Volume 14 Chapter 3 (2/2)
Because there was no point in worrying about each and every little detail She was better off thinking about what she had to do right now
”Tsutako-san”
Yu
”What?”
”Thanks, you saved me”
Yuratitude While they knew each other well enough that Tsutako-san knew this even if she didn't say anything, since she had the opportunity, she was better off putting it into words instead of being lazy
Because even if she focused all her energy on beaet's receiver Alternatively, if her transh she thought she'd sent it
That's why analogue was best Since you could tell alet or not
”Nah, it was nothing I was just feeling a bit peckish so I thought I'd get soot to Milk Hall there was soht I'd stick et ood out of it too, so don't mind me”
”A bit peckish … ah, you ate your lunch earlier in the day, didn't you?”
”Ha ha ha”
Tsutako-san laughed to hide her e on the doorentrance she made a proposal
”Are you busy, Yumi-san? Could you accompany me for a little while?”
”I don'tto eat in the Rose Mansion, but they knew I had to go to Milk Hall so they're not waiting on ”
Hearing this, Tsutako-san said, ”Done,” and snapped her fingers
”Well then, let's get this pastry there right away”
”The pastry?”
Yurinned
”Obviously, we're going to use it as a bribe”
Even though they were standing on theclean their indoor shoes That was because they weren't going into the school building
”The clubhouse … ”
Yu behind the school block
”Yeah She's probably there”
Tsutako-san answered, full of confidence
”You mean Mami-san?”
”Indeed She said the manuscript for tomorrow's Lillian Kawaraban wasn't quite finished yet, so she'll probably be in the club roo down the word processor Her hair in a mess”
The clubhouse
As the na was comprised of club rooms But that didn'tVarious clubs used so other than a club rooy or sports fields as appropriate, the arts club used the arts rooraphy room, the chemistry and science clubs used the science roo room So the clubs that lived here were those whose activities didn't require a special classrooa research club, the photography club that Tsutako-san belonged to, and the newspaper club which published the school's newspaper, ”Lillian Kawaraban”
That said, the club rooe, so a lot of clubs used a classroom for their after-school activities and the club rooe area The newspaper club, however, made maximum use of their club room for their club activities
Now then, into the building and up to the second-floor
Even without looking at the name plates, she could tell which room was the newspaper club's because of the sound of so out into the hallway
Tsutako-san knocked then opened the door before the reply came from inside
”Gokigenyou, Mami-san”
”… Tsutako-san”
Mami-san was alone in the club room Her hair wasn't disheveled, but that's because she earing a headband, and she looked at them with a ferocious expression
”And Yumi-san who hardly ever comes to the clubhouse … what led to this curious turn of events? What are you sche?”
Maued
”We've brought supplies to show our support You start craving sweets when you're thinking hard, right?”
Perhaps used to seeing her classmate like this, Tsutako-san steadily advanced into the club roo outside in the corridor alone, Yumi said, ”Pardon my intrusion,” and stepped inside
”A jam bun?”
Mahtly when she saas being offered
”Or there's a choc cornet and an almond danish Take whichever one you'd prefer”
Tsutako-san was acting as though they were all hers as she encouraged Mami-san to take one, but Mami-san looked at Yumi suspiciously and quietly asked:
”But thankfully they're all sweets Were these Yumi-san's request?”
”That's about right”
They were all Kanako-chan's selection
”So what did you want me to do?”
Mami-san asked as she reached out for the jam bun, which looked the sweetest So she hadn't believed they were just showing their support after all Although since they'd brought these as bribes, her i
”Yumi-san was involved in a bit of a mix-up just now”
Tsutako-san sat down and spoke in a bored tone of voice as she opened the wrapping of the alh to say, ”Just watch,” so Yumi silently watched on and let Tsutako-san handle it With that, she pulled over a chair and sat down
”It was a bit conspicuous so I'm sure you'll hear about it, but we came here to discuss if you could not write about it in the Lillian Kawaraban”
”What kind of mix-up?”
Mami-san raised her eyebrows
”It was no big deal A discussion about the price of so”
”Hmm”
Ma that it was indeed no big deal Thinking about it, the Lillian Kawaraban probably wouldn't run so like that anyway
”I don't mind”
Negotiations coive her tired brain soy
Yumi opened her small Tupperware container, in a hurry to start her lunch too Unfortunately, the choc cornet didn't go particularly ith her side dishes of seaweed seasoned fried egg and teplant
”Yu point, but is there anything happening with the Yamyurikai that we could write about?”
”Nope”
The immediate response
”Weren't you typing away at so earlier, Mami-san?”
”I was just writing out a boring article for my own peace oflike a teacher's favorite saying”
Mami-san squeezed hard on her half-eaten ja out of the bun?
”At least give me a hint about the Yamayurikai play”
”No can do”
If she'd said she didn't knohat it was going to be, the Lillian Kawaraban probably would have run an article about that, that's how starved for material they looked So she had to be careful not to let anything slip
”Fair enough Then, Yumi-san, do you have any plans to take a petit soeur anytime soon?”
”No, I don't”
”You're kidding, right?”
”No, it's true”
” … Well, okay Let's put that to one side for now What about Yoshi+no-san?”
”I haven't heard anything”
Yumi expected Ma because there's no plans?” but she didn't venture to ask this
”shi+ot Noriko-chan as her petit soeur, hasn't she?”
Having finished eating, Mami-san crumpled up the bun's plastic wrapper and slu otten the basic composition of the Rose families
”Actually, about Noriko-chan”
Mami-san abruptly raised her head
”Hm?”
”Yumi-san, do you know Takuya-kun?”
”He's Noriko-chan's friend, right? Another Buddhist statue admirer”
She'd never inquired into him but his name would occasionally pop up when shi+ to each other
”The- ”
”Meeting? With who? Takuya-kun?”
”Ah, forget it”
Maave a small shake of her head and aborted the conversation, but it see else So, in contrast to the question, Yuive a proper response
”I haven't met him, but I think shi+mako-san has I heard that Takuya-kun used to visit shi+mako-san's house before he met Noriko-chan”
shi+mako-san's household included a teenerations She'd heard that they also possessed an ancient statue of Buddha, so it was easy to i acquainted with shi+mako-san's father in order to view it
”But why do you ask?”
”No real reason I was just wondering what sort of person he was”
Although it hadn't felt like she'd been asking for no real reason It felt like there'd been so for so
”I didn't think the Lillian Kawaraban wrote about outsiders all that much”
”That's not what I had in mind… not now”
What had she oing to do in the future, or it could be soainst Theon whether it was the former or the latter
”If you're interested, why don't you talk to Noriko-chan or shi+ hiree, you should be fine writing an article about it”
”I told you, I've decided not to write about hiht”
”Ah, right”
So apparently it was the latter But why did she get so agitated about it?
”But … okay So Takuya-kunto the school festival”
Maht that perhaps Mami-san also knew Takuya-kun, but she didn't venture to ask She got the feeling that Mami-san would just deny it
Just then, Yu the second-floor club house corridor
The footsteps stopped in front of the newspaper club's clubroo open
”Mae scoop! Rosa Chinensis en bouton had a ht with a first-year petit soeur candidate in Milk Hall!”
The second-year newspaper club ot that far before she finally noticed Yumi and her eyes ide in shock But she'd probably rehearsed this countless times in order to convey the infor said that h
”They were stopped by the photography club's Takeshi+ma Tsu…ta… ”
”Yes, gokigenyou, I'raphy club's Takeshi+ma Tsutako”
Seeing not just Yumi but also Tsutako-san there, the newspaper club me, ”No way”
”The mix-up ith Hosokawa Kanako - ”
Maaze on Tsutako-san Since she already knew Kanako-chan's full name, it appeared they'd already marked her
”Yep The pastries were the cause But you've already eaten yours Mami-san You can't write a story about it any more”
”You tricked me”
”I did no such thing I did as in the best interests of the newspaper club”
Tsutako-san answered aloofly
”In ay?”
Maned innocence
”If you fanned the fla she was a petit soeur candidate and it turned out to be wrong, it'd be a major embarrassment, wouldn't it?”
”You're saying it's wrong?”
”I don't knohy ask me?”
With that, Maaze immediately slid from Tsutako-san to Yumi
”Yumi-san”
”I haven't decided anything yet”
Yumi had already told her that she had no plans, but Maotten that with all the confusion
”Is she going to be your petit soeur or not?”
”Calm down, Mami-san”
A voice came to Yumi's aid as Mami-san towered over her
It was neither Tsutako-san, nor Mami-san, nor even the newspaper club member that had arrived earlier It was the voice of a fifth person
”It seems Kanako-san won't be Rosa Chinensis en bouton's petit soeur”
The girl pushed past the exhausted looking club member by the doorway and moved to the center of the room
”How do you know?”
Mairl who she was, she was probably another newspaper club member
”I asked her myself”
”You asked her? You asked Hosokawa Kanako herself?”
”Yes”
Questioning revealed that the new arrival was a motivated rookie who'd joined the newspaper club because she admired the president, Tsukiyauchi Ma information so that she could run down a scoop and make it her own
”I hit her with it directly, ”Are you going to be Rosa Chinensis en bouton's petit soeur?””
”And, and?”
Maed her to continue but the rookie smiled indifferently
”She tried to hide behind a smile Like this”
”Wh-why'd she do that?”
”She said, ”I don't have any such pedestrian ambition””
”Pedestrian ambition?”
Mami-san was dumbfounded and Tsutako-san let out a whistle
”So then I asked her, ”What if Yued you to be her soeur?””
The rookie see back as she looked at Yued on with, ”How did she respond to that?” her attitude reversed completely and she answered without restraint
”She said she'd refuse”
”… She'd refuse”
Yu meant that she didn't want to be her petit soeur
Why'd she do that?
Even though they see well She had no plans to become her petit soeur
For Kanako-chan, beco Yumi's petit soeur was a pedestrian ambition So h
”On top of that, when she found out I was a member of the newspaper club, she said I couldn't put that in an article”
The rookie reported in a business-like manner
”She said you couldn't put it in an article?”
”Well, that was the gist of it Her actual words were a bit more pointed”
It was apparently harsh enough that she was unwilling to repeat it The ie that Yumi held of Kanako-chan was rocked even more
”How are you feeling? Shocked?”
Hearing Tsutako-san call out to her, Yumi raised her head
”Shocked … ? No, I', ”What on earth is she thinking?””
”You're wondering what Miss Hosokawa Kanako is thinking?”
”Yeah”
Putting her thoughts into words
”I wish I knew more about her”
Like as Kanako-chan feeling?
What was she looking for from the person fukuzawa Yumi?
Since she'd declared the soeur system to be ”pedestrian,” what then did she value? Those were the sort of questions Yumi wanted to ask her
Even though she knew there were all sorts of people in the world and they all had their own points of view It was hard to see those differing points of view from the outside
”Hold on, Yumi-san”
Ma off her headband
”How about you set aside the first-year who apparently doesn't want to be your soeur and think more about your poor classmate”
”Even if I did, it wouldn't help”
Unfortunately, Yuh she sympathized completely with the teary-eyed and shoulder-slumped Mami-san
”Not much you can do about it, Yumi-san But since Ma herself ”your poor classmate,” don't you think you should pitch in and help?”
Tsutako-san pulled out her camera and turned to Yumi
”Pitch in?”
”Of course, it won't be for free, Mami-san How about the cost of those three pastries we just ate?”
At first glance Tsutako-san looked like aa little, no, a lot of enjoyment out of this situation