Truthfully, what would await Yuri would be hard for her to process. She attempted to describe her feelings to Reiji in the driveway of the grand entrance of the Sakamaki estate, and he merely dismissed her dismay.

"R-Reiji I've never been to school!" She cried, grabbing to his shoulder as he attempted to walk away. "P-please don't make me go!" Yuri's voice cracked as she bowed her head. Reiji sighed lowly and brushed her hands off his shoulder and shook his head.

"It was humble for me dismiss you from school over the past few days, what do you expect to do in that house all by yourself? This is our estate, you're under our father, and subsequently, you'll suppress your irrational fears and abide by our standards." He growled lowly with a frown.

Yuri sniffled and reluctantly followed Reiji into the car, which was one far more lavish than what she had arrived in. The seats were leather and lined with the most expensive European features; the windows were tinted and darkened, so if one wanted to peak in from the outside they would see nothing of the interior. Her heart sank a little as she sat between Reiji and the window, propping her feet up on the seat.

The aura the entire trip to Ryotei Academy was eerie; Yuri disliked the dark, so she seemed to cling to her arms in an effort to calm her nerves and stressful anxiety. She hated school in almost the same discontent for hospitals, though it was simply because she was never the best learner. Sure, she was one of the few children in Yakimura's house able to read and write, which was exceptionally uncommon. Her grandmother was certainly not one to spare Yuri's education, as when the time came for her to begin her schooling, the woman took it upon herself to teach Yuri to read and write by the many works of literature scattered among the house. As times got worse, Yuri would find herself sparingly reciting the same novels over and over again on a sheet of paper.

By her fourteenth year, as she saw her grandmother's health begin to deteriorate around her. Yuri made an effort to jot down their conversations after she had gone to bed. Strangely enough, as Yuri bid her attention to the beautiful night sky out the windows, she began to recall elements of her final nights in the house with her grandmother.

However, her thoughts were interrupted when the limousine drew to a halt near the entrance of the school. The man driving the vehicle, who Yuri could see through the peeping glass window dividing the two spaces, stepped out and opened up the door unlatching it from the car. He bowed as Reiji exited, and then the three triplets, followed by Subaru. Yuri quickly followed behind them, the ending summer's humid heat catching her off guard.

"R-Reiji, I don't know what I'm doing," she quickly explained as Reiji pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Excuses after excuses. Is there anything you stupid women can understand?" He growled lowly as she felt herself tense up drastically. "And what is this in your hair? I thought I told you to remove this disgusting thing!" Reiji seemed to snap as he quite literally tore the ribbon on the back of Yuri's braid lacing around her flowing, cinnamon hair. She shrieked loudly as he tossed it to the concrete and stepped quite vigorously on it.

Yuri shrieked loudly before he roughly grabbed her by the arm, beginning to pull her inside the building. "You stupid girl, now we're going to be late for class." Yuri merely submitted to him, especially since she knew she'd be met with punishment if she refused.

Shu was stepping out of the car when Reiji left with Yuri. She'd left her bag in the car, but Shu cared nothing of it. Though the ribbon seem to catch his eye after he stepped on it. He reluctantly lifted up his foot and then glanced to the entrance.

Reiji was hauling Yuri down the school halls as the bell rang, holding tightly to her arm. "I can't believe it. You're going to be tardy," he growled lowly as he violently shoved her to the floor. "Your class is 14-A. Don't be any later or they'll lock you out of the room."

Reiji simply left her as she felt as though she would cry. Thus, Yuri stood up, her knees scraped ever so slightly as she adjusted her socks a bit to make herself more presentable.

The clock struck the next hour, and Yuri was sitting on the stairway crying her eyes out. She'd been late to her class, and had no idea where she was going to get there. Yuri had been sitting there for twenty minutes or so among the empty corridors of the school. How she hated feeling this way; Reiji's words had cut her deep, like a thorn into her side.

There was a faint sound of footsteps echoing in the distance, and at this rate, Yuri couldn't care if it was Reiji or someone else for that matter. Though, as they grew closer, she began to recognize the smell. Yuri was far too embarrassed to look up at the guy, who faintly sighed at the sight of Yuri on the stairway.

"Here," Shu's voice muttered lowly as he held the ribbon in his palm out to her. Yuri sniffled slightly as she reluctantly looked up to him. She felt that same feeling come over her as she hesitantly took the ribbon from his palm.

"Thank you, Shu," she muttered quietly, looking away from him sheepishly.

Shu narrowed his eyes ever so slightly; he sighed shakily, hands in pockets as he began to walk away. "Maybe if you weren't so bothersome..." He paused and dared not finish his sentence. Yuri had her eyes latched onto him as he walked, for she feared if she looked away for a moment he would disappear. Her heart beat hastily beneath her chest, and she felt butterflies fill her stomach. It was quite literally a special feeling she'd never felt before, not about anyone or anything.

"Next time you should listen to that guy, it'll probably be worse if he catches you again.."

Her heart began to sank now, as Shu was fading off into the distance. Yuri sighed shakily and left in the other direction, after all, Reiji would be upset if she was late for another class, or, at the least, she ought to change places in hopes he wouldn't find her.

Yuri darted down the hall as the bell rang, the corridor flooding like the streets during the Christmas shopping season. She scurried past the young women dressed daintily and she could do no more than admire their far more feminine physique, after all, they were far prettier than she, so why would anyone dare blink an eye at her? Her heart seemed to sink; Yuri couldn't help but glance backwards in hopes to see Shu standing where he was moments before. However, he merely remained in the past, for now, she was lost among masses of students.

"Reiji!" She called over the sea of voices; there was a girl standing near a sliding door who seemed to tilt her head at Yuri as she passed by. Almost instantaneously, the girl, who distinguished herself with a rather short haircut among other girls, approached Yuri and grabbed her by the arm.

"Come this way, you'll get squashed in this crowd," she simply stated as Yuri reluctantly followed. She maneuvered her way around at least fifty students to an opened corridor where she released Yuri from her grasp. "Are you alright? I always see people get lost on their first day," she smiled slightly.

Yuri tensed up, and immediately felt uncomfortable around this girl whose personality seemingly reminisced of Hikari's. "Yes I'm fine, thank you very much...how did you know I was new..?"

The girl smiled sharply and winked. "I always see a new girl come in with the Sakamakis, though I must admit I distinguished you easily because of that red ribbon in your hair."

Yuri nodded in reply to her; she rubbed her arms as the girl simply brushed her hands behind her head.

"I ought to get going, I saw that Reiji guy on the third floor, heading to the music room. Good luck!" She beamed happily, and suddenly, Yuri began to feel a great envy for this girl. She was beautiful and charming, dimples accommodating her exquisite smile. She felt a little sad and hurt at this, why couldn't she be like this girl..?

By the time Yuri swam through the crowd of students to the stairway leading up to the second and third floor of the building, classes were resuming. She saw a great many of folks disappearing into their designated rooms, and she began to feel heavy in embarrassment.

"What am I going to do! What am I going to do!" She cried aloud to herself as she felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. She sank the floor again, similar to that of earlier, and covered her eyes. "I'm such an embarrassment...Reiji is going to be so upset with me..."

For a moment Yuri began to feel herself become doubtful and cowardly. Her eyes looked about the long, seemingly endless hallway and a heavy feeling began to sink it, it was as though it were a strange, foreign place. She began to hurry; Yuri's eyes wandered outside as she longed to feel the comforting gaze of the raven who watched her from the window for so long. She paused at the foot of the windowsill, wandering her eyes helplessly into the void of darkness in an attempt to catch sight of this creature.

Her thoughts ran astray, and once more, she permitted her feelings to testify for themselves.

"How strange...Reiji certainly won't be too fond of me skipping another class, but I feel terribly tired and exhausted. I must've forgotten to take my pills in the midst of all this chaos...Hm, if I go into the music room, he'll punish me for sure. Then again, my body probably won't be able to hold itself up much longer. I feel heavy, and my eyelids are sinking in on me. Where...where is that guy?"

Yuri's heart sank for a moment as she prepared herself to meddle in the room down the way. She dwindled the petals of the lily in her pocket together; hopefully Reiji would accept a peace offering from her, at least, she hoped so.

By the time she arrived near the doorway, as her anxiety swoll up, she began to hear aimless voices conversing with one another.

"Did you find her?" Reiji seemed to say as though he had the venom of a snake in his throat. Yuri hesitated for a moment as she waited for a reply from someone, after all, Reiji simply didn't seem like the kind of adequate man to simply talk one-side conversations to himself. "I swear you're no more suited for this than you are to be king..."

"Argh, shut your mouth...leave me alone, it's too troublesome...She was in the hallway crying or something, she's probably searching for another excuse to act overdramatic and cry," She could hear Shu's voice talk in its usual melancholy, stoic tone. Yuri felt her heart sank; her euphoria had vanished, and she felt degraded once again.

"You disappoint me greatly, you're no better than a bastard for a child." Reiji simply shook his head, and Yuri sank against the wall and firmly held her chest. "I should approach Father about this, it's apparent you're not strict enough on her, what if she runs away with one of those young men, huh? You simply won't give a damn,"

Shu sighed sharply in disappointment. "Maybe one of those triplets ought to get ugly with her," Shu snickered lowly as he simply turned away from Reiji.

"Very well, I'll go to Father with my concerns and he'll have you replaced, or, better yet, dead by the hand of a Komori," Reiji seemed to turn the other cheek and began exiting the room, and, Yuri, who was sitting outside, crawled her way down the empty corridor in an effort to hide from this man.

"Go ahead," Shu groaned lowly, turning his back to his brother and resuming to his former activity. Yuri could hear Reiji depart, though, after a moment, she began to hear the faint murmurs of an instrument. She began to sort through her thoughts for a moment, and had a strange memory come back to her.

It was indefinitely one from her recent years, the days in which she played beside the fire as a child. When Yuri was undoubtedly sure her grandmother had gone to bed, she could hardly resist turning on the radio and listening intently to the shows and music that aired on a particular station. Yet, the violin returning to its playing, she began to feel slightly relieved.

Thus, Yuri could hardly resist peaking her head through the door and, momentarily, laying her eyes on Shu. He was simply gazing out the window, his head arched over to the chin rest on the rear of the violin. Yuri could do nothing more but watch him, completely infatuated watching his fingers strum the strings while his hand seemed to move the bow side to side in an elegant, sophisticated, manner. His gesture was straightened, and, she hadn't known that he sensed her presence until he began to say something.

"Why are you here?" he sighed in a monotoned voice, continuing the next quarter of the piece, which he seemed to be reading from a book on a music stand placed nearby.

Yuri, who watched him from the doorway, seemed rather at peace for a moment. Her eyes were bound close, and she began to sink the floor with a shallow moan and pleasant smile. "Intermezzo, from Cavalleria Rusticana," Yuri seemed to murmur quietly to herself. "The radio played it all the time in the late night, if I fell asleep in the embers, this song was why..."

Her expression was especially soft, and when Shu turned around at the end of the piece, he could sense her relaxation and peaceful aura. Oh how gentle she looked, her knees pulled to her chest in the doorway, her head leaning back against the door slid into its nook.

"That piece reached its peak so long ago, it seems strange they'd still play it on the radio.." Shu shook his head, laying the violin and bow on a chair as he seemed to lay himself down onto the floor. He closed his eyes, reclining his arms behind his head. "Now, leave me alone or shut up," he sighed sharply.

Yuri seemed to escape her euphoric mood, frowning again as she began to feel up her pocket in search for the flower she'd brought from home. "Shu..?" She muttered, beginning to crawl over towards the young man laying on the floor rather melancholy at the moment. Shu simply opened his left eye and glanced up to Yuri with melodramatic, rather depressing eyes. She pulled the lovely little flower from her dress coat and beamed at him with a smile full of radiant innocence.

"Here," she smiled slightly, holding out the peace offering, to which Shu simply stared rather wide eyed at it. Yuri caught sight of his eyes and tried hard to retain her calm demeanor. Shu looked towards the lily now, his fingers straying their way across the petals and handling it rather gently for such a boy.

"What's this for..?" He said rather quietly, shifting all his attention towards the flower Yuri had gifted him.

Yuri smiled widely; she felt as though he liked it, or, perhaps even in her wildest dreams, cherished it. "You gave me my ribbon back, and I felt bad if I didn't give you something in return...so thank you, Shu," her voice seemed to smile for her lips; Shu began to feel heavy at this, and so he merely nodded and tucked it halfway into his side pocket.

"Whatever..." Replied his stoic voice, quite the rude mannerism to Yuri's gentle, straightforward affections. Yuri sighed and glanced outwards to the window, seemingly smiling despite his nonchalant reaction.

Yuri thought for a moment as her mind wandered aimlessly; she sat close to Shu, yet couldn't help but begin to stray backwards in a chasm of loneliness. "O-oh...I see..." She seemed to frown now, as a realization of cruelty dawned upon her. "I-I'm stupid for intruding on you, I'll just go back to class," She muttered, rising to her feet in a desolate manner.

Admittedly, Yuri expected no reaction from Shu, however, he rolled over and sheepishly glanced up to her with his usual one eyed expression. "Dirty liar, you skipped class," he shook his head with a chuckle, causing Yuri to flush in humiliation.

"I-it wasn't entirely my fault," she stuttered nervously, beginning to back away towards the door. Yuri seemed to feel a wave of strange, mixed emotions come over her. "I'm no good with school, you see..." Her voice seemed so fragile that she could burst into tears at any moment. Shu seemed to frown in response to this.

"Well...if you don't wanna study, don't study, that's all there is to it," he stated as he rolled over onto his back, causing Yuri to sigh lightly.

"B-but Reiji-!!" Her voice cried out.

"Screw Reiji...do whatever you want." Shu abruptly replied, sighing in annoyance in contrast to her. "Now, please leave me alone.." He groaned lowly as he attempted to get a little more shut eye.

"H-hey, Shu? Thank you," she muttered slightly in an effort to suppress her tears. Yet, this seemed to merely make her long to cry even more. For after she departed from that room, Yuri darted down the school hallway in great distress, longing to get as far away from there as she could. Her mind frenzied as she began to cry; how she longed for that flower field, a place in which she could feel safe and close to her mother, for she was in great agony...