Chapter 80

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To a degree, it could have been antic.i.p.ated that things would turn out how they did.

But even if it were antic.i.p.ated, a direct refusal would have inflamed the situation. That much was as obvious as a house fire.

Honestly, it wasn"t all that serious in the beginning.

The one who sparked things off was Rei-chan.

Honestly, if she wasn"t such an idiot.

"What did you just say?"

Rei-chan asked, raising her head. So surprised that her fork stopped moving about ten centimeters above her plate, the piece of baked cheesecake still skewered on it.

"Huh? I told you, now that the school year"s ticked over, I thought it was about time I joined a club."

"I heard that. What I wanted you to repeat was what came after that."

"After that?"

Yoshino scooped some sweet broiled chestnuts, and accompanying green tea crepe and vanilla ice-cream, into her spoon and stuffed her mouth full. She"d been intending to savor it to its last, but Rei-chan had closed in looking so serious that either unintentionally, or against her better judgment, Yoshino had impulsively gulped it down. Snapping, even.

Sunday afternoon.

The weather was fine and they"d finished their homework. Thinking that Yumi-san would be getting spoiled by Sachiko-sama at about this time, Yoshino found herself wanting to be close to someone, so she"d invited Rei-chan to come with her on an outing around K station.

Rei-chan was wearing a long sleeved T-shirt and jeans, fairly rough clothing, but with her long, thin legs it looked pretty good. Yoshino was happy because it was her first time wearing her favorite light blue summer sweater and matching cardigan for the year, and she was satisfied with the occasional glimpses she caught of herself in the windows. The coral pendant matched splendidly with the light blue ensemble. Since light blue was the color of the ocean.

Their enjoyable day off changed completely at a cafe they"d entered to rest their weary legs, not long after the food they"d ordered had been placed in front of them. Yoshino had started talking about club activities, and that had set things in motion.

"Joining a club is fine. I"m not against that. Your surgery in autumn was about six months ago, the intervening time"s pa.s.sed smoothly, and you"re well enough that you hardly ever have to sit out during PE, Yoshino. But - "

Rei-chan"s cheesecake finally succ.u.mbed to gravity and slid off her fork. The force of its direct hit on her plate caused the crust to burst apart, sending crumbs as far afield as Yoshino"s ice-cream and black tea.

"The kendo club, of all things."

Rei-chan placed her empty fork on her plate, and ran her hand along the side of her head, combing back her short hair. Yoshino had imagined she would be surprised, but hadn"t expected she would be this concerned.

"So then, is the problem that the kendo club"s a sports club, or that you"re a member of the kendo club, Rei-chan?"

Yoshino inquired, to which Rei-chan raised her head and said emphatically:

"It"s both."

"Hmm, both, huh."

In other words, if she"d said the tennis club, the shock would have been reduced by half. But if she"d said, for example, the handicrafts club and Rei-chan was a member of that, she wouldn"t have liked it either.

"I told you I wanted to try kendo before."

"I know, but."

"Why didn"t you oppose me then? Did you think I wasn"t being serious?"

"I don"t know. It was right after your surgery, it didn"t seem real."

"And now you"re getting all fl.u.s.tered. Ah, excuse me, can I get some more water?"

Yoshino held up her gla.s.s, as the waitress pa.s.sed by their table.

"&h.e.l.lip; Don"t ask for a refill of your water in the middle of a serious conversation."

As she said this, Rei-chan crumpled over, putting her head on an empty s.p.a.ce on the table, as though exhausted. The crumbs from before got stuck in her short hair, making it look quite funny. Yoshino thought, "And this is Mister Lillian?"

"Ah, um, did you want that water?"

Looking in the direction of the voice, Yoshino saw the waitress standing there, holding a silver pitcher. Rei-chan"s actions seemed to have put her right on edge.

"Pay no attention to that, I"ll have some water, thanks."

After pointing at "that", ie. Rei-chan, Yoshino took the gla.s.s near Rei-chan"s head and lined it up alongside her own. After pouring water into the two gla.s.ses, the waitress said, "Take your time," bowed shallowly and quickly left their table. If this kind of thing could disturb her, she still had a long way to go to become a pro.

"That?"

When the sound of the waitress" footsteps was no longer audible, Rei-chan raised her head quickly and said unhappily. However, Yoshino felt neither pain nor discomfort seeing that face.

""That" is perfectly adequate for someone so loose, Rei-chan. Calm down a bit. It"s shameful. Here, drink some water."

"Mm."

Still with bits of crust in her hair, Rei-chan downed the entire gla.s.s of water in one go.

" &h.e.l.lip; I"m shameful?"

"Yes, shameful. It"s incredibly unsightly of you to get so fl.u.s.tered about me."

Inside Yoshino"s mind, she whispered, "Rei-chan"s fans" illusions are all going up in smoke."

"I see, I"m shameful, huh &h.e.l.lip; "

"Pretty much."

Even though she was shameful and indecent, she still remained "Yoshino"s Rei-chan," so Yoshino"s love for her was unchanged. However, the reason for Rei-chan"s transition from her usual gallantry to cowardice was invariably Yoshino herself, so part of Yoshino was pleased and part mortified.

"You want to do kendo?"

"Yeah, I think so. I"m pretty familiar with it - I"ve been watching ever since I was a kid, so I"d like to give it a try."

Which was why she had mentioned it quite casually. But Rei-chan had treated it as something far more momentous than it was, flying into panic on her own.

"Then, why don"t you just practice with my father? You don"t have to do it at school."

"With uncle?"

"When the dojo"s free, I could spar with you too."

"How"s that different to the kendo club?"

It looked like Rei-chan"s opposition to Yoshino joining the kendo club wasn"t because she didn"t want Yoshino doing kendo, or even because she didn"t want them doing kendo together.

"They"re completely different, our dojo and the school club. Okay? You"ll just be an ordinary club member, so I won"t be able to protect you, even as your onee-sama and cousin."

Protect? Yoshino got a bit hung up on that phrase.

"I didn"t ask you to protect me."

"I"m only saying this because you don"t know how tough sports clubs are. The dojo floor has to be mopped after morning training, even in the middle of winter. Can you do that, Yoshino, with your sensitivity to the cold? In a completely barefoot world?"

"Ooh."

Since the weather was so mild, she hadn"t even considered winter. Yoshino fell silent, while Rei-chan waxed loquacious, almost arrogantly so.

"From time to time we"ll get new club members who naively think they just want to give it a try, and it"s always such a bother. If you"re staving off boredom and just want to play around, I"ll keep you company at home until you"ve had enough."

Ka-c.h.i.n.k.

Inside Yoshino, something snapped.

"Staving off boredom? Just playing around? You"ll keep me company?"

" &h.e.l.lip; Y-yoshino."

"No, that"s enough. The school has a wonderful training hall, so there"s no need for me to trouble the kendo second-dan Hasekura Rei-sama."

Danger, danger. As she spoke these cruel words, a warning bell sounded inside Yoshino"s heart.

A red light flashed in her mind.

This pattern was extremely bad. If things kept going like this, she would undoubtedly do something unthinkable.

Remember the "Yellow Rose Revolution" of six months earlier. Yoshino had been enraged by Rei-chan"s over-protectiveness, handed back the rosary and announced a termination of their relationship. Things had turned out alright in the end, but there was no guarantee that it would be the same the next time, and the uproar would cause trouble for those around them.

Don"t do it, don"t do it. Bear with it.

But now that those reckless words had made their way out of her mouth, even if Yoshino were to try to swallow them down, they would not settle into her stomach.

"C-calm down, Yoshino."

Rei-chan had noticed too. So while she was saying to "calm down," she was getting worked up herself. Which just served to irritate Yoshino even more.

"If you"re always going to be like this, Rei-chan, I"ll - "

Ah, it"s no good. Her mouth was running in the wrong direction, and Yoshino was backed into a corner in her mind. She had to let go of her anger. Yoshino knew full well that Rei-chan was more precious to her than this. She knew, but - .

"I"ll -"

Her mouth kept charging ahead, dragging her body with it. She thumped the table with both hands as she got to her feet.

With things the way they were, she couldn"t just sit down again. It wouldn"t look good to stay standing forever, so it looked like the only option left was to continue with her rage and leave the cafe.

"The rosary - "

(No, stop!)

Yoshino"s mind screamed. Her right arm reached up to her chest. She mustn"t do this. If she returned the rosary, it would be a repeat of the "Yellow Rose Revolution."

(What should I do?)

There was no obvious path to reconciliation like the heart surgery and kendo match of last time. But there was nothing to stop her right hand now that it had started moving.

Just as Yoshino was thinking it was all over, her right hand grasped something round.

(&h.e.l.lip; Huh?)

It should have been the shape of a cross, the tip of the rosary. For some reason, it felt smooth - .

(Ah!)

That"s it. It was her coral pendant.

Since it was the weekend, she wasn"t wearing her school uniform and hadn"t put the rosary on either. Yoshino"s panic was proof that she had only just noticed.

"Yoshino?"

However, it was probably a G.o.dsend that she wasn"t wearing her rosary. She couldn"t return something she didn"t have on her.

Yoshino took her hand off her coral pendant. It was something that her parents had bought on their honeymoon long ago, so while throwing it at Rei-chan might physically hurt her slightly, it wouldn"t have much emotional impact.

"I"m going home."

The fight visibly left her. Yoshino grabbed her shoulder-bag and turned towards the exit. Although she hadn"t finished eating her green-tea crepe, she had finished the chestnuts, so it was no great loss.

"Ah, Yoshino. Wait."

Yoshino hated it when Rei-chan rushed. Since Yoshino was doing this of her own volition, proceeding in a measured fashion would be fine too.

"Right."

Having suddenly thought of something, Yoshino turned around and returned to the table. Not knowing the reason, Rei-chan smiled happily when she saw Yoshino"s face. If she were a dog, her tail would be wagging.

"This should cover me."

Yoshino flung two 1,000 yen notes on the table, then left the store.

She"d wanted to fling the contents of the cup of water, but there was no way she could do that to someone with cheesecake crumbs stuck to them.

Monday.

They went to school without speaking a word to each other.

"Take care at school today."

Rei-chan"s mother was taking the garbage out, so they walked alongside each other, as though being friendly, until they turned the corner and were out of sight. Their families were important to both of them, and they were both just thinking that they didn"t want to worry their parents.

It took about eight minutes to reach the school gates. Had those eight minutes ever felt as long as today? No, even before the surgery on days when she wasn"t feeling well, it hadn"t felt as long as today. Even though it actually must have taken at least twice as long.

Why was that?

Yoshino realized why that was. Because Rei-chan would hold her bag and walk alongside her. Rei-chan would talk non-stop to cheer her up, matching her stride.

Yoshino was truly grateful for that. Every day she told herself that she had to co-operate with the unexpectedly delicate Rei-chan so that they could spend their time peacefully. However.

On days like this, when she was forcing herself to walk a few steps ahead, sighing and looking exhausted, those feelings were completely swept away, leaving only hateful thoughts.

Thoughts of, "Why should I have to do anything? Rei-chan has no right to object."

Yoshino walked on, spitting venom at the very short hair in front of her, and eventually the main entrance to Lillian"s Girls Academy came into view.

(Oh boy, it"s still a long way from here.)

The tree lined with ginkgo trees lazily stretched out from the gate. There was a small garden at a fork in the road, and in there was the statue of Maria-sama. Although they"d walked there in silence, they still lined up beside each other and prayed as usual.

Yoshino didn"t ask Maria-sama to help them reconcile. Because beside her, Rei-chan would undoubtedly be pestering Maria-sama for that.

There was still a little time before the morning rush, but the entry was already starting to get crowded. Since this was the point where students coming from the other gates joined into a single stream.

Yoshino went inside immediately and was about to walk away from Rei-chan at the entrance to the shoe-locker room. The reason for that was simply because the second-year and third-year lockers were in different areas, not necessarily because they were fighting.

Most days, they"d meet again after they"d been to their lockers, but today they probably wouldn"t be waiting for each other. The reason for that was most definitely because they were fighting.

"Yoshino."

Just as Yoshino was starting to walk away, Rei-chan opened her mouth for the first time since today"s "Good Morning." Yoshino was thinking that the reconciliation had come pretty quickly, but that was wrong. Well, it would have been troubling to Yoshino if Rei-chan had apologized so readily anyway.

"I didn"t get to tell you this yesterday. After school today, Shimako"s going to bring Noriko-chan with her."

"Ohhh &h.e.l.lip; "

Yoshino raised her eyebrows, so it was finally happening. Time for Shimako-san to take the plunge. Despite being a second-year like Yoshino, Shimako-san was already Rosa Gigantea, so it was high time she took a pet.i.t soeur.

"Ah, but after school today - "

Rei-chan was supposed to have kendo club practice.

"Make any necessary arrangements. Sachiko"s asking this too."

Rei-chan responded curtly.

"Right."

They both implicitly avoided saying the words "club activities." The unnatural way they avoided it still left a gloomy feeling.

Even so, Yoshino found it somewhat pitiable that she had the schedule of someone she was fighting with engraved in her brain.

"Is there anything we should be preparing?"

The Yellow Rose family may be in the midst of a quarrel, but there was still room for them to find joy in the happy topic of the White Rose family.

"Sachiko said we shouldn"t do anything special."

"Hmm."

Sachiko this, Sachiko that. Yoshino was irritated - what"s your opinion, Rei-chan?

It wasn"t something she"d usually notice, but Yoshino was annoyed by Rei-chan"s wishy-washy personality, and the way it seemed to fade in and out.

"Well, that"s that then."

Having conveyed her message, Rei-chan disappeared into the third-years" area. Hey, are you just going to dump this irritation here and leave?

"What"s up with that?"

Yoshino snorted, turning towards the tall retreating figure separated from her by a swarm of students.

"Such a pigheaded person."

They were both pigheaded, but people tend not to notice their own failings.

"I tell you what, she really gets my goat."

Yoshino flung her locker open and threw her indoor shoes on the floor. They hadn"t done anything wrong, but she had to let her feelings out. The rubbery tip of the shoes. .h.i.t the ground and they scattered in different directions.

"Even my shoes are mocking me."

At times like these, Yoshino wasn"t the sort of person to reflect on her actions, thinking that such an event might be a warning from Maria-sama. With the heels of her feet out, but still wearing the leather shoes like slippers, Yoshino sullenly chased after her indoor shoes.

Having picked up her left shoe from where it had rolled in front of a locker from the neighboring second-year peach cla.s.s, Yoshino spied her right shoe just inside the second-year pine group area and was reaching out to it when -

"What are you doing?"

A voice came from the two legs that had appeared in front of her.

Of course, the legs themselves weren"t speaking. It would be the mouth above those two legs that was making the sound. Yoshino shifted her gaze upwards, taking it all in.

Triple folded socks in leather ballet flats, the hem of the skirt coming before the knees became visible. The materials used in summer were thinner and lighter, but the design of the school uniform didn"t change. Frizzy hair split into two bunches spilled across the slightly askew sailor collar.

"Ah, Yumi-san."

"Gokigenyou &h.e.l.lip; What are you doing?"

Yumi asked again.

"Gokigenyou. Ah, I"m just doing a bit of weather forecasting."

Yoshino impulsively lied. How could she, as a high-school student, tell her cla.s.smate that she"d been annoyed by her indoor shoes.

"So, what did they say?"

" - Neither of them were upside down, so it should be sunny, I guess."

"Sunny?"

Yumi-san turned and looked at a window near the ceiling. It was cloudy this morning. The light coming through the window was dim, so the electric lights were on.

"It"s definitely going to get sunny."

Yoshino said seriously as she put her indoor shoes on.

"&h.e.l.lip; I don"t think it"s going to be sunny."

Yumi-san opened her locker, took her indoor shoes out and placed them on the ground.

"Oh, why do you say that?"

Of course, Yoshino had no reason to believe something as unscientific as shoe based fortune telling, but such an outright contradiction caused her sense of compet.i.tion to bloom.

"Don"t tell me it"s something as boring as you saw a TV weather report."

To which Yumi-san responded with, "Nope," and a shake of her head. Then she pointed to her trademark hairstyle, tied with ribbons into two bunches.

"Your hair?"

Yoshino asked.

"What"s your hair got to do with anything?"

Without more information, Yoshino had absolutely no idea what she meant.

They left the shoe-locker room, freeing up the s.p.a.ce for their fellow cla.s.smates who kept coming. Thankfully, Yumi-san was in the same cla.s.s as her. They wouldn"t have to finish up their conversation because they were heading to different cla.s.srooms.

"My hair isn"t listening to what I tell it."

Yumi-san said, as they walked down the corridor.

"Which means?"

"There"s a lot of moisture in the air. Basically, it feels like rain"s coming soon."

The basis for Yumi-san"s prediction seemed a lot more persuasive than Yoshino"s indoor shoe forecast.

Yoshino entered the second-year pine cla.s.sroom and put her bag down on her desk, then suddenly remembered and rushed over to Yumi-san"s desk.

"Hey, about today."

"Today?"

"After school, you know &h.e.l.lip; about Shimako-san."

Technically, it wasn"t about Shimako-san but about Noriko-chan, but Yoshino didn"t bother to correct herself since that should be well known.

"What about Shimako-san?"

Yumi-san looked puzzled as she took her notebook out of her bag.

"Alright, it"s about Noriko-chan. No need to give me a hard time, geez."

Her patience running out, Yoshino talked even faster. If they got caught up here, they wouldn"t finish the conversation before morning prayers.

"I"m sorry, but I really have no idea what you"re talking about."

"&h.e.l.lip; Huh?"

Yoshino took another look at Yumi-san"s face. Even though it sounded like Yumi-san was just trying to give her a hard time, it didn"t look like she was playing dumb. - Which meant that the message hadn"t yet been conveyed to Yumi-san.

"Wait, but."

Sachiko-sama must have been aware that Noriko-chan was coming to the Rose Mansion. By the way Rei-chan had been speaking, it had all been settled prior to yesterday. Although, like a certain someone, she could have failed to mention it yesterday too &h.e.l.lip;

"So, what was it?"

This time it was Yumi-san running out of patience as Yoshino pondered. So, without further ado, Yoshino informed her.

"Noriko-chan"s making her debut in the Rose Mansion today."

"Really!?"

As expected, Yumi-san"s eyes went wide with surprise. Which meant:

"So then, I guess Sachiko-sama didn"t tell you?"

To which, Yumi-san stared at her blankly.

"Well, I haven"t seen her this morning."

No, not that.

"What I meant was, you mustn"t have talked about it on your date yesterday &h.e.l.lip; "

As she said this, Yoshino had a bad premonition. Yumi-san"s face slowly drooped and, Yoshino may just have been imagining this, but it seemed like her facial expression stiffened.

"Don"t tell me."

"Yeah, you got it."

"But you were so excited about it on Sat.u.r.day, saying, "It"s finally happening tomorrow." And yet&h.e.l.lip;?"

"Yesterday morning, she called and canceled."

"Huh? That"s awful! What the h.e.l.l was Sachiko-sama thinking!?"

Yoshino was angry just hearing about it. Unlike Yoshino, who could take Rei-chan out any time she wanted, it had been more of a leap of faith for Yumi-san to ask her onee-sama out, and the invitation had been accepted. Yoshino knew how much Yumi-san had been looking forward to their half-day date yesterday. As her onee-sama, Sachiko-sama should have known this too.

"That"s just how it was."

"How many times has that been?"

Yumi-san was silent. From memory, this was either the second or third time that Sachiko-sama had washed away their plans.

Sachiko-sama was a princess, so it may be hard for her household to understand the common people - but even so, canceling on the morning of an event like she had this time was far, far too cruel.

(Don"t make plans if you can"t be there!)

Yoshino wanted to scream, but Yumi-san already looked like she was on the verge of tears, so she didn"t criticize Sachiko-sama further.

Sachiko-sama was in the wrong, but saying that wouldn"t help the victim, Yumi-san.

" - I"m sorry. We can talk about Noriko-chan later."

Yoshino gently patted Yumi-san on the shoulder and returned to her desk. The morning bell was about to ring soon, and the sharp-eared newspaper club member Yamaguchi Mami-san had arrived.

But the number one reason was that Yoshino didn"t want to drive Yumi-san away from her with her words.

Yoshino sat down in her seat and took the various items out of her bag. Pencil case, textbook, notebook &h.e.l.lip; Her hand touched her folding umbrella, but she left it in there and turned to the window. It wasn"t raining just yet.

Even between friends, there were places where they could not tread.

Letting her gaze shift from the window, Yoshino snuck a glance at Yumi-san. She was oblivious to Yoshino"s gaze, methodically preparing for their first-period cla.s.s.

Matters between soeurs could only be understood by those people themselves. Perhaps it was better not to get involved until asked to.

After all, Yoshino would be angry if Yumi-san told her that she should be doing this or that about Rei-chan.

Yoshino thought that things were much harder than she"d previously antic.i.p.ated.

The application form that she"d hastily written despite Rei-chan"s objections had seen her go from the third-year plum cla.s.s to the staff room, from the staff room to the school infirmary.

A certain someone may have said something, although that could have been thinking too simplistically. As a result, after cleaning the Rose Mansion she"d spent the rest of her free time running from place to place, making it a hectic day.

Without exception, all the people that Yoshino spoke to got a "Why do I have to deal with this trouble?" look on their face.

"Let me just check something. Shimazu-san, you want to join the kendo club as a member, not as the manager, right?"

"Yes. I want to wield the shinai and fight hand-to-hand."

How many times had she repeated this conversation?

The kendo club president had doggedly questioned her about it (Just get it the first time), then the club adviser Yamamura-sensei had proudly told her that kendo was a violent sport (I know that much), and, as a homeroom teacher, tried to persuade her that their were many good cultural clubs (But I said I want to do kendo). Her visit to the infirmary was in order to call the school doctor to get permission to partic.i.p.ate.

Such a major production just for a student starting club activities. But they all knew the old Yoshino, so it was somewhat understandable that they"d be frightened.

However, Yoshino wasn"t the weak little girl of six months prior. Her body had been surgically enhanced, turning her into Super Yoshino.

"It looks like the school doctor"s going to consult with your family doctor. Why don"t we put this conversation on hold until they come to a decision."

The school nurse, Hoshina Eiko-sensei, hung up the phone and turned to Yoshino.

She was quite pretty, if the way her wavy, shoulder-length hair was gathered tightly in a barrette and the pristine white doctor"s coat she always wore were overlooked. While the science teacher wore the same kind of coat, it was indelibly stained with all kinds of chemicals, so the effect was quite different - in other words, there were quite a few students that admired the nurse"s beautiful figure. She was apparently in her thirties, although she didn"t look it at all. As a graduate of Lillian"s she was easy to talk to about school matters, and still viewed as a "wonderful onee-sama." She was friendly with the students and some of them called her "Eiko-chan" or "Eiko-sensei."

"Does Hasekura Rei-san know about this?"

Everyone Yoshino had spoken to so far had asked her the same question, and Hoshina-sensei was no exception.

"She knows. But she"s against it."

" - I"ll bet."

And, like clockwork, she had the same reaction, angering Yoshino. When she"d first heard this, from the kendo club president, she"d flown into a rage, asking, "Why are you bringing up Rei-chan?" but at this point either her common sense had a.s.serted itself or her usual self-confidence had taken a hit.

"If Hasekura Rei said it was okay, would that lay these concerns to rest?"

"Pretty much."

Hoshina-sensei smiled wryly, then continued.

"Obviously, she"s your onee-sama. But, she"s also a special person to you in many ways, isn"t she?"

"&h.e.l.lip; Perhaps."

It wasn"t incorrect, so Yoshino couldn"t refute it. And since she couldn"t refute it, part of her was thrown into chaos by acknowledging Rei-chan"s opposition to her joining the kendo club.

Yoshino still thought that her opinion was correct. However, she knew that Rei-chan wasn"t completely wrong either.

And while neither was wrong, for some reason it had still resulted in trouble. Perhaps that was because everyone was an individual, with their own ways of thinking and experiences - .

"Thank-you for your time."

Yoshino bowed her head and left. On the way back from cleaning, she"d found herself near the school infirmary and popped in, but the phone call to the school doctor had taken longer than she"d expected.

"Now then."

She had to hurry. Yoshino quickly made her way towards the courtyard containing the Rose Mansion.

A gathering had been organized in the Rose Mansion after school. The purpose was so that everyone could warmly welcome the girl that may have become Shimako-san"s pet.i.t soeur, Noriko-chan.

Stepping out of the school building, Yoshino looked up at the sky. It wasn"t raining, but it was so overcast that it wouldn"t be odd for it to start at any moment.

At the entrance to the Rose Mansion, Yoshino smiled. It was okay, she"d be able to play nice for an hour.

A one hour truce from her fight with Rei-chan.

Yoshino danced up the steps with a smile on her face, then energetically opened the biscuit door.

The Noriko-chan that Shimako-san brought along was one steely-nerved first-year.

"I"m Nijou Noriko."

She must have been nervous, but she was doing the right thing and trying her best not to let it show. In comparison, Shimako-san couldn"t calm down, her eyes darting everywhere. While her concern was understandable, it made it hard to tell who was the onee-sama and who was the pet.i.t soeur. Still, when they stood next to each other, the juxtaposition between the western doll and the j.a.panese doll was beautiful.

"Gokigenyou. Welcome to the Rose Mansion."

Sachiko-sama smiled brilliantly as she ushered Noriko-chan in. Yoshino dispa.s.sionately thought that anyone favored with that smile would probably find themselves a bit dizzy, even if they weren"t one of Sachiko-sama"s fans. As for Yumi-san, who in days past had been enchanted by those lips, she wasn"t even looking at her distant onee-sama, instead hurriedly preparing to make tea.

Rei-chan hadn"t looked at Yoshino for a while either. Even though it may have been completely expected, Yoshino found herself wanting to complain that Rei-chan couldn"t set their quarrel aside just for this afternoon.

(Oops. Smile, smile.)

When Yoshino noticed that she"d been frowning, she altered her feelings to better fit the mood. At that point, an unusual scene played out beside her.

(Huh!?)

She turned her head before she"d had time to think about it, but there, wasn"t that Rei-chan embracing Noriko-chan around the shoulder? Did she have to go that far, after all, it"s not like she"s a host from a host club? Even for an escort, that was getting a bit too close.

On top of that.

"Yumi-chan, can you make some of the good tea?"

What"s this, why"s she talking so sweetly?

(Why did she ask Yumi-san? I"m your pet.i.t soeur, and I"m right here, close enough that you don"t have to wave to get my attention!)

Was it an intentional snub? If that was the case, Yoshino was disappointed in herself for getting angry just like Rei-chan had expected her to. On the other hand, if Rei-chan hadn"t meant anything by it, then that was equally annoying.

"Yumi-san, I"ll help you."

Thinking that it had some deeper meaning, Yoshino decided to move to a.s.sist Yumi-san. If she was busy working, perhaps she could avoid over-a.n.a.lyzing things. At the very least, she could turn her back on Rei-chan, which would probably help bring some calm to her soul.

Inside the teapot, the tea leaves broke into a dance. It smelled so good she wanted to inhale deeply. When it came time to pour it into teacups, it made a soothing sound. Then, when it was done, it was a vivid crimson color.

As she was watching this, Yoshino found herself starting to relax. She wanted to stay gazing at it forever, however Yumi-san had already placed three teacups on a tray and was carrying them over for Noriko-chan, Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan, so Yoshino hurriedly gathered up the remaining three.

Facing the three occupied chairs were three that were, as yet, unoccupied and Yoshino placed a teacup at each of these. These were for the three second-years.

The largish oval shaped table was designed for eight people, but ten people could be crammed around it if necessary. At the moment there were six chairs at the table, but there were another three in the room, by the windows or the sink, that were moved around as needed. There was probably another ten chairs that could be found in the storehouse room on the first-floor. Naturally, all the chairs had slightly different designs.

Usually, they each had their own chair that they sat in. But when circ.u.mstances changed they"d switch around their seating order, either incidentally or deliberately. This was obviously one of those times.

Two of the Roses were seated so it looked like they were sandwiching their guest. The remaining seats were lined up facing them. Now then, who"s going to sit where?

Shimako-san probably should have sat next to Noriko-chan to guard her, but since she got off to a slow start neither of the seats beside Noriko-chan were free. Ignoring the lead actresses from the White Rose family, the other colors could have opted for coherency, but both Yoshino and Yumi-san elected not to sit next to their onee-samas. Yoshino didn"t want to a.n.a.lyze each and every thing, but she felt like she knew without asking why Yumi-san had made her choice.

Which left Rei-chan sitting next to Yumi-san, and Sachiko-sama next to Yoshino, with Shimako-san sitting in the remaining seat. With that, their "arranged marriage" tea-party could begin.

Even if it was likened to an arranged marriage, there were four people from the Yellow and Red Rose families, and only one Noriko-chan. When it came down to it, it was closer to an interview. Shimako-san"s role was a cross between matchmaker and attendant. She seemed more impatient than the interviewee herself, and just looking at Shimako-san made Yoshino feel pity for her.

Yoshino took two sticks of creamer from the hand-basket and put them in her tea.

It looked like this engagement was sorted. Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan both seemed pleased with Noriko-chan.

Yoshino thought that Noriko-chan had earned a pa.s.sing grade. At any rate, anyone who could make the usually composed Shimako-san that fl.u.s.tered was no ordinary human.

(Geeze, must be nice.)

Yoshino found herself growing jealous as she thought about how Shimako-san and Noriko-chan"s relationship was just beginning. The feeling of everything being unknown and expectantly stumbling forwards into the future. Yoshino and Rei-chan didn"t really have that feeling anymore. They were cousins who were brought up like sisters and then became soeurs, so they never really experienced nervousness or suspense, much less the phantom of heart-throbbing antic.i.p.ation.

(We"re like an old married couple.)

That didn"t mean Yoshino had applied to the kendo club just to get a reaction. However, she had to be careful because the reaction was so strong that it looked like it might escalate to a crisis resulting in divorce.

(That was a bit poor.)

Although it had been put on hold, applying to the club without talking about it first may have been a bit hasty. After all was said and done, it had been one thing after another.

But Yoshino"s personality didn"t allow her to stand still. Having decided on something, she ran forward swiftly. As a result, she"d often look back afterward and think, "Darn it."

Now that she was a second-year, she wished she had the composure to calmly survey her circ.u.mstances and a.n.a.lyze things objectively. Someday she would find a pet.i.t soeur like Shimako-san had, and who would fit an onee-sama that charged around recklessly?

(Alright.)

With Rei-chan in her current state, it didn"t look like they"d be able to discuss things calmly today, so Yoshino decided to get a good night"s sleep then tell her all about the day"s events tomorrow. Because they were so close, if they talked about it they were sure to come to an understanding. Yoshino was even prepared to back down from her position, depending on the circ.u.mstances.

(Of course, I"m not just going to roll over.)

As she watched Rei-chan, who still wasn"t looking her way, Yoshino drank the rest of her beige-colored tea.

At any rate, Rei-chan sure was smiling a lot.

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