Volume 3 Chapter 5 (2/2)
”Wha, what?”
”… No, it's the first time you've ever said someone else's name, so I was surprised, that's all”
After school, I'd stopped by the Rose Mansion for the first tiot Youko, an honor student and a very caring person, finished reading some documents and then said, ”So?”
”Nothing I ran into a first-year na, that's all I found out she's in the same class as your sœur, so I wondered if you'd heard any ru”
”Sachiko's class…?”
She didn't seehtaround, because of how strong of an impression she left, but that wasn't the case
”If you don't knohatever”
I'd begun to leave, when Youko grabbed my arm
”Since you've come this way, just stay for a bit I'd wanted to point out before that you don't seem to understand your position as a bouton”
But Youko's here, fully aware, so it shouldn't be a probleht, anyways
”I didn't become a bouton because I wanted to”
”But you accepted it, by becoantea's sister, did you not?”
”She wasn't Rosa Gigantea then”
”What a quibble My head hurts just thinking about next year”
Youko put a hand to her head and sighed
Of course Because other than herself, none of the bouton were dependable
Rosa Foetida en bouton Eriko does what she's supposed to, but she always looks bored And I happily skip When the three of us lose the ”en bouton” from our names, the Yamayurikai may seriously collapse
But that's alright Becauseabout next year, too
”Anyways, stay a bit, at least until someone else comes”
Youko wouldn't let go of my arm
”Even if I get away, it's not your responsibility”
”But I still don't want to have let you get ahen I was by myself”
”Mmm”
I sat down in a chair Not necessarily for Youko, but because just standing was getting tiresoh docuain
After about fivethe stairs
”Oh hat a rarity”
My onee-saasawara Sachiko
That was a rare coot to the door, onee-sama held out Sachiko like a newfound doll
”We ran into each other in the hallway, so we caether Sachiko-chan's like a cute japanese doll, so I can't help wanting to be with her”
As onee-sama said, Sachiko was undoubtedly beautiful I knew about her froh school, because she was a year underabout her simply meant I'd seen her once, as I'd never bothered to meet her
In her case, she was a faure in school because of her appearance and her stature as a young woman of a rich faht, ould she bother with such a pain-in-the-ass person? But it was obviously because if Youko didn't do it, no one else would have had the courage to do it
”I'm sorry to shoith a Western face, onee-sama”
”Oh, are you sulking? Oh you fool, Sei's face is Sei's face, I picked you because of your face, after all”
”Sorry, and thanks”
I felt satisfied I loved hearing ”I picked you because of your face” from my onee-sama People can't see who you are on the inside, so when they praise you on your outside, it's a lot more persuasive
”Sit down”
As Sachiko sat down next to Youko, I moved myself to the seat next to onee-sama I don't like an intimate atmosphere, but I didn't dislike the Rose Mansion Maybe she knew it, because onee-sas or tea parties In my case, I'd show up if I wanted, and I'd not show up if I didn't So she kneould be a waste of breath
Yes Onee-sa me
When I entered high school, I received a lot of sœur proposals, but I turned them all down I just wanted to be left alone, but everyone kept claan thinking that was becoantea en bouton showed up
She said she likedyour face, so be by my side And with that, I decided to be her sister
Having been told why I'd been liked, I felt a lot more at ease
That's why sometimes I showed up at the Rose Mansion and sat down, for her sake I didn't like s, but I just needed to sit there and pretend I was listening
Using Youko and Sachiko and onee-sa ”Maria-sa that, it was because it's the first song that flowed throughI kneouldn't have minded a modern japanese ballad, either
I wasn't fond of conversing with girlsnovels I kneas an enigma in my class
Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida arrived, so the , so I began thinking about the girl I , instead
Kubo shi+ori
As Youko said, I thought it was surprising I became interested in someone else
I surprised ressive I was
To start with, I decided to wake up early and wait for shi+ori at the school gate shi+ori had to go through the gate, as she used the bus at M Station The reason why I picked the school gate, instead of the station or the bus stop, was because I decided it was the h
It was childish, I kneas filled with the hope of seeing her happen to walk through the gate, by chance The possibility that she went to school together with a friend, or that I'd be rejected never crossed my mind
In the end, that sort of unfortunate result didn't happen Because shi+ori never walked through the gate
The wave of black unifors, instead absent-ate
Before thinking about the possibility of her being late or si school, I lost confidence Did she really exist? Youko didn't seem to remember the name Kubo shi+ori, and no one else was in the sanctuary at the time, so there was no way to prove she was Kubo shi+ori, a first-year student But strangely enough, it see an otherworldly existence
When it became lunch break, I peeked into the first-year pine class Theya second-year, but this class seemed more be them out
”What's the matter, Sei-sama?”
Sachiko called to me from behind She'd been out of the class when I'd arrived, apparently
”Is Kubo shi+ori in this class?”
I couldn't help but ask for confirmation
”Yes”
Sachiko-sa
”Is she absent, today?”
I confirmed her existence, but I still didn't see her in the room
”No”
”Was she late?”
”She was in class when class began And-”
Sachiko answered my next question
”As for where she is now, I think the sanctuary”
”Sanctuary…”
”She's a devout Christian So she's always praying in the ”
That answered everything
shi+ori arrived at school earlier than I did, and was praying to God while I aiting at the gate
Even though I met her there yesterday, I'd never wondered why she was there and when she was there froone there to sleep, like I did, anyways
And when I heard shi+ori was a devout Christian, I couldn't help but nod, so that's what The ”whiteness” I saw in her was probably her faith
”Shall I tell her Rosa Gigantea en bouton was looking for her?”
”That would be unnecessary”
”You are going to the sanctuary now”
”-Not really”
Without thanking her, I turned away from Sachiko It wasn't like I had fault with Sachiko But she was sharp, despite having no ill intentions I knew that, but it still felt unpleasant having er Sachiko
After returning to ed direction It would be childish to not go to the sanctuary just because Sachiko said it, and I didn't want to step into a noisy classroom
To begin with, I wanted to step out and get soency exit, usually off lireener by the day, and their glitter beauty was so pleasant to the eyes it made class seem extremely stupid
I would have brought a book I wanted to skip class, i hoonderful it would be to spend time under this weather
Consciously, or subconsciously, s carried me to the east Maybe I could see shi+ori But it was okay if I didn't I didn't knohat I'd say, if I did
My feeling, at that point, was honestly to just look at shi+ori fro me-
I looked up and closed reenery I would becoh everything I wanted to vanish, like that I wanted Satou Sei to be exter I was here at all
When I opened my eyes, like a miracle, shi+ori was there She was about ten meters ahead, and stopped a meter in front of me
”Gokigenyou, Rosa Gigantea en bouton”
She was there, like it was the s I couldn't help but think that she was the opposite of me, loved by the world and accepted by the world Maybe that hy I was drawn to shi+ori
”I came to see you”
I wanted to be saved by shi+ori To purify this nonconfor soul, to return me to normalcy
”I wanted to see you Would this be a bother?”
I repeatedshi+ori with an expression I wouldn't dare show my mother At some point, I'd throay the ar I could do if I was rejected I'd found so to get
”How could I say it's a bother?”
With a calm voice, like a crystal-clear lake, shi+ori replied
”I was just wanting to see you, too”
I cried, surprisingI wanted to thank God for giving me shi+ori