Volume 9 Chapter 7 (1/2)
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” - So, the priest will bring the medallions on the day of the event, and we'll have to meet him and take delivery of them This job will be entrusted to the boutons”
The good old second-floor of the Rose Mansion
”Next is the rose corsages for us to wear”
shi+anized first-year welco ceremony
”Roses … do you think it's necessary to use fresh flowers? Just as long as they're obviously our colors, that should be enough right? If ith artificial flowers, they could be reused next year and the year after”
Rei-sa on the report paper with a mechanical pencil
Today was the kendo club's day off Consequently, they'd reconvened thethat had been canceled the other day
”Artificial flowers?”
Sachiko-sama thumped the table Her whole body screamed, ”You expect me to wear an artificial flower!?”
As expected frohter But in that case, as she going to do about graduation, when they did traditionally use artificial flowers? Even as she was thinking these extraneous thoughts, Yumi felt a little relieved
Sachiko-sa her health back She wasn't in perfect condition, but she had more or less returned to normal
Because the reviled cherry blossom season was almost over
Yumi hadn't been able to observe Sachiko-sama up close this time last year, but she fully expected that Sachiko-sao nuts ripened in the fall
”Well, I'o with artificial flowers But fresh ones are a bother I' we consider it”
Rei-sah to the end
”In that case, I vote against it”
Even though nobody had said anything about having a vote The way Sachiko-sa her uments were offered was either honesty or stubbornness
”Rosa Chinensis votes for fresh flowers”
shi+hed and recorded Sachiko-sa minutes This was either due to sympathy or just because she was too serious
(Huh?)
There were some cherry petals buried in shi+mako-san's fluffy hair Unusually, she'd been about five , so she ain
Yumi tilted her head sideways in confusion
About 80 of the cherry blossom petals had already fallen And yet, shi+ On the contrary, she was in high spirits Cheerfully advancing the ood had happened to her
Incomprehensible
Although that was how she'd always been - shi+ht and action were inscrutable
”What do you think, Yumi?”
”Huh?”
Suddenly hearing her name called, Yumi hastily stood up
”… You're not in class now”
”Ah, right Sorry”
So sit down
”We're discussing whether to go with real or fake flowers”
Yoshi+no-san whispered, as though infore of the textbook they were on
”The artificial flower corsages arereusable … ”
Before shi+mako-san could finish her explanation, Yumi shouted out ”Real flowers!”
”Huh?”
”Um … I'd prefer real flowers”
”Why?”
Sachiko-saaze that indicated she wouldn't accept the answer, ”Because my onee-sama prefers fresh flowers”
”Well, at last year's welco ceremony, the Roses and boutons had real flowers, and they were really beautiful andAnd then, when I elcomed by them as the leaders of the entire student body, I was really happy, well, how should I put it … um”
She wanted the juniors to have those feelings too
”I see”
Despite its incoherence, Sachiko-sama quietly listened to Yumi's speech and nodded
”I knohat you mean Yoshi+no-chan, did you feel the same last year?”
”There was definitely soht?”
Yoshi+no-san fished for shi+reement But shi+mako-san's response was:
”I'm sorry I don't remember the particulars of that event”
”Why not?”
Yuo shi+, ”I wonder why”
”Probably because you were fixated on a certain somebody, no?”
Hearing Sachiko-sama's callous remark, Yumi and Yoshi+no-san were taken aback, as was Rei-sa fro, about that ”certain somebody” was prohibited in front of shi+ uneasy about the falling cherry blossoms But apparently Sachiko-sama wasn't aware of that She probably hadn't paid attention to any gossip for the entire ti
”Huh?”
shi+ that she was thinking about that ”certain somebody”
Had she stepped on a landto explode?
But what on earth would a shi+mako-san explosion look like? - No-one there had ever seen one before, that was for sure
Yu Dormant volcanoes erupted far more violently than active ones
As for shi+mako-san
”Ah, right That may be it”
She uttered ecstatically, contrary to the expectations of everyone that had been watching on with bated breath
”Sh-shi+mako-san … ? hello?”
That may be it? Did you understand that she meant you were fixated on Sei-sama?
Speaking as though it were a compliment It was hard to tell if this was due to shi+mako-san's composure, or if she'd spoken improperly due to the comfortable condition in her mind
However, shi+mako-san completely missed the reaction from the outfield
”So Sachiko-sa for fresh flowers”
She added a vertical line next to the earlier recorded vote,a T shape
”Yoshi+no-san?”
”Real flowers are fine”
A second horizontal line was added, turning it into an odd looking F
”Well, I wasn't insisting that we had to go with artificial flowers”
Rei-sareed with fresh flowers, and then shi+ the result the kanji character for correct, 正 Just like that, the decision was unanimous
”Then we shall continue the tradition of using real flowers for the corsage”
All the attendees in just one character With only five people, differences of opinion were quickly settled It had the advantage that it s quick, but it was a little bit sad too
”We've settled on fresh flowers for the Roses”
Yoshi+no-san said, her hand raised
”But what are we going to do for the boutons? Last year there were a lot of people nearflowers in their respective color and the boutons wore flowers that hadn't blossomed yet, but it was hard to tell from a distance”
Indeed If the boutons floere too small then it would be hard tothen they'd be too hard to differentiate from the Roses
In Yoshi+no-san's case, she was already Rei-sa cereenerally speaking, the welco ceremony was the first opportunity the new freshmen had to see the members of the Yamayurikai
”The first-years didn't participate in last year's election, and the point of the welco ceremony is to introduce the Yamayurikai, so I think we should make it more obvious”
So Yoshi+no-san proposed that the boutons didn't wear corsages of the same color as the Roses
”Our role as boutons is a minor one for this event”
At the group wedding of the Yamayurikai executives and the first-year students Indeed, the boutons were second-in-co, Yoshi+no-san seemed to understand this
”Sounds good”
Sachiko-sama nodded in admiration too
”But it'd be better if there was so to identify you as our assistants”
Rei-sama had a point too The conversation continued while Yu bewildered But there was no way so class discussions could keep up with this pace
”So if we exclude the colors red, white, and yellow, then - ”
”Salmon pink!”
Yu to miss her chance She felt bad that she hadn't been participating in theBut she had raised her hand properly
Had her voice been too loud? For a moment, the place fell silent
”Ah … um?”
Finally
”Right That would be fine”
Sachiko-saently Rei-saave a nod of approval too
Salmon pink was a mixture of red, white and yellow So it was like it was the color of their team
”Their teaain reminded of the fact
Until now, it had been eight people
Three graduated, and now there were five It was a bit too sparsely populated, so there was room for other people to enter, but just quietly Yumi liked the space
Was a petit soeur really necessary?
Sei-sa a petit soeur, and while they may not have felt exactly the same as Yu either
If it's just these people here with me, then I'm fine with that - such was Yumi's desire
At the time when their five opinions had become one
shi+mako-san and Yoshi+no-san would surely have felt the same way
Yoshi+no-san's warning had otten
But while she was being careful, it wasn't so about
Those ringlets Touko-chan
Perhaps she'd been following Sachiko-sa up ”occasionally,” because she hadn't been back to the Rose Mansion until now But she kept catching the up at unexpected times in unexpected places
For example, the day before yesterday
By chance, Yuether when they ran into Touko-chan at the h she'd planned it
”Shall we head hoether? Touko was kept back late with club activities”
Hearing that, it was kind of hard to say, ”Walk ho in our way” Sachiko-sa her to accompany them
”You said you were in a club, which one did you join?”
”The drama club Sachiko onee- … ah, Sachiko-sama”
She'd been in the drama club ever since upper elementary school Her favorite role so far hen she played Sara from A Little Princess in her second-year ofBeauty” in sixth-grade of ele and had very few lines
- Touko-chan enthusiastically told Sachiko-sama all this and more
Yuht there as Touko-chan followed ”Sachiko onee-sa Touko-chan said was of interest to her so all Yu like an extra, with Touko-chan's report as background music
(Serenity now, serenity now)
Yumi mentally recited Touko-chan was simply happy to see her beloved relative It would be absurd to get flustered because of that As the petit soeur who received the rosary, she had to show more presence of mind
”Touko always thought that in high-school she'd be in a club with Sachiko onee-sama So it came as quite a shock at lunch when you said you weren't in any clubs You stopped all your extra-curricular lessons too, so Touko can't join in there either”
”Yamayurikai work keeps me busy”
”Then Touko will help out there”
Touko-chan said like a spoiled child, linking her arm around Sachiko-sama's
(Se-serenity now, serenity now)
”If you have that much free time, you should devote it to the drama club”
”Oh, but Rosa Foetida's also in the kendo club, isn't she? Touko thought she could be helpful to Sachiko onee-sama”
”If the time comes, I'll ask you”
”Alright”
Serenity now, serenity now But when Yumi heard that they'd met at lunchtime, that spell was instantly broken
Even today
At the end of the lunch break, as they were h the courtyard, there was a loud voice co to look at the source, there was Touko-chan standing on the external fire-escape stairs, waving and shouting
”Onee-samas, thanks for all your hard work!”
Naturally, those words of appreciation were directed to the three Roses walking in front Her performance ay too overboard, and she stood out far too much
”That Touko-chan, she's totally after it”
Yoshi+no-san said, looking solemn
”After what?”
About the same time that Yumi asked this, Yoshi+no-san provided a clear explanation
”A petit soeur spot”
”Wh-who's?”
Yu The lead in her pencil snapped
”Well, let's see … ”
Yoshi+no-san grabbed one of her braids by the tip and stroked her cheek like she was applying rouge
”It's certainly not the Yellow Rose family”
”How do you know that?”
”Our personalities clash Youat me”
”Yeah, I guess”
Yu Yoshi+no-san's snarling, though But now that she'd escaped to a safe place, Yoshi+no-san assuround
Like no she was looking down on her friend writing in the duty log
There was a melancholy to the classroom after school had let out for the day It was like the haiku, ”Surasses, All that reh they hadn't had traditional japanese today There were only a handful of students re in the second-year pine classrooone home, others to club activities
She fondly re
Usually she'd go to the Rose Mansion after school, but today all three of the Roses had other things to do so there was noin the duty log, and Yoshi+no-san kept her company
”So when you said she's after a petit soeur spot … did you perhaps mean shi+mako-san's?”
Yumi timidly ventured While shi+antea, so in a sense she was most in need of a petit soeur And since Touko-chan had already said that she wanted to help out at the Rose Mansion, their interests were fully aligned Fully aligned, but -
Was there really that much contact between the two? Until now, she'd never even considered the possibility of shi+ soeurs
”Or Yumi-san's”
”Huh!?”
Yumi's instinctive reaction was disbelief, and she nearly fell off her chair But Yoshi+no-san didn't seeitation and quietly said:
”In name only If she becomes your petit soeur, then Sachiko-saht?”
Indeed, to become a member of the Yamayurikai it was necessary to become one of their petit soeurs To accoet one of the older students without a petit soeur, and if Yoshi+no-san and shi+mako-san were excluded then that left -
Yu her to becohter” That such a person could exist
”Or a hostile takeover”
”H-hostile takeover!?”
Again, Yoshi+no-san was scaring her with those terrible words
”She ht kick you out of the way and run for Rosa Chinensis en bouton”
”No way”
”It's not iive the rosary back, and then hand it over to Touko-chan It's a hter””
”Oooh - ”
This was strangely persuasive co from someone who had once returned their rosary to their ”onee-sama”
”But, well, it's fine as long as I don't give the rosary back, right?”
Yu it off It waselse
”Yumi-san, do you really have that self belief?”
”Huh?”
””Touko's always been better suited to Sachiko onee-sama than you””
Yoshi+no-san i cute
”Ooh”
””How can Yumi-sama possibly be up to the task?””
”St-st-”
”… Would you still be able to stand up to her if she said that?”
” - Hold on, this rosary carries a heavy responsibility”
But this was a hypothetical conversation
assu Touko-chan wanted to join the Rose Mansion, that didn't et Sachiko-sa Yumi
”By the ill we ask to help?”
”Huh?”
After all this idle chatter, Yoshi+no-san suddenly changed topic
Yumi felt exhausted, since it looked like all the talk about Touko-chan launching a hostile takeover had just been a way to waste time She'd been a fool to take it seriously and worry about this and that
”Co If we don't think of soht?”
” … Right”
Yuiven the ho one person to assist theantea, but she was also a second-year like Yumi, so didn't yet have a petit soeur The tradition was that the Roses would place a medallion around the necks of every first-year, and it was vital that they each had someone to assist them
”We're supposed to choose, since they'll have to work closely with us boutons, right?”