore, it seems Shimako getting kicked out was kind of a scary thought. Scared or becoming tolerant," Yumi shrugged, "as long as they leave us be for the most part I don't care."
Sachiko chuckled in agreement before noticing those two girls that had just walked by start approaching them with odd looks on their faces.
"Perhaps I spoke too soon," Yumi grumbled as the girls stopped in front of them.
"U-Uhm... Excuse us. I-If you don't mind we wanted to ask you something," one of the girl said, by the way of her stuttering and nervousness in her voice she was obviously a bit scared being where she was.
Both Sachiko and Yumi immediately picked up on this. "You don't have to be nervous around us, we don't bite," Yumi said as the girl nodded to her words before smiling a little.
"T-Thank you," she responded before looking to the girl next to her. "You see we are nervous because we wanted to ask you. . . H-How did you come out to your parents? I mean, because, well. . I.. I mean we. . ."
"You two are together?" Sachiko asked with a smile that seemed to calm them a little as they both nodded.
"It is scary isn't it?" Yumi asked as the girls nodded.
Sachiko glanced towards the school as they heard the bell ring, "well we don't have much time, but if you would like you are welcome to join us at lunch. We could talk then if you like?" Sachiko asked as the girls glanced to each other before both nodding.
"Yes, that sounds great, thank you," one of them said as they both bowed.
"Meet us by the front doors of the school at lunch time then," Sachiko said as the girls smiled before turning and walking towards the school.
"That is not what I was expecting, " Yumi said still holding a smile as she watched the two walk away.
"Me either, but it makes me happy that more girls are able to be a bit more open here about who they really are. I think the new student council is really making a good impact on the school," Sachiko said as Yumi nodded.
"I wonder what Shimako would think if she saw our council now. . . She would probably blame us for the wind blowing the wrong way now that I think about it," Yumi sighed as Sachiko chuckled before kissing her on the forehead and taking her hand to start walking towards the school.
"She most certainly would, but we don't need to worry about that now. We are together and helping along with our friends to build a better more open minded student body here. I will be curious to see how it has grown ten years from now when we are married with our own house," Sachiko said as Yumi glanced up to her before blushing a little. The thought of a life with Sachiko filled her heart with happiness.
"I think this school will be a lot better off from now on, I mean we are already seeing a tolerance of sorts coming about," Yumi explained as she glanced around and saw that the girls who usually said things to them for the most part didn't care they were walking by. "It's very nice, but in the end, all I ever wanted was to be with you and I still have that."
Sachiko smiled before stopping and turning to look at Yumi. "You know if you were anymore cute I wouldn't be able to control myself around you," Sachiko said completely chaning the subject as Yumi blushed deeply.
"That's not a very ladylike thing to say," Yumi responded back with a grin understanding Sachiko's game to get her to blush.
Sachiko chuckled as she leaned in close, "whoever said I wanted to be ladylike with you?" Sachiko asked as Yumi's face turned full red before Sachiko closed the distance and kissed Yumi. "I told you if were any cuter I wouldn't be able to control myself."
"Maybe I did that on purpose," Yumi replied as Sachiko grinned.
"So your saying you wanted that?" Sachiko asked as Yumi grinned this time.
"Who knows?" Yumi asked teasingly as she took a few steps away from Sachiko who simply couldn't resist following. "Maybe I will tell you this weekend, my parents said you could spend the night."
Sachiko just smiled as thoughts crossed her mind. It didn't even occur to her that she had just kissed Yumi in front of many girls without even so much as a peep from any of them. Things had settled down drastically at school, while their love for one another was doing anything but settling down. This ordeal would simply be a small hurdle in the lifetime of love they would share with each other.
A/N: So there it is! I really hope you liked the story, I've gotten a ton of support through reviews for this story and I really want to thank you everyone for those they really do mean alot, much more that I can convey here in this text. So moving into the future (literally 2015! haha) I have two stories planned. One is a holiday one shot that should have been posted Christmas but my brother being in town kind of took all my time at the computer. It's coming, but it will probably be just a little shorter than this chapter and more just fluffly yay there in love type stuff. Beyond that I am going to start typing up another story I have been wanting to do for a month or two now. It's going to be kind of odd but I hope you all can stick with it because I've never done anything like this before. Kotoura-san is your exrtremely obvious hint. It will be Maria sama ga miteru because I can't ever leave Sachiko and Yumi, I love them 3. I can't say when chapter one will be posted but I'd imagine sometime in January.
Now moving onto this chapter. This was supposed to be just kind of a clean up here is how everything turned out type chapter while leaving bits and pieces up to you guys, like the name of the new council, or perhaps how they are running it. I didn't mention Shimako much at all this chapter becasue I don't feel she was the main piece of this story, she was the problem but she is gone so they are moving on. This story was a bit hard for me at times because I've never really broken up everything into like three little mini stories if you will where Sei and Youko are doing this while Yoshino and Rei are fighting and Sachiko and Yumi are just trying to be happy. I am straight which I have mentioned before so I cannot claim to have first hand experience in any of this but I do hope things like this don't happen. I am fascinated with this genre because of what it is, I can't imagine how hard it can be, but I respect it which was the point I wanted the girls to make at the end, which I found out is much harder to explain in words.
In the end, I will miss this story because it is kind of the first serious poke I've taken at stuff like this and even now as I type this I often think about how I could have done things differently. Perhaps one day I will come back to a more serious subject surrounding them. I actually have a pretty serious idea going into Strawberry Panic, but I have yet to even start writing it. Well I lied I have a whole chapter done for it, but I haven't posted it. I still want to do that idea actually so who knows you may see it. The next move as stated above is another MSGM story perhaps I will plan for the SP! one after it.
Like always thank you for the comments and follows and such. I hope you all enjoyed this story and I hope you all had a good Christmas! See you next time!