Volume 10 Chapter 4 (1/2)
[]
On the Tuesday that Yoshi+no had unilaterally chosen for reconciliation, Rei-chan was absent from school
According to Rei-chan's ht and while fever medicine had temporarily cooled her down, her condition worsened in thethe day off
On the trip home yesterday Rei-chan had been silent, like on the way to school, but she hadn't really looked sick Maybe she'd spent so long in the bath thinking about things that she came doith a cold How pathetic
”Ah, maybe it's my fault … ”
The student th hair in her hands as she stood in front of her classroom
Before school started, Yoshi+nobeen asked by her aunt to tell the a two or three day break fro heard the details, it was club president Nojima's voice that said, ”my fault”
”Umm, ould it be your fault?”
Yoshi+no asked, not understanding As background, the club president's house was a long ay from Yoshi+no's, and in the conversation with her aunty neither the words 'club president' nor the name 'Nojima' were mentioned How she could be connected to Rei-chan's illness was a complete unknown
”Well, I called Rei-san last night”
As she said this, club president Nojima had a pained expression on her face
”Ahh”
But even supposing they had talked for a long time, she wouldn't be responsible for the health of the person on the other end of the phone, right? As a high-school student, surely Rei-chan should be responsible for h clothes that she didn't catch a cold
”At first I was telling her about what happened during yesterday's club activities”
”Mmm”
Rei-chan had skipped out on those yesterday so that she could welcome Noriko-chan to the Rose Mansion
”Then the conversation turned to you, Yoshi+no-chan”
”Huh!?”
”Rei-san knew that you wanted to join the club, but apparently she hadn't heard that you'd handed in an application form So - ”
You put your foot in it, club president
”I'ht?”
Club president Nojima looked depressed, at a loss for what to do
”… No”
They hadn't agreed to keep it secret, so Yoshi+no had no right to get ht Yoshi+no had planned to co
”Rei-san seemed to be quite shocked by it”
In that case, it was more like it was Yoshi+no's fault then the club president's - but, what? Rei-chan came doith a temperature because of shock? How pathetic
The fire that had been extinguished within Yoshi+no's heart was once again starting to flare up
What are you playing at, Rei-chan? - Yoshi+no balled her hand into a fist and glared in the direction of her house
”Umm … Yoshi+no-chan?”
”Club president”
Yoshi+no spun around abruptly and faced the club president
”Yes?”
The club president put herself on guard, as though unsure of as about to happen It was the inevitable response fro Yoshi+no for a while
”Right or wrong, I' to join the kendo club”
”Okay?”
”So, I look forward to working with you”
Yoshi+no bowed extremely deeply then walked away from the third-year plum classrooements she had to make elsewhere
Left behind, the club president's exhaustedechoed down the corridor
”… What just happened?”
The young lady with pigtails skipped away, then quickly turned a corner in the corridor
”I'll introduce you to the clubyou from today”
Yoshi+no was taken aback when she saho club president Noji her to
”Welcome aboard, Yoshi+no-san”
”… Tanuma Chisato”
Yoshi+no said her full na Of all people, her despised rival for the half-day date with Rei-chan Also, the person from a somewhat sorrowful memory
”Well, I'll leave the rest to you, Tanuma-san”
Then the club president left, leaving just the two of thee of the dojo Inside, the other club s
Wednesday, after school
Yoshi+no's club application had involved the club president, club adviser, school nurse, school doctor and her own family doctor, and had even been raised as a topic for discussion at the staff , in the end her application was provisionally accepted
The relative speed hich it had all been resolved led Yoshi+no to believe that her ”arrangeerandiose It just involved Yoshi+no going around to everyone, telling them about how she had wanted to do kendo ever since she was young, how she was so happy because after her surgery it felt like her drea true, and that she pro it That was all
It htly, but it wasn't a lie It was the results of the high spirits she was in about joining the club while Rei-chan had irresponsibly gone and gotten herself sick
If someone in authority decided that there was an i kendo, then she would abide by their decision - That was one of the conditions attached to Yoshi+no joining the club In other words, thetired, so that's enough for today,” or, ”You don't look so well, take the day off,” she had to hand over the shi+nai
Yoshi+no thought it should be fine because her body was in good health, but she was slightly concerned that 'someone in authority' included a person by the naiven the power to snuff out her kendo life with a single word
”Since when have you been in the kendo club?”
Yoshi+no asked Tanu practice
”I joined at the end of first-year That makes me your senior, just by a little So it was quite an honor for uide”
At the end of first-year, so that could have been right after that date Yoshi+no thought Chisato-sanRei-chan's face, but apparently she was impudent and had a lot of nerve
She'd boldly cut her shoulder-length hair, although not as short as Rei-chan's, and although it hurt Yoshi+no to adood on her Much better than before - really, it was annoying how good she looked
”Why do I need a guide?”
”You've joined h second-year Not only are you inexperienced with kendo, but you haven't really done any strenuous exercise before, right?”
”Well, excuse me … So what?”
”Geez, just listen When soive theht away and let them have at it So, first of all, we have to build up your core strength You understand that ht?”
The way she spoke rubbed Yoshi+no the wrong way, but Yoshi+no had been rude first so she let it slide
”Buildwhat?”
”Stretching, weights, light running, that kind of thing”
So she'd be doing endless war club practice It looks like the first-years who'd joined as novices at the start of the year had been following this training regime and had only recently been allowed to wield the shi+nai
”So, you mean, I'll have to do that all by myself?”
In the dojo, the practice swings continued Mixed in ast the sounds were the artless cries of those who'd apparently only just started kendo
”That's why I'h all the saet going”
While she wasn't wearing any kendo arym clothes, and when so,” the only possible response is, ”Okay” It was annoying that she was being guided by soer than her own, but Chisato-san wasn't soht so it would have been counterproductive to futilely cry about it
”Yoshi+no-san Your body is really stiff Do so at home before your bath, okay?”
Chisato-san spoke her mind as she pushed on Yoshi+no's back But she wasn't wrong in what she said, so Yoshi+no couldn't object
”Chisato-san”
”Yeah?”
”Ah, it's nothing”
Yoshi+no started to speak, then stopped Although she'd called out, she didn't really knohat she wanted to say
”What's nothing?”
”Ah, can you go a bit easier on my back?”
”Like this?”
Chisato-san smiled as she pushed harder and harder on Yoshi+no's back The back of her knees were stretched taut
Back when Chisato-san had joined, who had been her guide? Yoshi+no was a bit bothered by this, but she didn't want Chisato-san to know, so she put all of her concentration into stretching forward
(Rei-chan never said anything about Chisato-san)
It wasn't a big deal, but it was bothering her
After taking into account her suspicions, Yoshi+no vanquished the unworthy thought that Rei-chan was trying to keep her away from the kendo club because Chisato-san was there
As if that would happen
At the foundation of their relationshi+p was trust
The sound of the club president leading the younger girls reached her ears It seee to Yoshi+no that Rei-chan wasn't there
Thursday lunch
They'd been called to the Rose Mansion, so Yoshi+no left the classroo her lunch Her classmate Yumi-san ith her
”How's the kendo club?”
”Hm, so-so”
At the ht training association” She'd only been there for one day, but already her legs felt tired and sore
”Hang in there”
”… Thanks”
Yoshi+no responded with an equally insipid expression of gratitude to the listless encouragement from her friend They were both pretty exhausted
Even though they were exhausted, they still had to do their Yamayurikai duties at lunch Work had already started for the school festival in autumn
After school, the res individually, but the work just kept on co, so they didn't have any free tio ho, so with the main people out it was only natural that it would end up like this
”Ah”
Yoshi+no spotted shi+antea was always so beautiful that she grabbed people's attention, but the sight of her keeping her melancholy (perhaps caused by the sudden disappearance of the sun's rays) to herself made her look kind of seductive
The three girls exchanged s alongside each other
”Is Noriko-chan co?”
”No”
shi+h the answer should have been obvious Which probably meant that they still hadn't officially become soeurs Talk about indecisive
Yoshi+no had no idea why shi+ive her the rosary and become soeurs They both knew that, and due to Nijou Noriko's nature, no-one would oppose them
Although, co shi+mako-san and Satou Sei-sama's ti, but Yoshi+no had no idea what This tis they had to work through, but as it taking so long?
If she likes her, give her the rosary If not, send her away - It was such a si, that should cover it
”Gokigenyou”
A group of first-years had been lying in wait in the hallway that ran past the first-year classrooroup
”Gokigenyou everyone”
Beset by exhaustion, Yoshi+no couldn't conjure up her usual smile
Besides, it would be a pain if they were stopped here, and by walking on looking downcast it made it hard for the first-years to follow after them
Phrases like, ”hiding their sorrow,” itched at Yoshi+no's ears fro the first-years would be foolish, so she continued on
There was no need to shatter those girls' illusions Deliberately, she walked slowly
”What's the matter?”
shi+mako-san asked, when the first-years had disappeared from view
”What do you mean, what's the matter?”
Yoshi+no and Yuh they hadn't rehearsed beforehand
”Well … ”
shi+ unusually quiet
”Quiet?”
Yumi-san pointed out that Yoshi+no had hardly said a word, proloo ith Sachiko-saht
”It's just her iht?”
After this denial, they resu But, in truth, Yoshi+no had noticed it too The reason she hadn't said a asn't just because she was tired fro weren't just because of the poor weather
Just as they stepped out into the courtyard, all three of thehed simultaneously
”What?”
Blind to her own shortco how to handle her own e more and more depressed by those around her
”What do you mean?”
Yu out her lips in a pout And then
”Is there so you two?”
shi+ concerned
”There's no way you can talk to soht?”
Yoshi+no bluntly responded That was probably an outburst of anger Looking at lovable shi+ out
”Especially when there's not that hs”
Yoshi+no felt like she had to follow that up, but the words that came out of her mouth weren'tshe wanted to tell herself
As they were entering the Rose Mansion, shi+ she had to attend to and headed back towards the school building Yoshi+no was a bit worried by that
”I guess I hurt her feelings”
Yoshi+no said, seeking confirmation from Yumi-san, but she simply refuted it with, ”I don't think that's it” Even so, Yoshi+no was bothered by it, and she grabbed Yu further up the stairs and asked:
”You know, soet carried away and not pay attention to things around s worse for other people?”
”Huh?”
Yumi-san asked with a puzzled look on her face
”I've probably done it to you, Yumi-san”
”I've never really - ”
”Sure”
Even though the burden on club-less Yumi-san must have increased when Yoshi+no started her club activities
Noriko-chan co to assist had helped out a bit, but the three second-years were all without petit soeurs, so they'd constantly been short-handed since the start of the school year
It would have been better if she hadn't started club activities - such were Yoshi+no's thoughts when she considered it calmly Even if Yumi-san didn't think that, there were probably plenty of people who did
”I guess I should get a petit soeur”
Yoshi+no mumbled as she climbed the creaky stairs
”…Why do you say that?”
”I've been thinking about it for a while Two boutons isn't enough to support the Roses”
”You'd take a petit soeur just for the manpower?”
Yu the staircase and looked at Yoshi+no in amazement
”Soht be opposed to it, but that kind of clear contract is one option, right?”
”Yeah … but … ”
She couldn't bring herself to agree
”At any rate, I need to spread my emotions”
Yoshi+no finished clih
If she kept thinking only about Rei-chan, her brains would boil and scorch her skull
On Friday, Rei-chan finally came to school
”Morning”
”Morning”
It ard, but they exchanged greetings and then went out the gate It had only been three days since they'd seen each other, but Rei-chan looked noticeably worn out She wasn't staggering or anything, but as they walked alongside each other Yoshi+no found herself wanting to ask Rei-chan if she was alright, out of concern
But it would surely hurt Rei-chan's pride to have Yoshi+no support her, or carry her school bag for her, so Yoshi+no didn't make the offer
Really, it was shocking, but that was all she knew
”Yoshi+no”