Volume 6 Chapter 6 (1/2)
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”… This sucks”
Mizuno Youko, the Rosa Chinensis, muttered to herself aboard the bus
Luckily, the bus wasn't very crowded There was no one within 15 soliloquy
It was already evening The ti home from school
The bus that was going from the train station towards Lillian's Girls Academy obviously wouldn't have as many people on it Over half the seats were empty
”- O”
Instinctively she winced as the pain swept through her abdomen like a wave
(No matter how you look at it, it's completely unreasonable that only women have to suffer this kind of pain)
Her body was in a very sorry state Because it was that time of the month
(Oh, I give up)
It wasn't that she didn't usually suffer period pain, it was just that this month was exceptionally bad Not only had it arrived five days earlier than expected, it was heavier than usual too There had been no signs of it last night, but unbelievably it had shown up thisabdominal pain since the start of the day
(On top of that)
The bad luck just kept piling up, as the slight case of sniffles she'd had for soht Because she was shi+vering, she had taken her te and it was 378&ord may have been detriin
If it had been a norht away But it wasn't, for today she had a university entrance exam
Naturally, she couldn't spare the time to see a doctor, so she took some et to the exaone down thanks to thefrom drowsiness as a side-effect And as an added bonus, it made her stomach ache
It was in that kind of a state that she took the university entrance exa that she'd co back at it she had no recollection whatsoever of the type of questions she'd answered or the kind of answers she'd derived
And with that, she had no idea what the point of taking thebetter at all
”Ahh, as it?”
Youko was idly watching the side of her face reflected in the glassas she thought
Why was she being shaken around by the bus when she was in such a poor condition Surely the right decision would have been to go straight hoo to sleep
(There was, somebody)
She tried to fill in the blanks
She looked out the , just like she would during class, and the familiar scenery flowed past her
(There was … so I had to come to school to do with somebody)
So she had come
It would have been better to do it tomorrow, but tomorroould be too late There must have been some reason why she had to come to school today
But what that was, she couldn't remember
It wasn't forgetfulness, but th required to think about it Her mind still seemed hazy
What could it have been
Inadvertently, she glanced out theagain
”… Huh!”
Youko stood up without thinking The view she had seen see
”damn it”
The slide-show of faone past the Lillian's Girls Academy bus stop and were now closer to the next stop
”Ahh”
Usually there would be a lot of students getting on or off the bus, so there was no need to listen to the announce attention, she'd just be swept along when everyone else got off the bus
With nothing else to do, Youko pressed the button to let the driver know she wanted to get off at the next stop In all the ti to school, this was the first time she had ever missed her stop
Just what you'd expect, since today was probably the worst day of her life
After walking back froh the ates
Having never missed the stop before today, she didn't realize that the next bus stop was closer to the back gate until she alking through the front gate, and by that time it was too late
Youko's head was spinning so badly that she had come to accept that she would make these small mistakes
Even though she was like this today, she usually conducted herself flawlessly as a senior - possessing a brilliantbeautiful and kind If her juniors were to see her in such an unfocused state, she wouldn't be worthy of the name Rosa Chinensis
But right now she didn't have the energy to put up a front
My stomach hurts,
my stomach hurts,
my stomach hurts,
my stomach hurts
With each step drawing a coe, Youko sloalked down the path lined with ginkgo trees
Because the pain is only temporary
Because it'll get better soon
I'll endure it for just a little while longer
Let's just struggle through this like ays do
Even with her body screa out in pain, she somehow made it to the statue of Maria-sama
She was intending to follow her usual custom and pray, but the scene she sahen she entered into the srove and pond took her breath away
There weren't enough people there to call it a crowd, but there were a fair few gathered at the fork in the path
But if that was all it was, Youko wouldn't have given it a second thought Because students stopped to pray on their way to and from school, this place would occasionally see a 'rush hour' But this group seeh there was plenty of space in front of the statue of Maria-sa there
(This scene is - )
She'd seen this somewhere before Youko racked her brain and slowly reeled the o probably It was definitely so that she'd done She'd asked her onee-saether
”Oh, Rosa Chinensis”
The second-year student at the head of the line noticed her, and called out to her with a 'Gokigenyou' Rosa Chinensis thought she knew her She was one of Sachiko's class next to her seemed to be a first year Probably her petit soeur, Youko thought as the girl ereeted her
”Please, go ahead and pray”
The two girls who had been standing in front of the statue of Maria-sama had just departed
”Are you sure that's okay?”
It would be inexcusable to cut in front of a line of people that were patiently waiting their turn But the second year girl at the head of the queue shook her head
”Don't worry about it None of us want to be a bother to the students who are co here to pray”
The first year student held a small box in her hand When she took a better look at the line of couples, in each case one of the in their hands
”Ahh - ”
Youko finally remembered
The ses were chocolates
”Today's Valentines Day, isn't it”
”Yeah Oh, isn't that why you're at school today, Rosa Chinensis?”
”It seems so”
With a nod, she stepped in front of the statue of Maria-sama As always, the white face of Maria-sama smiled down upon her with profound compassion
”That's why I came to school”
Just a o, it had all come back to her
The boutons had agreed to host a treasure hunt for Valentines Day
Youko wasn't able to participate because it clashed with her entrance exam, but she had decided from the start that she wanted to see how it played out
Where had the trio hidden their cards?
And ould find them?
If it was me, where would I hide it?
And ould I want to find it?
Thinking about these things was really fun But it was so
Youko let out a sigh
As she entered the school buildings, she felt a heavy flow co and rushed to the nearest toilet on the first floor Because it was after school, the toilets were deserted For comfort's sake, Youko chose the inneret up after a brief moment of rest, the world around her faded to black Helplessly, Youko sat back down on the toilet seat and waited for the feeling to pass She hadn't really eatenin
Anyway, for now she was the sole occupant of the student's toilet block
”… Hmm”
She didn't feel well, either She felt queasy, but probably wasn't going to be sick
It's just one thing after the other
The unbearable abdoet better
But it was depressing to think that this kind of pain would continue for decades to come
Until now, Youko had never had any coely due to school policy and her horateful to both her parents and teachers
Neither men nor women were inferior Because without both, there was no way for new life to be born
It was simply due to the process of evolution - soe in this division of roles, and all of this was a result of that choice
(But even so)
Menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, menopause
Youko sighed, thinking about the journey that lay ahead of her The gap between the burden born by e simply to write off as the difference between the sexes The reward of a slightly longer life expectancy wasn't enough to balance things out in the end
(Ah well, dwelling on it's not going to change anything)
That's why she didn't usually think about it
She only considered it at times like this On days like today, when her period pain was excruciating, or when it happened while she was traveling or had PE lessons Only at times like that
After resting there for about tenbetter and started to notice the sounds that were co from outside
”Where have you been looking?”
”I heard that one of the cards have been found, but I don't knohich color it was”
”I wonder which faculty Rei-sama's homeroom teacher is in”
”Where's the weather station?”
From the hallway, from outside She could hear the students voices
It seems like the treasure hunt hadn't finished just yet
”Humm humm humm”
This time the door to the block of toilets was opened, and she felt soht in the a in the treasure hunt Besides, no one else was huood mood
As she was thinking this, she felt the ground treht she could hear the footsteps of a crowd of people sta
(Hey, wait Who are they chasing after …?)
The school was lively
All kinds of things happened here, but in general it was peaceful And fun Because Lillian's Girls Academy was protected by Maria-sama
When she finally started to get up, she heard a curious sound
bump, scratch scratch, rustle rustle, thump
”The ! They went in through the !”
The shout came from outside
Thud, click, clatter clatter clatter clatter
It sounded like the fugitive had broke in through theand then closed and locked it so that the pursuers couldn't climb in
Just as going on outside the walls of her cubicle? Youko was intensely curious But the person in the cubicle beside her shouted 'What's going on!?' and shot out, so she missed her chance
”Yu?”
The person fro to her cubicle and flushi+ng
(Yumi?)
It was a fairly common name, but she'd know for sure when they responded Because Youko's petit soeur, Ogasawara Sachiko, has a petit soeur called Yumi
She was a rare find nowadays And she was perfect as Sachiko's petit soeur Naturally, as the granded her
”… Playing tag, I guess”
As expected, the voice that answered was that of fukuzawa Yumi And it seemed that the person from the other stall just happened to be a friend of hers So like that
”And the treasure?”
”Not yet”
So thatin the middle of the treasure hunt
(Yu?)
Youko brought her ear to the door of the stall and strained to hear the conversation
”There we go”
The wall creaked
(There we go?)
She couldn't fathoeous things
”- Yumi-san?”
Yumi-chan's friend called out, doubtfully