Volume 8 Chapter 1 (2/2)
Coolly throwing a lifeboat Right, that That's what Yu for
”Didn't you say you couldn't drink it when it was hot?”
”I did, but”
That didn't mean she wanted it diluted with strawberry milk At least if it had been coffee flavored ht of it as a cafe au lait that was heavy on the milk
”But it had already cooled”
”Oh, don't look at me like that, Yumi-chan You won't be the only one with this bad memory”
Rosa Chinensis poured it into her own milk too Because there was air in the pack, it drained quickly Then she took a single mouthful, and her impression was:
”It's not that good, is it?”
So, why do it? That was the obvious retort, but Yuuess the answer This was obviously so Rosa Chinensis had wanted to try once too
”Exactly”
”Huh?”
Yuled to drink her lukewar
”You're sharp, Yumi-chan”
”Wha?”
”But funny despite that”
”Umm”
Not knowing how to react, Yuain Rosa Chinensis continued on, unconcerned
”That's why I think you're worthy”
”To be chosen to experience the hot strawberry milk au lait … ?”
Then Rosa Chinensis shook her head, ”No” Her silky black hair gently touched her left and right cheeks once before settling down
”To be Sachiko's guardian”
”Huh?”
”Yumi-chan”
Rosa Chinensis smiled at her and spoke softly
”Take care of Sachiko for me”
” … O … kay”
”She's not charly innocent, but she's my irreplaceable petit soeur”
It was at that point that Yumi realized that Rosa Chinensis had invited her there to hear her final request
”Where have you been?”
When she opened the door to theroom, or salon, on the second floor of the Rose Mansion, Sachiko-sa
”I'm sorry I'm late”
Yu pose
”What were you doing to make you arrive thirty minutes later than your classmate shi+mako-san?”
”Umm”
”I'm sure I told you to arrive early because we'd be discussing what happens after the graduation ceremony”
”Yes I'm sorry”
Yumi had realized that her onee-saized without offering an excuse Talking back would only be adding fuel to the fire The explanation of why she was late could wait until after her onee-sama had calmed down
”Ah, Sachiko-sama While Yumi-san and I are in the sa different areas”
Now that shi+ed into it, she was unable to contain herself and rose frorateful for shi+mako-san's consideration, in this case it was probably just going to s even more complicated
”In that case”
Like a teacher scolding students that had forgotten their ho Yumi and shi+mako-san, arms folded
”At your next class , raise thearea That level of variation is unacceptable”
Whoa, so incredibly combative Like the stereotypical mother-in-law from a TV drama
”A class ? I don't think that's … ”
” … Yeah”
The two first-year peach group students looked at each other shi+mako-san wasn't really under the i the entire time, she simply meant that they wouldn't necessarily arrive at the same time just because they were in the same class And even if there was such a discrepancy between cleaning areas for the pine group, it was a bit late bringing it up h the third term
”U”
Out of options, Yumi opened hersteadfastly apologetic until Sachiko-saer had run its course shi+mako-san whispered, ”I'm sorry I made it worse,” to Yumi
”Then why?”
Yuh to coood excuse on the spot No, even if she had thought of one, she wasn't so desperate to get out of the situation that she'd lie to her onee-sama
”I'm late because I stopped off somewhere on the way”
”You stopped off?”
Sachiko-sama asked, with a quizzical look on her face
”Alone?”
”No”
”Then ere you with and where did you go?”
Yumi sensed that the way Sachiko-sama's eyebrows shot up meant she already knew that Yuination
”Rosa Chinensis invited me to Milk Hall”
”My onee-sama did?”
Yu along the lines of, ”Notothen you should refuse” However
”I see Alright then”
Sachiko-saly easily To Yumi, it felt like the life had been sucked out of her
”Onee-sama … ?”
Yu about Rosa Chinensis entrusting care of Sachiko-sa to report was that Rosa Chinensis treated her to some hot ation forthco, she chose to keep her mouth shut
The h to acquit her Was Rosa Chinensis a get out of jail free card?
Sachiko-sama returned to the seat at the table sheany further questions As Yumi idly watched this:
”Yumi-chan, Yumi-chan”
Rosa Foetida en bouton, Hasekura Rei-sa events unfold from the table, and quietly beckoned Yumi over
Yumi walked over, her head tilted in confusion, and Rei-sama whispered to her:
”You'll have to forgive her Sachiko was so worried about you that she couldn't focus on her work, and that's why she verbally lashed out at you”
”Ah … ”
”Rei, what are you blathering on about!”
”Nothing I was just telling Yumi-chan to have a seat Ooh, scary You're scary when you're hysterical”
”What did you say - ”
Sachiko-sama stood up and raised her clenched fists, but the outcoht between herself and the second-rank kendo student was obvious, so she glared at Rei-sas of her own chair instead
”Good, good, it's bad for your body to bottle up your anger”
When did Rei-sa Sachiko-sama? She'd deflated like when the Roses poked fun at her
(Take care of Sachiko for me)
Re the words that Rosa Chinensis had said to her, Yu With such a reliable friend already by her side, Yumi had no idea how she was supposed to take care of Sachiko-sama
shi+mako-san had already returned to her seat, so Yuular position Without realizing it, it had become her home position, next to her beloved Sachiko-sama
”Well, now that we're all here, let's start - ”
Yuht beside her The topic for discussion was the post-graduation cereraph
”I spoke with Takeshi+ this, but the newspaper clubto be present too … ”
As she listened to shi+mako-san's report, Yumi sipped from the teacup that had been placed at her spot
It was cold
The complete opposite of the hot milk
It had probably been cooling for as long as Sachiko-sa for her
”A final request, huh I think I understand”
Yoshi+no-san muttered as she put the cleaned teacups in the cupboard
”You understand?”
Yuot rid of all the foam, then returned it to its holder
The one to the first-floor storage room ahead of them To check that the Roses hadn't left any of their personal belongings behind In truth, Yumi was relieved to be left behind to clean up the second-floor salon with Yoshi+no-san Helping with a task whose sole purpose was to ensure the Roses never had to return to the Rose Mansion again would be absolutely heartbreaking
”It's like going to the shrine for pre-wedding jitters Well, it's also like raduation”
”It's like those? How?”
”In every way”
Yoshi+no-san turned off the tap as she spoke
In her mind, Yu jitters That said, she could sort of understand hoas like a love confession
”It's like this When people leave an environ, they're bound to have all kinds of thoughts about the things they've left undone”
”So they make a final request”
”Right That's just another na jitters when they're wondering if it's really okay to get married And it's pretty common for people to make a confession when they'll never have to see that person again if they're turned down”
”Hmm Wait, what about the shrine?”
Yumi innocently asked, and Yoshi+no-sanand said, ”Huh?”
”Ito the shrine to thank the Gods?”
”It's just a figure of speech At school, ”going to the shrine”a teacher you hate to y your frustrations at thes could happen”
Probably expecting some kind of reaction froue in her explanation
”That dreadful sort of thing actually happens?”
”Well, Lillian's doesn't really have that sort of tradition, so you can relax”
”Ah, right”
Even if she hated a teacher, she didn't want to beco
”As for the back of the gymnasium, I was called there by Rosa Foetida”
”Oh”
”Rei-chan's in the s anted to say to each other”
Yoshi+no-san posed holding an invisible blade, like the samurais Musashi+ and Kojirou about to duel
Still, ould she go straight to that example?
”Like what?”
”Who won About the closeness of Rei-chan to her next door neighbor and cousin, hed by her onee-sama, Rosa Foetida We covered it all”
Given her usual attitude, they probably went into ar and milk she liked in her coffee
”And?”
Who was Miyamoto Musashi+ and as Sasaki Kojirou? Basically, on?
”There's no e could come to a conclusion It's because we couldn't decide that we've been able to get along so far It was … simply a performance”
”A performance?”
”Yeah Everyone does it Their methods may differ, but in their oay they're reluctant to let go”
Ahh, so that was it Yumi felt like she understood And because Sachiko-sama knew that, she hadn't scolded her petit soeur for being taken aside by Rosa Chinensis
The wise Sachiko-saeneral topic of conversation had been too Perhaps Sachiko-sama had even been entrusted with the care of Rosa Chinensis by her onee-sama, one year earlier
After they'd finished cleaning, Yumi and Yoshi+no-san met up with the boutons in the first-floor room When they entered the room, they were surprised to see what looked like three bodies huddled together, crying But that wasn't it
”Here, take a look There's a lot of Rosa Gigantea's personal belongings”
Noticing their entrance, Sachiko-sa
”Textbook, sports towel … ? Oh, that's the lunch box she !”
”Yu”
Yoshi+no-san looked away The case of thelunchbox dated back to before winter break A s been eaten But if the lid of the box were opened, it would almost certainly smell awful
”It had fallen down behind a stack of cardboard boxes”
Rei-sama smiled, dust piled on her shoulders
While on that topic, the number of items stored in that roo busy and neglecting to properly sort things
”Back then my onee-sama was so adamant that it was on the second floor”
Everybody nodded at shi+mako-san's state the second-floor rooh the ht, they'd even checked the courtyard thinking there was a possibility it may have fallen from the
”She must have eaten lunch on the second floor, then stopped in here on her way out That's why she had the wrong idea”
”So no matter how hard we searched, it wouldn't turn up”
”Since it was on the first floor”
They all suddenly burst into laughter It antea's expense
”At any rate, I'raduation ceremony”
Sachiko-sa Indeed It did seem sort of pathetic to cootten lunchbox
They'd unearthed a singleto Rosa Chinensis, and one handkerchief of Rosa Foetida's Both itee boxes back during the rehearsals for their Cinderella play in the lead-up to the school festival
As well as the Roses' personal belongings, they'd also found a pair of scissors and a couple of marker pens that were part of the Rose Mansion stationery
”Even though they don't have names written on them, you knohose they are?”
Yumi asked bluntly, and Sachiko-saainst her own cheek
”Of course we know Because we're their petit soeurs”
Tears streamed down Sachiko-sama's face, but no-one moved to comfort her No, they couldn't move They all knew their own eyes were equally clouded
”Let's return these tomorrow”
Sachiko-sa instructions
As though drawing a clear line in her heart
Perhaps the various pre-graduation performances were necessary rituals for the heart