Volume 22 Chapter 3 (1/2)
The o
The roses went back to their ho toward the Rose Mansion shi+mako-san and Rei-sama had already arrived at the Rose Mansion's second floor, now converted into a party room
”What?! shi+ a cake?!”
Yoshi+no-san exclai open
”What happened to you?!”
Yoshi+no-san asked shi+mako-san
”I just thought, well, I'd try it out you know”
”Justtry it out?”
”And then,or two”
”Hmmphh”
Yoshi+no-san whispered coldly, and then swept herself up into her surroundings, and began setting the cups
Yuh black tea toout the correct tea leaves, and such
shi+mako had said she'd like to just ”try it out”, but Yumi knew it had to be more than that That hy Yoshi+no-san hmmphed, and then disappeared into her work
After all, next year, none of them would be able to eat Rei-sama's well known ”Bûche de Noël prepared with superredients” shi+ in the Rose fa days hinted at those two dreaded characters: ”graduation” [1]
Table, check Drinks, check Cups, check The cake was progressing according to plan Then everything seemed fine
”How should we decorate the place this year?”
Yumi and Yoshi+no-san looked at each other
”Hm?”
Last year, the former Rosa Chinensis, Mizuno Youko-sama, had decorated the place in a torrent of cheap decorations Should they do that again this year? Rei-sama replied ”Even if you don't add any decorations, it's fine” and turned to look at Yumi and Yoshi+no-san Suddenly quick footsteps could be heard co up the stairs
”I'm sorry I'm late huff”
Noriko-chan suddenly appeared in the roo to catch her breath
”I got a little busy, and”
As Noriko-chan explained why she had gotten late, she ca her head low
”I'”
”No it's fine I'm sorry too”
Yu her head low
Yumi was happy that Noriko-chan had decided to talk with her The way things had ended between theht she would try to change things, but Yumi didn't knohat to do with that passionate part Noriko-chan Yu about how to deal with it
”You came alone?”
”Kanako-san and Touko are on their way We met up with Rosa Chinensis on the way, and she told only o on ahead”
”Aha”
The real bother was Touko-chan and her tepid attitude She had been acting bleak while co here, and had probably troubled Noriko-chan and Kanako-chan
”Well then”
Noriko-chan slipped outside for a second, and brought in a box that obviously seeht specifically for the party It was a fifty centimeter thick ball box
”Rosa Chinensis had told e to pick up from the first to the second floor Is this it?”
The box had written on it in thick writing ”Christmas Party materials”
”Ahh”
How the handwriting brought her back There was noit, it was the work of Mizuno Youko-sama
Yumi didn't have to open the box to knoas inside They were last year's shelf embellish dormant for a year, and they had come back to them
”O, Oh! This is!”
”Wow, it's still there is it?”
Rei-sama and shi+mako-san, ere on their one hour break, hurriedly caan wondrously calling out
If Sachiko-sa it to Noriko-chan to hand off to the Rosas, then they had no choice but to use it
Yu out a cardboard crown, and a chain with hoop-like links
But to think that it had been treasured for a year Now that she thought about it, when had the box been dug up?
Sachiko-sama was one to be feared And of course, the one who had collected these things all together, Youko-sama
”What an a perception”
Noriko-chan joined the up the decorations Rei-sa And Yumi-san
”Kanako-chan and the rest will be coht back”
Yoshi+no quickly exited the Rose Mansion She was probably going to greet Arima Nana-san
Yus But sohed
”That Yoshi+no”
Rei-saether underneath the table and once hed loudly
Where Yoshi+no thought she would go to greet Nana, she instead met Sachiko-sama
Sachiko-sa Touko-chan and Kanako-chan
”Gokigenyou, everyone”
Yoshi+no was the first to welcoreat, the two of the Nana were set
”Gokigenyou, Rosa Foetida en Bouton”
”Gokigenyou, Yoshi+no-sama”
Kanako-chan greeted her perkily, while Touko-chan greeted her ed along” attitude in with her She held hands with Kanako-chan and Noriko-chan, and was si hands -- at least Kanako-chan's grip wasn't It was to prevent Touko-chan fro away
”Where are you headed Yoshi+no-chan?”
Sachiko-sama asked
”Just to grab someone”
Yoshi+no wasn't willing to reveal just who she was yet, and Sachiko-sama didn't ask
”I see Thanks for the hard work then Is everyone there already?” [2]
”My Onee-san is there, and shi+mako-san, and Yumi-san, oh and Noriko-chan too Ahh, but they've all been in a group for a while now I guess” [3]
Sachiko-saht of so
”Well, if you see Tsutako-san, could you say so to her for me? Tell her that if she doesn't pick up the pace a bit, the party will start without her”
”Sure thing”
Said Yoshi+no, as she began walking again Though Yoshi+no didn't really think she'd meet Tsutako-san anywhere
Right now, Tsutako-san had probably dragged so a flurry of pictures
The Closing Cere vacation, and sointo the bonds of sisterhood Especially around this ti up, it is as if all the girls' bottled feelings would co out
She knew, because she had seen several such instances since she had come to school
For that matter, why had Sachiko-sa for Tsutako-san?
Yoshi+no walked inside the , and found it deserted
Yoshi+no-san opened the classroo there, by herself
”I' time?”
”I had”
Nana, who had inserted herself into a library book, had brought along a coat and even a handbag, not because she had been ready to get up and go at any tile step into the classroom made Yoshi+no realize how cold it was
The heater had shut off, so it obviously had been a while The hallways too had been cold, but because Yoshi+no had been walking quickly, she hadn't noticed But sitting in a large room, alone, in a chair, obviously made the room feel cold
”Have you been here since the end of homeroom?”
”No I went to the mass to kill some time”
”Yoshi+no-sama did notice me”
”Ah,um okay”
Even if Yoshi+no had recognized her, she wouldn't have said anything, and so one couldn't really call Yoshi+no disinterested Rei-chan had been sitting right next to her, and so if Yoshi+no had called out to Nana, then everything would have co plan of introducing Nana to Rei-chan at the Christmas Party would have been a failure Plus, Rei-chan had seen Nana at the 'Hotel in the Middle of the Forest'
”No, you were right, you hadn't seen irls wanted to keep a distance froh school Onee-samas, and chose to sit quietly behind them”
”Oh, really?”
Yoshi+no had never been to a one the heart surgery, Yoshi+no would have never even drea periods of tio to very hot places either But this past of Yoshi+no's seeo, in a faraway place
”Shall we go?”
”Sure”
”Nana picked up her bag, and opened her coat”
”Ah, I'm nervous”
It was Yoshi+no who said it, not Nana
”Why are you nervous, Yoshi+no-sama?”
I'm the one who should be in this situation, Nana seemed to say as she inclined her head These words that Yoshi+no had just uttered in haste refused to go away
”Um Well, uh, you know I have to take you there withabout how I should introduce you, and that sort of thing”
”Is that sort of stuff really that hard?”
It was an innocent, neutral question, uttered blandly A question of pure poison, thought Yoshi+no The only kind of answer she could give in this situation is one that had no substance to it
”No, it isn't, but”
Yoshi+no smiled uselessly
No matter what happened, at least Yoshi+no had finally found the way she would introduce Nana to Rei-chan
It would be a co the tradition of Rei-chan's kendo, Rei-chan's opponent will be this middle school student
”It's not so about Just a what-should-I-do kind of thing”
But the rest of the people awaiting their return to the Rose Mansion wasn't Rei-chan Plus there was no-one else there who even had an inkling of experience with kendo Those people would judge for theht Nana to be
For example, if Yoshi+no-chan promised to Nana that Nana would be her prospective soeur, then the situation would resolve nicely It was the easiest way to introduce her to everyone else
Nana was the irl that Yoshi+no liked the most The problem was, Yoshi+no really couldn't find any other words to describe their relationshi+p
The reason she was nervous was because she didn't kno the others would react
The reason she was nervous was because she didn't knohy Nana was co
”H ?”
But a feeling so close to Yoshi+no's heart was so
”Well, I' nervous?”
It would obviously be weird for Yoshi+no to be nervous in this situation, but that was because she knew this about herself And anyway, Yoshi+no wanted to find out the reason
”The Rose Mansion is a place where all Middle School students want to coh school student council meets, is it not? It's naturally a place where you have to keep your guard up”
It see about the distinction between Home and Away matches
”It doesn't really seeh”
”But it is, so that's why I wouldn't be nervous”
”I see So it's just an arguument's sake”
”Yup”
Nana said without any pressure Yoshi+no both envied and hated Nana for this Because Nana had no intention to be nervous, she had no other goal but to attend the Rose Mansion's party
That hen Yoshi+no had called Nana up over vacation and asked her hesitantly whether she wanted to come to the party, she iht nothing of it
For Nana, the party at the Rose Mansion would be nothing but another one of her many parties
”Let's go”
Yoshi+no said once again
She said it
Ike Ike, Go Go [4]
And so the starting pistol went off And later, it would feel as if she had seen the finish line ahead and had begun running too quickly
”At least, let roup pictures”
Tsutako-san said
Sachiko-saht the two first-years inside One side of the party felt very tense, while everyone on the other side was so wellon rudeness present Those whowhich side they wanted to go to, and as soon as a gap set in within the crowd, the Photography Club's ace walked in
”Gokigenyou, everyone I'ain this year Am I the last one? No, I can't see Yoshi+no-san”
”Yoshi+no”
As if reacting to the sound of a needle dropping, Rei's face scrunched in tension Right then, the very person in question, Yoshi+no-san walked in with her guest
”I'huh?”
Perhaps it was because the room felt different than what she expected it to look like; Yoshi+no faltered The rooined it to be while co here
”Ah,um?”
When Yoshi+no realized that she had missed the time for introductions, her mind blanked, and she stood up in desperation
Fight, Yoshi+no-san
Until Yoshi+no-san s over with the others and Nana-san, Nana-san could not do anything of her own
That said, even Yu blanks as Yuet the stale air of the situation to circulate once more
Perhaps Yureet Kanako-chan and Touko-chan, who seemed to work like an on-off switch
But then Yuirl, Nana, ould bewith the Yamayurikai for the first time
Everyone's attention seemed to be focused on Nana huh? That eird
Now that everyone was here, shouldn't they start the group welco to do welcomes, then why hadn't they been done already? If they started the welcomes now, it would seem very sketchy
While everyone had been chewing over their own thoughts, they watched as a new person entered the roo tily down
That hen Tsutako-san said
”Well then At least, should we get the group pictures out of the way?”
”Huh?”
Well then? Why now? Yumi looked up at Tsutako-san's face
”Come on, some people here have to leave early, don't they? Plus I was thinking that this sort of tense picture would be good, especially in a group picture Also, is there anyone who isn't here yet?” [5]
Two, four, six, eight, in total ten people No-one was late Yuether and exclaimed ”Perfect”