Well, she didn"t have very high expectations. Having appeared at the meeting place at the appointed hour, the Rosa Chinensis sisters and the Rosa Gigantea sisters only made a total of four people.

"Did Yoshino-chan leave already?" Sachiko-sama asked Yumi.

"Yes. She isn"t in the match, because for the time being she"s only tentatively in the Kendo Club. But because she went with Rei-sama and company, she was excused from cleaning duty." Although they normally hold matches at the school on Sat.u.r.days, this was the regional tournament for high schools. Yumi and her friends, who were ordinary students, would be attending cla.s.s through the fourth period, go to homeroom, and after cleaning duties were finished they would gather at the entrance. All of which was identical to last year"s regional tournament, though the group members had changed. Sachiko-sama and Shimako-san and Yumi were returning. Noriko-chan was joining the group this year. Youko-sama and Sei-sama from last year were absent. More than an entire year had pa.s.sed since that time.

"The others... I guess they won"t be coming, huh."

"Seems like it." The bouton"s five little sister candidates, because it was a fun outing, had been asked if they wanted to come and help out. Although they had been invited, not a single one had come.

"Yumi"s three sister candidates, and Yoshino-san"s two, no matter what they might have added, they should still have come." That appeared to be her standpoint but, there was Yoshino-san, who had said, "You"re fired." to one girl. Another person had already left in tears. Probably neither would be coming.

"We"ve waited five minutes. Let"s go." As this was Sachiko-sama"s judgment, no one opposed it.

"Yoshino-san wasn"t able to introduce Torii Eriko-sama to her sister," Shimako-san said while walking.

"Yeah." Yumi also nodded. Probably because Yoshino-san had still not met up with Eriko-sama, it certainly seemed like she wouldn"t be able to now. However, if those two candidates couldn"t come to the match, it seemed it was only a matter of time before, "I wasn"t able to make it," would be the reason for all of them.

"If you think about it..." Sachiko-sama muttered. "Noriko-chan was quickly able to commit. Touko-chan and Kanako-chan as well, when they changed their minds, they certainly understood why they were doing it." Somehow, compared to the five sister candidates, they at least have valid excuses.

"I"m sorry."

"There"s no reason for Yumi to apologize. Surely, those girls are just your average female high school students. If possible though, it needs to start with you leading them properly."

Even if I had wanted to guide them, there"s nothing to be done if they choose not to come. I"m only able to pull them so far. Onee-sama, I can say with confidence that these candidates were terribly inadequate. Yumi thought they were shameless.

"That was probably a flight-of-fancy, wasn"t it?" Noriko expressed her opinion.

"Flight-of-fancy"

"To be with a Rose or a Bouton. They were only acting on their longing. "I want to approach her, if only a little." They were thinking that was what they wanted. "If I can be by her side, only wonderful things will happen." It was that kind of a flight-of-fancy. But, such a thing has no basis in reality."

"They became disillusioned?" It reminds me of Shouko-chan a little bit, Yumi thought. For her, if she became a little sister to a Bouton, she believed it was possible to glitter like in a photograph.

"If it was a flight-of-fancy, didn"t they come to realize it? Until now, if they were longing for the Rose Mansion, they hadn"t actually thought about what they would do when they got there. Since they simply hadn"t thought it through - to one day be abruptly thrust into the real world would be baffling. The tea party guests were like that, they would have been happy." It was just an educated guess, but Noriko-chan ended her supposition. It certainly seemed like what she"d described, Yumi thought. If that was the case, about this time they would probably have hurt feelings. Those poor girls.

In the park that surrounds the civic gymnasium, there were mainly three types of uniforms worn by the wandering girls and boys. A familiar scene was unfolding. When they arrived at the a.s.sembly hall, more seats were filled than there had been last year. As expected, they were divided into couples who seemed like they could do nothing but sit. Thus, the Red Rose sisters and the White Rose sisters decided on where they would meet after the match ended and they broke into two groups. On the way to finding their seats, they each bought and carried a sandwich and a carton of milk coffee. With a "Let"s Go!" the two began to search for a pair of empty seats.

"Look, Onee-sama, over there," Yumi pointed and then ran.

"Huh, Yumi?" From what she could tell from behind the rows, she thought she"d discovered a pair of chairs that had not been taken. However, there was also the possibility that someone had simply put down their bags to reserve their seats. First she approached the scene.

"..." Okay. No personal affects. "Um, these aren"t taken, are they?" she tentatively asked the person in the next seat.

Then that person answered, "If you want to sit, leave the sandwich."

"..." Was this the Oitekebori spirit?

"Why is Sei-sama here?"

"Because it"s probably going to be interesting. Or so Eriko heard."

"E...Eriko-sama?" The absent "Eriko-sama" was simply repeated in question. It wasn"t that she called out in particular. But nevertheless, from Sei-sama"s side, a voice responded.

"Yes." Whoa. It was the person in question. She raised her hand in terribly good humor.

"Go...Gokigenyou, Eriko-sama." Although it was natural that Eriko-sama would be here, when she appeared before Yumi"s eyes she honestly thought, "Oh, Yoshino-san you really should not make such rash promises."

She said incidentally, it was not only Sei-sama that Eriko-sama had invited.

"When seen from the back it"s possible to think that..."

When Sachiko-sama finally arrived, to the person sitting next to Eriko-sama, she greeted her with, "Onee-sama." That"s right; she was addressing Youko-sama. During the school festival it had not been possible to visit with them. And now before her the set of all three former Roses sat, so today she could make the time.

(Oh.) She had brought along her two best friends. Then, Eriko-sama told how today was the day she had been looking forward to. It"s only natural: if Yoshino-san could"ve introduced her little sister, she would"ve said, "Please look upon her." Then she would feel drunk with victory and would have happily waited for the evaluation of that little sister. Anyway she would have, if she were able to introduce her. This... will not be pleasant.

"Yumi-chan. How is Yoshino-chan faring?" As soon as Yumi was seated, Eriko-sama stretched her body and asked.

"How"s that?" She must exercise discretion in her response. Eriko-sama was speaking glibly. Although she was being made to speak, it was not necessary to say too much. All the while, Sei-sama and Youko-sama, who sat nearby, remained silent and listened. How would Yumi get through this crisis? It was interesting and they wanted to see the outcome. Why is this happening? And yet, they were both smiling.

"When she saw the box of sweets, she felt resentful, right?" Ah, that.

"I"m very sorry, but as her best friend it"s not possibly for me to say." As she was convinced that a discussion of Yoshino"s little sister was perilous, her interaction became awkward.

"I"m disappointed. By all means, I wanted to see her."

"I, I can"t say anything, but..."

"I understand without your having to say so. If you could only see Yumi-chan"s face." Youko-sama and Sei-sama could not endure anymore without bursting into laughter. In a small voice, Sachiko-sama said, "Idiot." The first round, no matter who was judging, would have been declared Yumi"s loss.

While Yumi was holding her sandwich, Eriko-sama was forgiven. But immediately after finishing eating and the last droplets of milk had been sucked loudly through her straw, round two had begun.

"By the way, what kind of girl is Yoshino-chan"s little sister?"

"Who knows." Incidentally, it seemed that before coming here the three former Roses had supped at a family restaurant. Sei-sama"s "leave it~" must have been a joke. But, while letting her mind wander a bit, as expected, one piece had been eaten.

"Yumi-chan, don"t play dumb. Didn"t you just say that Yoshino-chan is your best friend? As a best friend, it"s not that you don"t know." It figures. Even though she should have been more attentive, she may have already tipped her hand.

"That"s because, I haven"t been introduced yet." However, the key point here was Yumi"s knowledge of "what kind of girl" she was. As this was something she was incapable of knowing, there was no way she could answer.

"Probably, Rei-sama doesn"t know either... I don"t think. Also, Eriko-sama is probably the first person Yoshino-san will notify." Hearing this, she seemed to have become more relaxed. Eriko-sama ended the second round too quickly. You could say it was a tie game.

"You"ve created a good smokescreen, Yumi-chan. Well, that"s fine. The longer the antic.i.p.ation, the greater the payoff. No matter how long you hope to delay it, the matter should be settled by the end of the day." Even though she merrily gave a beautiful smile, it was strange and frightening. Eriko-sama was serious. It seems she means to settle this today, in this hall, by any means necessary.

She wanted to send a telepathic message to Yoshino-san to "run away." It seemed like no matter where she might have run to though, Eriko-sama would have definitely followed.

"So... Yoshino-chan"s little sister, which one do you think she is? Didn"t she have three candidates? She should be somewhere in this a.s.sembly hall...." To kill time until the start of the match, Eriko-sama had hit on a terrible pastime.

"Oh, that"s good." She began to feel dreadful, since in reality only the Rosa Chinensis sisters knew that none of the soeur candidates had come. Why did Sei-sama and Youko-sama have to reply "Let"s do it!" with great alacrity?

"Ah, umm..."

"Don"t give us any hints, you"ll spoil the fun. Yumi-chan and Sachiko should stay silent." There aren"t any hints. Because there is no candidate. Even if she had wanted to give a hint, she could not have done so.

It was just too ridiculous. Sachiko-sama silently took out a paperback book and began to read. Already, one had escaped. If possible, Yumi wanted to escape too but the Sei-sama sitting next to her reached out and gripped her arm tightly. She was forcibly dragged in by her peer. Apparently, while seeing Yumi"s reaction, she had antic.i.p.ated such a contingency. She seemed persistent, but after seeing her complexion, she knew Yumi wouldn"t be able to offer a hint.

"Ah, so it"s me." Sei-sama won at Rock, Paper, Scissors. First of all, she pointed. "From the side facing us, the girl in the third row."

"That girl who is pinning back her bangs? No, Sei. That"s a second year. You"ve probably seen her: she"s in the Newspaper Club."

"Ah, That"s Tsukiyama Minako"s little sister. Well, how about the girl next to her." That neighbor happened to be the newspaper club"s rookie, Hidemi-chan. It wasn"t that the possibility didn"t exist, but she probably hadn"t become Yoshino"s little sister. Since she had been instructed not to give hints, she of course didn"t say that.

Next it was Youko-sama"s turn to choose. "What about the girl sitting next to Shimako? Certainly, she had gone to the Yamayurikai"s play."

"Unfortunately, that"s Shimako"s little sister," Sei-sama answered.

"Ah, yes..." Youko-sama and Eriko-sama nodded at the same time. Shimako gave them a worried glance and bowed in their direction. Noriko followed suit and bowed her head.

"They look just like a j.a.panese person and a westerner." The former Roses were cracking up at the joke. For Shimako who was in a far-off seat this reaction was probably unexpected.

"What about the girl standing next to Camera-chan? Is that her little sister?" Youko-sama asked Yumi. hen she looked, Tsutako-san, who had just entered the a.s.sembly hall, was accompanied by Shouko-chan.

"I haven"t heard. She"s definitely a first year, but&h.e.l.lip;"

"Right. Well, she gets my vote because she has a cute face."

"...Huh?" In the end, they were just s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g around. From a first impression, there was nothing to base such a judgment on but her face and the way she carried herself. But, Youko-sama chose people based on their face. It had come to Yumi as a bit of a shock. She was an unexpected pushover for a pretty face. But she had already proved this by making Sachiko her little sister.

When Youko-sama made this declaration about Shouko-chan, Eriko-sama hummed to herself. "That girl next to Camera-chan, I think I"ve seen her before. I can"t remember from where." Since Shouko-chan is Naito Katsumi-sama"s real younger sister, it was likely that Shouko"s features might resemble her sister"s in some respects. Or mightn"t she have actually met her before? Because the former Roses had graduated at the same time that girl had entered high school, there shouldn"t have been a point of contact. Although Eriko-sama thought it over for a minute, eventually she gave up in lieu of a renewed search for Yoshino-san"s little sister.

"My last try. Let"s make it either of those two over there." With that, she pointed, and Youko-sama replied, "Ah! One of them is Yuuko-chan"s daughter." And the other of the two was definitely Touko-chan. They were two people sitting next to each other, so one could even a.s.sume that they came together. But at what point had they formed a relationship? Up until today, they should have been natural enemies...

"Youko, how is it you know her mother"s name?" Eriko-sama inquired. Sei-sama laughed.

"I also know it. That one over there she called Yuuko-chan"s daughter... Certainly, that"s Kanako-chan, isn"t it?" Seeing the expression on Yumi"s face she knew it had been confirmed. She couldn"t help making the, "Ding-dong. That"s a correct answer" expression. "I...believe I was made late because of those people? That"s right. Last year about this time, there was something like this. Could it be déjà vu?" But it wasn"t déjà vu. Indeed, while being hospitalized for her wisdom teeth, Eriko-sama said that even a big incident might go unnoticed on a small school campus. Here was a person who carried a unique history.

"And? That Yuuko-chan"s daughter, Kanako-chan, is a first-year, yes?"

"That"s right. But Kanako-chan is a different story."

"Eh? Different story?"

"She wouldn"t be Yoshino-chan"s little sister, is what I mean. Kanako-chan likes Yuuko-chan."

"She has a complex for her mother?!"

"Yeah, that"s the feeling I get." As Eriko-sama didn"t know Kanako-chan"s circ.u.mstances, Sei-sama and Youko-sama enjoyed her confusion.

"What about the girl next to her?"

"That"s Electric Drill-chan. That girl also isn"t really Yoshino-chan"s type." Pointing at the student, she completely threw out this idea. Eriko-sama finally said, "She"s just not here." In reality, there were plenty of other Lillian students who had not been mentioned. Apparently the difference between the amount of personal information available on Yumi and her best friend is quite amusing.

At which point, Sei-sama said, "Well then, you may choose one person regardless of uniform or school year." Hey, hey. Gradually, the object of the search was changing. This idea penetrated Yumi"s consciousness and lingered. When it came to finding Yoshino"s little sister, what would happen if you remove only the lowest condition of that person being a first-year in Lillian High School?

"Umm... I think that girl." Eriko-sama recovered her good humor and pointed at a girl. This was an opponent from the opposite side. She was far away, but because she was in front, she was visible. It was a girl who had semi-long, all one length hair.

"Go on." Youko-sama grinned.

"What?"

"I like the type of person who resembles me."

"Resembles?"

"More so her bearing than her face."

Sei-sama took this in stride and said, "If she wears a barrette and had a more prominent forehead... I think her face would look alike too."

"Sigh. Well then, by all means I want to recommend her to Yoshino-chan." Apparently not as dissatisfied as she lead us to believe, Eriko-sama laughed. She tried to imagine introducing a girl to Yoshino-san to be her little sister based on the fact that she looked like her. It surely would be a pleasant thing.

"I regret that she"s wearing plain clothes."

"To make matters worse, she"s an opponent." True. Eriko-sama decided that Yoshino-san"s little sister would not only wear a baby pink sweatshirt, but was also hidden amongst a group of students from the rival school, Ohnaka.

"That wouldn"t go well." Eriko-sama sighed regrettably. Although she wanted to, she couldn"t force Yoshino-san to take that girl. However, the three former Roses were able to enjoy themselves for ten minutes before the match began.

"I"m looking forward to this." Players and referees were showing up at staging area. Rei-sama and company were behind those players. She was also able to confirm the appearance of Yoshino-san carrying their luggage.

Sachiko-sama put a bookmark in her paperback book and shut it. At last, it was 2 o"clock; the match had begun.

While being a standby player in back for the match, Yoshino-san quietly sighed, "Fuu." Basically a standby player amounted to doing little to nothing. If she wanted to partic.i.p.ate and represent her school, she had to be a rank-holding member. And as such, she would have had bout-experience. She would be accustomed to this sort of thing. At which point, she could easily put on her own hakama and protector. So she understood that with these girls, if she tried to lend a hand, rather than helping out, she"d be told she was, "in the way." The way a mood builds before a match: it reflects the pace of the partic.i.p.ants. Until they ask for your help, there"s nothing you can do, seems to be the right approach.

In other words, watching the match and guarding their luggage was Yoshino"s primary task for today. However, Rei-chan had said, "Yoshino should come to the a.s.sembly hall. There"s great significance in seeing the match up-close." Was it that only when Yoshino was nearby, could Rei-chan put her strength in context? If that was what was meant by significance, she was honestly delighted. But how is "observing the match" practice? Earnestly watching another person"s match: she had definitely called this practice. Especially watching the high school intramural match is practice, given that normally you can"t observe another school"s style. Therefore this is an ideal opportunity. By all means, she should burn this into her memory. She should absorb anything she could.

She hadn"t said any of this, but it was understood. Yoshino"s hobby was spectator sports. No matter what game it is, watching it raw from up close is the greatest happiness, to say nothing of giving her whole attention to Kendo.

(And yet... it"s no good.)

Right before her eyes there was Lillian"s second guard, even brandishing a shinai ...Yoshino was not able to concentrate at all. Next to her, sitting in the stands was Tanuma Chisato. She was bent forward in curiosity, almost to the point of falling over cheering them on.

After this was over, she would have to meet Eriko-sama. Was it possible that Eriko-sama might have completely forgotten their arrangement? By chance, had she memorized the day of the high school exchange match for their meeting by mistake? Yet, such fragile wishful thinking was shattered the moment she spotted that lovely figure seated in the a.s.sembly hall guest seating.

That"s right. That person doesn"t give up her little amus.e.m.e.nts quite so easily. There is no way she had remembered incorrectly. When Eriko-sama finished watching Rei-chan"s match, she stood up and slowly and left the hall. She too was performing a kind of standby. The group of girls from the Lillian Kendo Club were leaving the a.s.sembly hall, so she followed. But just then, Rei-chan called out. So the moment she started pa.s.sing through the entryway, she stopped.

"That reminds me," Rei said as she recalled something. "Why hasn"t Yoshino-chan chosen a little sister?" (Ah.) That detail had stayed with her throughout. When she thought that in the not so distant future, that reality would actually occur, ...it would be really impossible to concentrate on a match. (Oh brother.)

When she comes to realize that Yoshino doesn"t have a little sister yet, Eriko-sama would have a triumphant face. Even just imaging it made her angry. She understood it was unwise to choose a little sister recklessly. However, since Eriko-sama was a former rival, it was not in her nature to lose face by begging forgiveness and saying, "I"m sorry."

(Speaking of which, who won the Vanguard I can"t even remember that. "Chisato-san. This is still just the prelims, right?" She asked since she was suddenly worried.

"Right..."

Her face must have seemed very odd. As expected. She was relieved that her memory was not totally bombed out. Settle down. The opponent"s school name was written on their loin guards: the character"s written there were "Takarazawa." Certainly, last year that school had not partic.i.p.ated.

Last year.

It hadn"t been possible for her to come to the high school exchange tournament last year... because that day she had had surgery on her heart. Before the surgery, she couldn"t have imagined that she would be able to watch Rei-chan"s match as a member of the Kendo Club only one year later.

She had no idea Eriko-sama would be so persistently malicious after graduation. (But, well. She had been able to oppose her. It was evidence that her health had become robust.) Opposition? At this point, Yoshino thought such opposition had become hopeless. After today, how could she continue to fight? If it came to this, should she thrust out a captured Lillian student and call her "my little sister?" Or, could the excuse be that her little sister couldn"t come today because it would complicate her cold? But what if she thought it was a feigned illness?

"It"s over."

"Huh?"

"The Vanguard won the match, but the Second-Vanguard lost. The Center won, the Second-in-Command won and the Captain won . So, we pa.s.sed the prelims," Tanuma Chisato told me and she seemed amazed. "Hey, wake up. Apart from the winning move, it"s not possible to call each of these a victory or defeat. I"m discouraged by Rei-sama."

"Thank you, I"m indebted to you." A victory, a defeat, a victory, a victory and a victory. All right, I can remember that.

The place where Rei-chan decided to put her mask, she thought she"d seen it. Since after the match she really couldn"t remember, it was painful. When she didn"t take the time to read the final scores for Lillian, it was starting to feel really awkward. The results were, for the most part, what she expected: Lillian Girl"s School and Ohnaka Girl"s High won and were able to advance. (You bet your a.s.s they did!)

The second and third daughters of the three Tanaka sisters of Ohnaka. Since the second daughter appeared to be the captain, she was arranged to strike at Rei-chan (baring the fangs of their fighting spirit).

Last year it was decided that Rei-chan had defeated her real older sister in the last seconds. So, doesn"t this seem like it would be revenge? Even the three Centers were burning up in revenge. Yoshino also felt burned up and wanted to return the favor. The Tanaka sisters also weren"t players in this: it seemed the bottom ranks didn"t count. It hadn"t been quite possible notice-somehow she"d been seriously stricken. When the match was over, she would tidy things up and run away from this place, Yoshino decided.

After running away, she had only to think things through. Could she play hide-and-seek from Eriko-sama until she gave up and went home? On the way out, could she persuade a first year Lillian student to pretend to be her little sister? She decided to cross that bridge when she came to it. Having tentatively decided this, from then on it seemed she was somehow able to watch the rest of the match.

The final match to determine the winner between Ohnaka Girl"s High School and Lillian Girl"s Academy was finally starting. Rei-chan"s triumphant win, she must properly burn it into her memory.

Which was worse: the loser being in the victorious school, or the victor being in the losing school? No way can the final game of a tournament come to this resolution. Yoshino couldn"t find the words to describe the partic.i.p.ants. But, she couldn"t have imagined that Lillian would be defeated. In a novel or television drama, the protagonist must, while suffering, disregard failures or accidents, and in the end, obtain victory no matter what. Therefore, it"s not that Lillian was defeated. Somewhere in her heart, she believed this.

However, the heroines in this story were the Ohnaka Kendo Club members. It was probably the same as saying: in the preliminaries, Takarazawa High School and Tsukimigaoka High School were defeated. The way you see the world varies greatly depending on where you stand.

Rei-chan won, but Lillian had lost. The win was decided at the point when her comrade, the Second in Command, finished. There had already been three wins: the Vanguard, the Second Guard and the Second in Command. It had already been decided that Ohnaka had the overall victory before their match.

"Rei-chan looked so cool."

"Yeah. I did."

Rei-chan was unexpectedly relieved. Defeated players had room to improve. In being defeated today, she will grow stronger for tomorrow. It made her want to cry.

Speaking of being made to cry, the overall victory went to Ohnaka"s captain, Tanaka-san (the second daughter). She was red-faced and puffy-cheeked and cried out loud. Even though she was favored, she wasn"t crying for joy. You could see that she was mortified to have been defeated by Rei-chan. As she was leaving, her team members and a person who looked to be the advising teacher surrounded the girl.

Because of this and that, Yoshino was late in leaving. In theory, right after the match finished, she had planned to vanish into thin air. She panicked: until a little while ago Yoshino had seen Eriko-sama sitting nearby. The three courtly looking ladies had been lined up: in between Sei-sama and Youko-sama there was now a vacant seat.

(c.r.a.p!) What should she do? Should she carry out her previous plan, or somehow modify it? While hesitating, her eyes ran across the entire audience. Eriko-sama"s disappearance had stalled her. Because it was immediately following the end of the match, there was a considerable wave of people heading toward the exit. She wasn"t able to get through.

"I"m sorry, I"m going on ahead." Yoshino thrust the club"s luggage to Tanuma Chisato. She then took off in a dash. If she cut across the sparing area, she"d be able to reach an exit before Eriko-sama.

"Hey, wait. Yoshino!" she heard coming from the ma.s.s exodus. It was unmistakably Eriko-sama"s angry voice. Yoshino began to run. That person had already spotted her.

"Excuse me, I need to get through." Yoshino separated the stampeding crowd in the vicinity of the exit with those words. Somehow a pa.s.sage appeared toward the gym"s exit. (Right? Or Left?) The right fork leads to a staircase. On the left was a lobby, with the foyer and doors for exiting the building. If I was forced to describe my chances, I"d say the left was more crowded, but not by a tremendous amount.

"All right, I"ve decided." Yoshino chose to go right. Because traffic on the upper levels was prohibited, they were roped off. She could only go down. But, certainly there should be a washroom down there. If she entered the private room, how long could she remain there? Eriko-sama wasn"t likely to kick the door in.

"Yoshino-chan!" When she went down the stairs, there came a voice from behind calling her to stop. It was not necessary to turn around to the speaker. That had been Eriko-sama"s voice. What kind of divine skill was she using to have escaped that mad rush? Was it time to pay the piper? No, she must not give up just yet. Although it was true she had run away, the matter of her little sister was still uncertain.

"Eriko-sama." Yoshino turned around slowly. "Good day."

"Where were you going in such a rush?" Basically, she had run away, but she couldn"t say such an unkind thing to Eriko-sama so directly.

"Umm..."

"Oh, the bathroom?"

"Yes, That"s right. To the bathroom."

"I see. It couldn"t be that you were running away from me because you couldn"t get a little sister. There"s no way Yoshino-chan could do such a thing, right?" When provoked by Eriko-sama, she slipped into a defensive posture every time.

"Oh, is Eriko-sama belittling me?" With this, Yoshino"s path of retreat was completely severed. It would now be impossible for her to be forgiven after a cute apology.

"So, you weren"t able to get a little sister?"

"O...of course I was." In reality, she wasn"t. However, she was no longer at the level of apology. Yoshino was quickly being chased down a dead-end street.

"By the way, was the rosary bought during your field trip?"

"Huh... No."

"Ah, so you gave your little sister the one given to you by Rei?"

"Yeah." If she stopped to give it much thought, even if she hadn"t bought the rosary during the field trip, there were various places she could have acquired it. But, being in a desperate situation, Yoshino didn"t catch on to the idea. Because she had not bought it in Italy, it followed that she would have given her little sister the rosary Rei-chan had given her. This was dreaming up a fanciful story. However...

"Well that"s odd. Isn"t that a rosary there?" Eriko-sama peeked into Yoshino"s collar with a finger. During the dash through the crowd, the rosary seems to have come out.

"Yes. It"s a rosary." Yoshino showed her as if there was room to negotiate. She purposefully unfastened it from her neck. She rolled it on her palm from her right hand to her left hand and back again.

"You"re asking about this because you think we"ve had the ceremony. Actually, we haven"t done it yet." Somehow something so random came out of her mouth so smoothly.

"Well, I"m not saying I"m glad about it. So, she"s "fundamentally" your little sister?" That"s right. Except there wasn"t anyone known as her little sister, fundamentally or otherwise.

"My little sister is..." Yoshino looked away from Eriko-sama. Just over there was a poster with the characters for "washroom" written on a downward diagonal arrow. "...in the washroom right now." Coming up with a response based on what she had seen was decidedly lacking in skill. Yet, when you have your back to the wall you have to use everything at your disposal.

"In the washroom?"

"I was quickly coming to find her because I was going to have her greet you. It"s not that I was going to the washroom for myself, it was actually for my little sister. Nevertheless she"s taking her time, I wonder if there"s a problem. I"ll go take a peek." Yoshino ran down the stairs. Though, she didn"t check to see if Eriko-sama was following.

"Wait, I"ll come with you."

"No, that"s not necessary."

"No need to be so tactful."

"Sure there is." They single-mindedly descended the stairs, but had to cling to the wall to squeeze past two people coming up the stairs. They once again pa.s.sed a sign marking the way to the washroom: this time pointing left.

(Left!) As she turned the corner she aimed for the washroom. Fortunately, the pa.s.sageway was empty as they came to the end. She could twist around at once and throw her off. And then Yoshino turned.

In that moment, an unexpected person suddenly appeared. One might have said their paths collided. But, that person who was suddenly there dodged very easily. Only Yoshino, who suddenly threw on the emergency breaks, overbalanced and fell over.

"Owwwwwww."

"Are you all right?" the person said as I looked up into her face. It was a girl wearing a pink sweatshirt with semi-long hair.

"What a pretty rosary." When had she picked that up? She picked up the rosary Yoshino must have dropped in the moment that she fell. She held it up to the light and muttered to herself. She must have thought it was beautiful. Rei-chan had gotten it specifically for Yoshino. It was well chosen as it suited the color of her skin. The jungle green colored stone set in the chain was said to be lucky. While absent-mindedly watching the figure of this girl roll the rosary around in her palm, Yoshino thought, "this girl, why do I feel like I know her from somewhere?" Just where was it? It wasn"t at all clear. The memory was obscured but it wasn"t that she had completely forgotten. However, this may have been the first time she had directly spoken with this person.

"Oh, I"m sorry. I"ll return it." The girl noticed her glance. Because she panicked and presented the rosary, Yoshino reached for her hand and was lifting the rosary. Just then, Eriko-sama appeared from around the corner. It coincided with the moment when the two girl"s hands were touching.

"Yoshino-cha..." Eriko-sama who had should have been chasing Yoshino, upon seeing the form of these two people, came to stand still as if her battery went dead. But Yoshino had also forgotten that she was supposed to have been running away.

"Is it possible, this girl..." At that moment, it finally dawned on Yoshino: Eriko-sama mistook this girl who happened to be here by chance for Yoshino"s little sister. She had gone to the washroom for her little sister and this girl who faced opposite her had come from there. Additionally, the two people both held the rosary in their hands.

"Yes, well..." Yoshino nodded. She nodded and lowered her eyes in that moment. She was convinced that heaven had supported her. The girl who stood next to Yoshino, all her eyes had told her was that she was wearing a pink sweatshirt. But actually, now it seemed she was wearing a Lillian uniform underneath. In a small voice to this girl she said, "Follow my lead." After whispering she spoke to Eriko-sama.

"I"ll introduce you. She... this girl is who I"d like to have become my little sister."

"I see." Because the girl introduced herself before being asked for her name, Yoshino was honestly saved.

"I"m Arima Nana. It"s a pleasure meeting you." A-ri-ma Na-na. This was a name she"d not heard before. Spelled: "Possession Horse Vegetables Repeat Syllable" If I write out her name, it doesn"t turn on any light bulbs. So having thought she might have seen it recently somewhere, was maybe just her imagination.

"I see. Nana-chan, is it. I"ll remember." Well, with that, she tried to take Nana and leave that place. As expected, Eriko-sama did not permit it.

"Won"t you perform the ceremony in my presence?"

"Um, that"s for a future date. Today was for introductions." Performing the ceremony in Eriko-sama"s presence, she had certainly said something like that. But, she hadn"t said that should be today. This was a stopgap performance. When it came to giving away the rosary that she"d been given by Rei-chan, she didn"t want to put it around the neck of this unrelated girl.

"Why? Here"s an opportunity to have one, you shouldn"t let it drag on." Does she doubt me? Or, is she just interested? Eriko-sama is considerably insistent.

"That"s... there are various circ.u.mstances."

"Circ.u.mstances?" This time Eriko-sama didn"t look at Yoshino, but rather at Arima Nana. With this, Nana spoke.

"I"m sorry. The circ.u.mstances are mine: I can"t receive her rosary just now."

"Those circ.u.mstances are somewhat bothersome."

"It"s a bit of this and that."

"A bit of this and that, huh." Eriko-sama, in order to evaluate her, looked at Nana from head to toe. "I understand," she said and nodded. "There are various reasons so we"ll consent to put it off." Am I in the clear? Yoshino excitedly watched the outcome of events. But, Nana replied more calmly and more unexpectedly. Eriko-sama was finally made to shut up.

"Incidentally, Yoshino-chan. As I was saying at the sports festival: what happened to those anxious first-years?"

"Huh?" Because of that, this Arima Nana doesn"t fit? (It"s all a sham but...) What is it that Eriko-sama misunderstands?

"Well, that"s fine. Since this person has turned out to be rather interesting." What is it that she had decided by herself? Eriko-sama grinned from ear to ear with meaning and she turned away.

"Well then. I guess I should be going. At this point, Youko and Sei ought to be tired of waiting in the lobby." Was it true that she had somehow ridden the tides of fate safely? Instinctively she would have given three cheers, but checked herself.

"Good day, Yoshino-chan. It was a treat to be introduced to your little sister. I"ll leave it alone for a while."

"No need for such remarks; please come and visit any time," while answering with a smile, Yoshino thought, "Do not come back for ten billion years". Even as she thought about sticking out her tongue to the retreating figure, Eriko-sama suddenly turned back.

"Oh, that"s right... Nana-chan, was it?"

"Yes."

"Your personal appearance is very neat. Please fix what"s under your sweatshirt." Leaving with that message, Eriko-sama returned to her original course. At the point where she disappeared up the stairs, Yoshino thought "you"re safe now" and turned to thank Nana.

"Thank you. You"ve saved me." However, Nana responded.

"...But, I didn"t, I don"t think. That person certainly saw through us."

"What?"

"I"m unqualified."

"Un...qualified?" What"s this? In this case it must mean she doesn"t have the qualifications to become Yoshino"s little sister. But, in that meeting just now, in exchanging only a few words, how would she be able to judge whether or not the qualifications existed?

"Because the Lillian uniform stuck out, the sweatshirt helped things. But I screwed up. My ribbon came loose before I could notice." Nana flipped up her sweatshirt so Yoshino could see. At that time, the thing greeted Yoshino"s eyes&h.e.l.lip;

"Oh, you"re..." Although most of the uniform was the same as the one she wore, the chest was definitely different. "You"re a middle schooler?!" Yoshino stabbed a pointing finger and shouted. From the line of her sailor-collar a thin black ribbon was tied. That was the mark of Lillian"s Middle School.

"Yes, I"m a third year."

"Oh." Because she hadn"t meant to actually consider making this girl her little sister, she was not likely to care if she was in middle school or high school. She somehow knew at once her exhaustion. That fact that Eriko-sama had seen through to the truth only made things worse.

"Well then, I should also be going." Nana raised her hand to the high school girl who seemed to be leading her out of the washroom.

"Hasekura Rei-sama"s little sister..." on the verge of separating herself, Nana called with a serious look. "Your little sister, will she receive that rosary?"

"Wha?" Nana left without waiting for an answer, appearing satisfied. If there had been enough time to give an answer, what could I have said? Yoshino"s heart throbbed. Even though nothing was done, this was the first time since her operation she was made to feel this way. Because she had been in such a state, even if she had been wearing an Ohnaka Girl"s uniform, she would take Nana. There was neither a "why?" nor any room for doubt.

"Yoshino-san." When her shoulder was tapped, she came to her senses. Yumi-san stood there.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was told you were greeting Eriko-sama in front of the washroom. But more importantly, what happened? You"re s.p.a.cing out. Even though I walked up to you from the front, you didn"t see me at all."

"...Yeah." It was as if she had been in a dream. When asked about her whereabouts, it seemed that Eriko-sama had chased her to somewhere around here.

Yet, if Eriko-sama sent Yumi-san to meet her, everything that happened had been real. By only chasing her, it wasn"t that Eriko-sama was liberating Yoshino. Then if the girl named Arima Nana doesn"t exist, it would be very amusing.

"So, how did it go?" Yumi asked, being somewhat excited. "Did Eriko-sama permit you to apologize?" There was nothing like an apology.

"I properly introduced her."

"WHAT?! Who on earth would that be?" Had one of the little sister candidates come to the a.s.sembly hall? Since she was asked, she replied that neither had come. At which point, Yumi-san was considerably surprised. That was natural, considering this outcome surprised Yoshino most of all.

"Arima Nana."

"Huh?"

"A girl named Arima Nana."

"When did you...I, never heard any of this." Yumi-san protested. At any rate, Eriko-sama had been introduced, and even if the information about such a first-year had reached Yumi first, regrettably there still wouldn"t have been any punishment. Well, as her best friend she naturally would have insisted but...

"I couldn"t have told you about her, because I just met her a little while ago."

"..." To this, as one would expect, she was speechless.

"After today I"ll investigate what kind of a girl she is."

"Yoshino-san... what on earth have you done?"

She presented Yumi-san with an anxiety-ridden face and answered only, "I"m not really sure." What had really happened? She didn"t understand it very well. Nor did she really know what would happen in the future. "I can tell you one thing, however: I want Yumi-san to be able to get a little sister as soon as possible."

"Huh, what"s that mean?"

"If and when there"s an emergency I"ll feel sorry for Noriko-chan." An emergency&h.e.l.lip; Perhaps there might be an alternative. At that moment, Yoshino was thinking about Sei-sama.