Volume 13 Chapter 3 (1/2)
Her younger brother's friend gruuy”
”You say it's ”man-hatred,” but every person is different, so we probably have to analyze the cause of those feelings But let's set that aside for now Basically, we've got this problem because she's arrived at the formula ”man equals hated””
”The formula?”
Yumi asked for clarification
”Well, it could be a syram, however you want to put it Basically, it's a convention As an example - Yumi-san”
”Yes”
”Two by two”
”Four”
”Nine by seven”
”Sixty-three”
”Right?”
”Huh?”
She had no idea how being asked to do ht?” was supposed to explain anything
”Two by two is four You said it immediately You didn't have to think about it, or count 2 twice, right?”
”Yeah, that's true”
It was ether 7 times She just used the answer she'd memorized from the multiplication table back in elementary school
”It's like that”
He cracked his knuckles
”I don't know specifically what caused Yumi-san's onee-sama, Sachiko-sama, to feel this way, but we can deduce that it ca specific y she was born with”
”Yeah”
The young Sachiko-sarandfather and father keeping numerous mistresses
Her cousin and arranged fiance was kind and neat, but despite the expectations she had of him, one day he suddenly announced to her that he was homosexual
”Ah, so that's it Just hearing the word ”n inside Sachiko-sa?”
”Exactly Even though there are all different types of men in the world Ah, there's a wide variety at Hanadera, so if it would be of help to you Yumi-san, please come and have a look We'd really like it if you came to visit”
Then Yuuki entered the roo a tray of barley tea and cleared his throat
”Hey, Kobayashi+ Quit hitting on my sister”
”Ooh, have you got a thing for your sister, Yukichi?”
”- As if If you've got free tio back to lish study Or, what? Have you finished it already? In that case, hurry up and go ho you here anyway”
”Don't say such cruel things, Yukichi This roo dizzy, so it's only natural she'd invite me in”
Kobayashi+-kun snuggled into Yuuki He'd shown up at the fukuzawa house today without calling ahead, so hadn't known that the air-con in his friend's roo him a truly idiotic, or unfortunate, visitor
Even with theopen and an electric fan blowing, it could only be a mid-summer afternoon
”I don't mind, Yuuki Why not take a break and cool off in here? Kobayashi+-kun and I were in thediscussion”
”Ah, you're so kind, Yumi-san I wish I was born as Yumi-san's brother”
Kobayashi+-kun smiled happily and crossed his ar a pose fro Chestnut Tree”[1] Even though he was the saer brother, the real one
”He'll take advantage of you if you spoil him, Yumi”
”But if he does, you'll stop hiht Yuuki?”
”If I have to”
Quite the authoritative attitude from Yuuki He seemed pleased as he plopped himself down, probably happy to be relied upon Plus he'd chosen a spot directly in line with the air-con He was like a cat, the way he expertly found the coolest spot
”So, getting back to ere talking about”
After downing roughly half his barley tea in a single gulp, Kobayashi+-kun resumed their earlier conversation
”I think the fact that Sachiko-san for her”
”How so?”
”He's an unrelated young s she hates ot to the point where she's fine with hi an identical face to yours Her for to fall down This gives us a chance Let's bring it down in one fell swoop, like the Berlin wall From the Lillian's side and the Hanadera side”
”Kobayashi+-kun … you ”
”Thank-you I'm so happy”
”Yumi, don't be mistaken All he can do is math Basically, he loves equations”
”Ah, is that it”
Frolish at least Because if he was, he wouldn't have gone to the expense of visiting his friend's house to look at their vocabulary book
”But hoe break the, like a castle”
”Getting it down in one goI'm sure it ork out well”
”Keep on attacking …”
”We just keep piling up the accomplishments Even if they're individually quite small For example”
Kobayashi+-san spoke cheerfully
”We don't just have gays at our school, we also have traps”
He could even state that clearly and openly So then, it sounded like there were a nuhout Hanadera Yuer brother attended was like that She wanted to cover her ears and block it out
Kobayashi+-kun had co lady who had been raised in a sheltered greenhouse, and also missed that Yu, pushi+ng, pushi+ng onwards
”With the body of a e in terh school students What do you think about that?”
”What do I think?”
How could she possibly comment on that?
”Do you think Sachiko-sama would be able to converse normally with someone that's not a manly-man?”
”We-ll”
Seeing that Yumi was in trouble, Yuuki jumped in to the conversation
”But still, Kobayashi+ Even if Sachiko-san's not aware they they're ht anyway”
”Huh, but that's just discrimination”
”Before we get into discrimination, if she rejects the we can do much about, is it?”
”Well, that's true”
The heart of a girl, in girls clothes, but with the body, and of course birth-certificate, of a boy?
What about that?
Yumi wasn't that opposed to it There were all types of people in the world But it would be more complicated for Sachiko-sama, since it would be affected by her man-hatred
”Then how about this ace I've been keeping up my sleeve?”
”What ace?”
”The plan goes like this: Kobayashi+-kun wants to be friends with Sachiko-sama But Sachiko-sama won't talk to him, because she's afraid of him just because he's a man So then Kobayashi+-kun talks to his friend His friend advises hiht with Sachiko-sama, then you come and rescue her” Kobayashi+-kun rescues Sachiko-sarateful she invites him to have tea with her, and that's the start of their relationshi+p”
As they listened to Kobayashi+-kun speak, Yumi and Yuuki looked at each other Because
”That's just the story of ”The Red Ogre Who Cried,”[2] isn't it?”
”Oh, you know it?”
Well, it is a really famous children's book, isn't it? There should still be a copy in the fukuzawa household from when they were kids If they looked, they'd probably find it somewhere Since it was one of their mother's favorite stories
”That's way too lare? You stuff that up and she'll call the cops”
”Ah, right”
When Yuuki pressed hi, ”Will you do it?,” Kobayashi+-kun immediately withdrew the plan For someone with an ace up their sleeve, he sure folded quickly
”I guess we should go with accidentallysomewhere Yumi-san, are there plans for your student council members to meet any time soon?”
”Well”
From to at school
They could always run into each other near the train station and then segue into one of the fast-food places or restaurants, but in that case they'd have to go without Rei-sama and Yoshi+no-san, since those talked home
But it would be tough to do it without Rei-sama there to talk to Sachiko-sama as an equal Because if the Hanadera student council invited them to have tea, then Sachiko-sama would likely use her position as the only Lillian's third-year to unilaterally decline their offer But if Rei-sama was there, and they discussed it between the two of theree would likely improve
”I understand Then how about this?”
After listening to her explanation, Kobayashi+-kun clapped his hands together
”We'll wait outside Lillian's front gate, then we'll call out to the Yarees, we'll all get on the bus and go to M or K station together That way, Rei-sa too”
”Will the Hanadera student council be okay with that?”
”Yeah Everyone's really pu the Yamayurikai members We'll knock down any obstacles in our way”
”Really pumped - ”
That was one of those slightly troubling phrases
”Please tell everyone that they absolutely cannot make a pass at Sachiko-sama If her man-hatred really flares up, on't be able to assist at the Hanadera school festival”
”Don't worry All the guys know she's an unattainable flower, a princess that we can only watch from a distance”
”Really? … Okay, that's fine”
”Lastly, if you could let us know approxireed upon date Does that sound reasonable to you?”
With Kobayashi+-kun leading the discussion, it was settled surprisingly easily It seemed ludicrous that they hadn't been able to coi-san's house
”Alright I'll talk with Rei-sama then let you know, Kobayashi+-kun”
Yuhter Yue, since she didn't understand what he was laughing at, but then her eyes met Yuuki's and he didn't have to speak to say, ”Dummy”
”Ah, right, I guess I could just tell Yuuki”
She didn't have to call anyone, she lived in the sah school student council
”Geez, you really are as dense as ever”
Two hours after their conversation finished, the electrician finally arrived and fixed the air-con in Yuuki's room
The day they agreed upon was the third Wednesday in August
There was no deepbehind it, but there were a number of minor reasons
For instance
While the Ya froht aould be a bit too abrupt, so they'd established a one week grace period during which they could observe Sachiko-sama's condition
Plus they chose a day which wouldn't clash with Rei-sama and Yoshi+no-san's kendo club activities
Furthermore, they'd tentatively ruled out Friday and Saturday, since they expected the streets to be busy (and they weren't o to school then during the semester)
””Yo, Sachiko-san Fancyyou here If you'd like, why don't we have some tea? What luck, all our student council members are here too””
”- You're a terrible actor It sounds like you're speed-reading the fine-print at the end of an ad”
Yu her brother's rehearsal
”You say that, but there's a lot of inforet across in a short time, so what else can I do? Anyould I really start with ”Yo, Sachiko-san,” when you're there, Yu like, ”Hey, Yu, justwith the student council” ”Same here” ”Oh, really? We were just about to head to a restaurant, why don't you join us?” ”Oh yeah, let's go”? That's more like a typical conversation”
”Mmm”
Her brother had a point
”Alright, let's go with that But when you're giving the invitation, look at Sachiko-sama and say, ”Would you like to accompany us?””
”Okay”
Yuuki used a red pen to make some more amendments to the text in the notebook It was the script for theirthat Kobayashi+-kun had scrawled in his
It was approxi event The fukuzawa children were quite earnest, so they were devoting theht up until when Yumi had to leave
They were so enthusiastic about it that the question of whether or not they should be changing the script at this late hour never crossed their minds
”Oh? Which school festival is this play for?”
Theirher head out of the kitchen Surprised, they both responded immediately
”Lillian's”
”Hanadera's”
The two siblings were both alike in that they both blamed the other's school Yumi hadn't intended to deceive her mother, but it was hard to tell someone who didn't know about Sachiko-sa this to trick her, because it wouldn't reflect well on her Even if she did explain everything fro, they probably wouldn't have understood anyway
”Yumi-chan says Hanadera and Yuuki says Lillian's Just which one is it?”
Naturally, theirat them skeptically
”When you say which one … well, it's more of a collaboration, there hasn't been a final decision yet, so we thought we'd just try practicing some temporary lines”
Sorry mom But, in the broadest sense, it wasn't a lie
”Oh, really? I' forward to it”
Their hed as she wiped the soap foam from the palm of her left hand onto her apron
”Because this year, noto Lillian's school festival Cry and howl all you want, Yumi-chan Naturally, your dad will be there too”
”Oowah”
”Since Yuuki's also going to be in the Yamayurikai play this year”
”… Maybe What's the Ya? A play?”
Having just been drafted, Yuuki turned to Yumi
”Probably It seems they do that every year”
Sachiko-sa, and froe play
”What, you haven't asked about it? What the hell have you been doing all this ti the summer holidays?”
”There's still a mountain of work to do that's not related to our performance”
Yu out her tongue
”But I'll find out for you Or isn't the Hanadera student council going to help out this year?”
”We'll be there Our student council's presence has been requested”
”But you haven't been told why”
”Yeah”
”It's because your Hanadera school festival is sooner”
”But we're not putting on a play so it's fine”
When Yuuki thumped the sofa with the notebook, mom threw the washcloth she had on her apron in between them
”What are you two doing, acting like little kids You're in high school, so if you're going to have a sibling fight be a bit more smart about it”
Seeed and withdrew to the kitchen
”A sibling fight, she said”
”Yeah”
They looked at each other Indeed, they ot a bit worked up
The heat had gone out as soon as their mom had left, and Yuuki muttered in a subdued manner: