Volume 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Rumours circulate quickly

By noon the next day, every high school student had learnt of the fact that Yumi had rejected Sachiko-sama

”Tsutako-san, did you tell?”

”Of course not These things are far ” In that case, the Roses probably proactively spread the ru the fire with their peculiar sense of humor Of course, there was the possibility that Sachiko-sa source, too

It wasn't that I wanted to track doho spread the rumor so I could complain, especially because we hadsecret, but since this was an obstacle for my desire for a peaceful life, I think I at least had reason to complain

First ca eyes with Yuht, ”as if,” and then looked away No one spoke directly to her

”'There's a weird ru about you, but you shouldn't pay it any heed'”

Katsura-san concluded during class

The students in the same class already kne Yuap between truth and fiction, they settled into a pattern of being confused, and then gradually accepting that it was probably a baseless rumor

However the reverberation aranted, those people were far reat

A person of such ears after being rejected by Toudou shi+athered in front of the first-year peach-class roo recesses

”That they need someone to tell them who's the subject of the rumor is fortunate, but painful”

Tsutako-san mumbled as they put away their textbooks after the fourth-period class

”Indeed I feel conflicted”

Yuhed drily As Tsutako-san said, Yue of ordinary, so people who had come to see someone that stood out like shi+ht direction

Her classhtful, and so they constantly guarded her with ”Yuht now” Because of this, she was able to walk out through everyone and even go to wash her hands

”Alright, then I have so lunch”

Tsutako-san spoke quickly, while s a normal conversation

”Why?”

”I caught news that the newspaper club was intending to interview Yumi-san The newspaper club is persistent They have a lot of sensationalist, paparazzi drama-lovers”

”Fueh…”

She turned pale Paparazzi would be like, those people that ask, ”Did you reallyout of the blue, right? Sachiko-saht, but the newspaper club see she preferred to be away from entirely

”Understand? Okay, then, pick up your lunch”

Tsutako-san pulled out Yu frorab ahold of it, began pushi+ng her

”Oh? Yu?”

Katsura-san asked curiously, as they usually always ate together

”I' Yumi-san for a second”

Tsutako-san answered in Yuently whispered, ”Hurry hurry” As if she were saying, ”Hurry or the newspaper club'll arrive”

”Woah”

Just as they walked out in the hallway, three students whose appearances screa in wait

”… Too late”

Tsutako-san's regretful voice only reached Yumi's ear

Camera, tape recorder,them ”paparazzi” earlier, they did not have a hand microphone or one of those shoulder cameras

”Oh, gokigenyou, you were part of this class, too?”

The one in the lead noticed Tsutako-san and began speaking Newspaper club and photography club, as expected, they'd had previous relationshi+ps

”Gokigenyou, and what s the newspaper club here today?”

Even though she knew everything, Tsutako-san snorance

”We ca, would youher here?”

”Umm Yumi-san, Yumi-san… is”

Acting senile, Tsutako-san looked back into the classroolance Her eyes scanned the peach-class room, beyond the door from whence they had come

The classroo ready for lunch Soether and laid down table-cloths, some distributed milk and bread and other such ordered food, students from other classes joined in all in all, it was chaotic

”Ah, I think she ht be Yumi-san, over there?”

Tsutako-san acted like she was adjusting her glasses and pointed to the furthest reaches of the class

”I'll go call her, wait one second”

Just as Yu what Tsutako-san intended to do, she took a step into the class, then stopped, abruptly, and turned around, as if re

”Natsume-san, you were in a hurry, correct? There is no need for o on ahead”

”Huh? … Ah, yes”

As Tsutako-san had deliberately looked into Yumi's eyes and winked, she assumed that meant her

”Then I will go on ahead”

Yuave Tsutako-san and the newspaper club members a quick bow and left the scene As she walked down the hallway, she thought of Natsume Souseki -> fukuzawa Yukichi -> fukuzawa Yu point was the figures on printed money

Even so, she wondered what Tsutako-san was going to do Because it was her, sheperson,” but despite clai as an observer than a participant, she was pretty caring

As Tsutako-san was gone, she wondered where to go As she walked down the stairs in such thought, a voice called out

”Yumi-san Over here”

When she looked down the handrail, she noticed a white hand beckoning When she leaned out to look, shi+mako-san's face popped out

”Let's eat lunch together”

Yumi rhythelic face

shi+mako-san led Yumi to her personal seat

”Do you eat here every day?”

Here was behind the auditoriuko in an obscure place There, the two opened their lunches and sat

”Only seasonal When the weather is nice during the spring and autumn”

”The summer?”

”This cherry blossoathers a lot of caterpillars, and I ako falls soon after, and that I do eagerly wait”

shi+ko trees while plucking taro out of her varnished, square lunch box It was slightly off balance fro about gingko, the tasteful lunch box, oh and, incidentally, the boiled potato balls, too

”… You are a bit odd, shi+mako-san”

”Ako do not sht of misery”

”shi+ingko nuts?”

”Precisely”

shi+hed happily, fufufu

”Why do you like gingko?”

”Yumi-san, do you hate them?”

With the question turned, she thought Hmm, she had no idea people actually ate them

Until today, she thought it was like the shi+so leaves for sashi+ custard

”I love things like gingko and lily and soya beans My parents always say it is unlike a norirl, but I think taste preference is affected by your environment, don't you? Because I was raised by them, I like bitter tastes, most likely”

When I asked, I learnt that shi+mako-san's house is almost purely japanese-style architecture, with no Western-style rooreat, chalk-white rand piano Also, a lunch of club sandwiches or fried chicken seemed to suit her looks better

”Not what I look like?”

shi+ intently at Yumi's face

”M anyways”

Told so honestly, shi+led and responded, ”Yumi-san, too”

”I alad ere able to become acquaintances”

The two of them looked at the sky

The clouds slowly flowed across the clear sky

Sky-blue and the white of clouds, and below that, the sun's rays shone through the yellow gingko trees, casting a golden sparkle upon the ground If I were a painter, I would have been able to paint that scene into a giant canvas Or if I were a poet, into a poe that scene for eternity

”shi+mako-san, why did you reject Sachiko-sama?”

When she spontaneously asked, shi+mako-san responded, ”Should I not return that question to you?”

”That's right, we both did the sa”

Even so, it wasn't as though their affinity got closer She felt that shi+mako-san and her approach to Sachiko-sama was completely different

”In my case”

shi+ht

”I am not a fit for Sachiko-sama Conversely, Sachiko-sama is not a fit for me, either”

”In ay?”

”I like Sachiko-sas in our partners Subsequently, e can offer one another differs”

”… That sounds too complicated for me”

”Sachiko-sa She understood what I ue Even I would have to ad that I have”

What you can offer the companion and what you seek from a companion Because it is a one-on-one relationshi+p, it makes sense that a concurrence of that would be of the utmost importance, but-

”If shi+ood, wouldn't that mean there is no one who could fit with Sachiko-sama?”

”I do not know Of course, because such a person is so hard to find, she probably is still left with no petite sœur But Rosa Chinensis and Sachiko-sama do face each other, as you saw Compatibility is possible”

”I see…”

Then perhaps that would ht Yu, it was a decision borne out of taking a careful look at herself and her opponents

”Well, shall we return?”

shi+mako-san stood up Fifth period would start in five minutes

”The newspaper club also has class, so it should be safe”

As a consequence of the conversation earlier, Yuko nuts

She had never paid the ground ko nuts looked like ripe plums

”In the case of Sachiko-sareater when you rejected her than when I did”

”Why?”

”I believe she felt it co, in my case We acted as temporary sisters, so I am sure she had come to notice that ould not be perfect fits”

But in the case of Yumi, she had supreme confidence

”But she didn't seem to have been that shocked?”

”She is a contrarian who absolutely despises losing So when she is truly vexed, she refuses to show it”

The two of them lined up and walked up the empty stairs They overtook thetheir classroo They had arrived in front of the classroom with a minute to spare

The newspaper club as well as other students had, as shi+mako-san expected, already cleared out of the hallways

shi+mako-san spoke as she opened the rear door

”Yumi-san and Sachiko-sama may be compatible fits”

Yu,” as she stepped in and looked at the backs of the students who had arrived earlier

How could Yumi be a fit and shi+mako-san, who could even describe Sachiko-sama as a contrarian and sore-loser, not?

Sheesh, shi+mako-san is definitely an odd-ball

Apparently japan was around the only country that introduced a syste duty” to school In the US and Europe, schools were thoroughly ingrained as ”places in which to learn” -I forget the exact details, but I vaguely re that on television

(Certainly)

It was a strange feeling, in that she was polishi+ng the school's floors, but herlinked to ho process for a school and an ordinary home was too different

Perhaps it was a s you borrowed in a clean fashi+on

By the hile Yumi was quite ordinary in that she was not particularly fond of cleaning, for some reason she disliked it much less while in the music room

Possibly as a result of soundproofing, the floor wasthere was no need for waterBecause the walls were made of a special soundproof material, they only needed to be dusted once in a while, and as the chairs and tables were built-in, there was no need to move them around

You simply needed to move around the special vacuum cleaner, rinse the top of desks, and clean the blackboard and the scaffold around the s The usual portraits of Mozart and Beethoven were left up to the supervisor for the room

”Yumi-san Shall we leave it at that?”

Said the classroup, as she shut a

”Yes…”

Nor cleaning duties But today she felt like taking her time

”Everyonediary”

If you were to step out of the school now, you would run into the end-of-school peak She didn'tbecoe to jump out into the open on her own But, she had no place else to go to spend time

”Then we shall stay with you until it is completed It would not be suitable to leave Yumi-san alone, after all”

The kind classmates offered to help

”But you do have club activities, do you not? All I have left to do afterward is to go home, and I did hand over diary duty yesterday, so I'll take care of it today”

When Yu themselves, ”Shall we leave then?” and then left the music room

”Gokigenyou”

”See you tomorrow”

Tap tap, their footsteps faded into the distance at a rapid pace

So as to not disturb the plaits in their skirts, so as to not toss their white sailor scarves into disarray They were actually so busy that such standards had slipped their mind

”Ahh I'm so bored”

Having no attachment to a club or a committee left her quite lonely at this time of day

The class' presentation was to be an exhibit about the ”path of the Cross” They intended to reproduce 14 pictures from the proclaotha hill, to when he was buried after crucifixion, and then place captions under each of those pictures However, as honest Lillian students should, they had already completed most of their preparations over the summer Maybe everyone had realized that they would become busy for their respective clubs as the school festival drew closer, thus preparing for the inevitability that they would not be able to extend much of a hand to their classroom exhibit

”I wonder how much time I should take”

It would be bone-headed to take so much time that her departure coincided this time with the club-activity students

”Oh, I should go hand in the diary”

However, she did not yet want to move She could hear the excited sounds of students still ymnasium beyond the half-opened door

Yumi absent- to be afraid of, even alone in the piano room

-Maria-sama protects this school, after all

Because of this, there were no horror stories of ht pianos or Beethoven's eyes at Lillian

Mi-

With her right index finger, she pressed down the higher Mi key Yes, she thought everything started from that sound Yumi drew up a chair and properly faced the piano

It had been quite some time since she had last touched a piano She had attended piano school once a week for the six years of elenificant part of her, she quit as she entered middle school

Mi-

She played the sa on hershe heard half a year ago If it were just her right index finger, she could somewhat reproduce the melody

Fa-

So-ReMi-

This was Gounod's Ave Maria

Half a year ago, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, introduced as Rosa Chinensis en bouton, played this piece for the fresh ceremony That was the first time Yumi had encountered Sachiko-sama

Having been played on an organ inside a sanctuary, the sound echoed deeply and stained a part of her soul Sachiko-sa the piece, looked almost like Ave Maria herself

Even after the performance, Yumi was unable to take her eyes off of Sachiko-sama Not just her lovely appearance, but the way she carried her each and every conduct with dignity, and with her upper-classman tone of voice, she was absolutely beautiful

She wanted to become a person like Sachiko-sama

She wanted to get even an inch closer to a person like Sachiko-sama

When she thought so half a year ago, she did not is would end up like this No, not even yesterday, at this sained this

Her school life just changed drastically -Just as she leaned into the piano with such thoughts, she saw soe of her vision

Before she could even begin to recognize what had appeared, an indescribable and curious sound jumped out of Yumi's vocal chords

That was because a human hand had reached out fro her heart leaping out of her chest

”What a sound youyou”

She juain, when she looked up at the face of that hand

”Anyone would shriek if someone came up silently from behind, Sachiko-sama”

On top of that, if that person were the person for who

”I was being considerate, about not intruding on your piano performance”

Sachiko-sama pressed down on the Do key with her still-stretched left hand It's the key you first learn to press with the thu

”Play”

”Eh!?”

”Once more, play just as you did earlier”

”Ehh?”

When she tried to scramble off the seat, Sachiko-saht hand

”The rhythm is… one, two, three, four, to, three, four”

”Ah, umm…”

Sachiko-saht shoulder as truthfully as a naled, ”Start,” on the third count

When huin doing so out of momentum

Then a second sound ju itself with Yumi

DoMiSoDoDoMiSoDo

Sachiko-sa the pedals, so the sound had an echo

(It's a four-handed performance)

Her own sound, co with the other sound, returned to her ears in a pleasant fashi+on

However, the fun feeling only lasted for a short while Soon, she remembered that Sachiko-sama was near, and the excitement turned into fear

The song was not designed for a four-handed perforht hand and Sachiko-sa in on the other's personal space Sachiko-sa with Yuht hair fell on Yu Yumi feel like this was all commonplace

Even so, the performance continued Sachiko-saht hand could keep up the melody line

On one hand she wanted this to last forever, but part of her also wanted this to end, is fought

Sachiko-sa softly swayed Yuly calm Unlike Yumi, Sachiko-sama was not one to be thrown in disarray from just this

The beautiful harmony was broken

Yumi purposefully went off-key

”I'm sorry, I couldn't keep up with Sachiko-sama, after all”