Volume 24 Chapter 5 (1/2)
”Like - I - said”
Yoshi+no-san said, with a bit of bite
”Even if you were spacing out during the information session, it's all written on the printout You'd know if you read the series of events for the election If you read it Here!”
Lunch ti on the document she held in her hand
”Election Announceistration … ”
Feeling a bit like she was being pushed, Yu with the flow here
”… Candidate Speeches, Election Day … that's all”
There was a reason that Yoshi+no-san's attack was focussed on Yumi alone shi+mako-san had answered Yoshi+no-san's questions properly, plus Yoshi+no-san already understood exactly ould be happening next Even Noriko-chan, asn't directly involved in the election, seemed to know Yumi was a potential candidate, so as she so inattentive?
”Right And today's the first day of candidate registration So, let's go”
Yoshi+no-san had been on her feet thethat Rei-sama had made for her
”Go? Where?”
”What are you asking? To the Electoral Co to ask me where that is, aren't you?”
” … It's next to the staff room”
”Wonderful And what are we going to do there?”
”… Register as candidates?”
”Why was there a question mark at the end of that sentence? It's a statement about yourself Yumi-san, you need to be more self-aware”
The printout was brought down on her head a couple of tiht that in the past Yoshi+no-san would have held backno restraint, like when she faced off against Rei-sama But it was 3 pieces of A4 paper so it didn't hurt
”But, you know”
Yu off the printout
”We don't have to register on the first day”
”Wha~t”
Yoshi+no-san opened her eyes ith feigned surprise
”Well, like, last year, shi+ it to the last hour”
Their gaze turned to shi+mako-san, who smiled and said, ”That's also an option” But she didn't see ready to stand up and go with Yoshi+no-san to the Electoral Committee's office
”Back then, shi+mako-san hesitated because she had all sorts of doubts So then, if I have some doubts - ”
shi+ a first-year, and wondering whether the second-year Rosa Canina would be , and other such internal conflicts At the ti secret the fact that her family ran a temple
”Well then, Yumi-san, can you tell us these doubts of yours that rival shi+mako-san's?”
Yoshi+no-san pressed her for an answer, saying, ”Come on, come on”
”Uh”
”Is the current Rosa Chinensis en bouton and second-year Yu as a Rose than the mere first-year Touko-chan?”
”That's not what I said”
”Are you nervous because you're going to be leaving Lillian's in the near future?”
”No, that's not it either”
Yurinned like she was pulling out her trump card
”In the past you told otten that promise?”
”Huh? Wasn't it that we should be good friends, like the Roses?”
”Sa”
Yue difference between being a Rose, and being a good friend like the Roses
”Speaking of which, didn't you say that we'd be friends regardless of my title, Yoshi+no-san?”
”Did I say that?”
She had It was during the rainy season, when Yumi's relationshi+p with Sachiko-sa her distance from the Rose Mansion
But Yoshi+no-san was playing dumb because it was inconvenient to her In truth, she should remember it
”So, what? You're saying you're not interested in being a Rose, Yumi-san?”
Before Yumi could respond to this direct question, an answer came from the side
”That's not true, Yoshi+no-san”
shi+ remained silent until now
”Soo, Yumi-san told me that she wanted to lead the Yamayurikai with me as a third-year, and that she wanted to be a Rose”
The sole statement of a taciturn person held more persuasive power than the words of a chatterbox
”Right?”
Yuo then,” Yumi allowed her hand to be taken and to be led out
Was ”bewildering” the right word to use to describe this situation? Watching them leave from the doorway, Noriko-chan mumbled, ”Incredible, shi+mako-san”
”What's weighing you down like that?”
During cleaning, as she iping the blackboard with a cloth, Tsutako-san called out to her from behind
”You can tell?”
”I can I've been watching you since first-year, Yumi-san Do you really think you can fool my eyes?”
They were in the saroup and Tsutako-san had co the desks and chairs back to their original position from where they'd been stacked off to the side That said, Yumi was pretty much finished too
”I was told off by Yoshi+no-san”
Yuhtly A quick check of the other cleaning cloths showed they had all been rinsed, so she picked up the bucket of dirty water
”Oh, as that?”
Tsutako-san walked with her It would have been dangerous to have two people carry a bucket full of water, so she'd declined Tsutako-san's offer of help, but Tsutako-san followed her anyway Perhaps at a loose end, Tsutako-san pulled a miniature camera out of her pocket and held it in one hand, occasionally pointing it at Yumi
”At lunch tiister as candidates in the election, but ere a bit slow to get going and Touko-chan got in first”
”I see”
”She said it was ot a late start”
And looked incredibly angry when she said it too
”My goodness But the order in which you register doesn't determine the order you finish in the election”
Tsutako-san cackled
”That's what shi+mako-san said too”
For the record, shi+mako-san was second, Yoshi+no-san third, and Yuister
”Hmm I wonder if Yoshi+no-san is a bit flustered”
”Flustered?”
”Most students fully expect the three second-years to be elected But you can't say for certain There could be an upset, with Touko-chan elected In that case, one of you three would lose, right?”
”And that's Yoshi+no-san?”
”Shethat shi+mako-san's an incuht?”
”That's not going to happen”
Having arrived at the drain, she tipped the bucket over and poured the water out
”Yeah, it's not going to happen, but she ht still be worried about it”
The silver faucet was shi+ning The students responsible for cleaning this area had done a good job
”But, well, it's Yoshi+no-san, so she'll get over it soon enough Soet so as trivial as this”
Tsutako-san said
”I suppose”
Yumi picked up the bucket and walked back the way they'd come
They walked in silence for a while and when they arrived at the classroom entrance Tsutako-san mumbled under her breath
”So then it isn't about Yoshi+no-san”
”Huh?”
They'd already concluded that Yoshi+no-san's anger would sort itself out But despite that, Yuhed down
”Is Touko-chan the cause of it?”
”Uh”
Tsutako-san laughed, before Yumi could even ask, ”How did you know?”
”Well, that much seemed obvious”
Tsutako-san had attended last year's Christmas party in the Rose Mansion She wasn't a member of a Rose family, but she obviously knew the details about what happened between Yumi and Touko-chan
”I don't understand Touko-chan at all”
Yumi spoke frankly as she put the bucket aith the rest of the cleaning equipment
She'd been thinking about it constantly Where had it gone wrong?
If there was so, or the ti, or the situation, or was it a probleet another chance to ask, or not?
”You say you don't understand Touko-chan Naturally, since she's her own person”
Tsutako-san said, as though it were obvious
”But you understand all sort of things, Tsutako-san Like how Yoshi+no-san's anger will pass quickly, or that I' down because of Touko-chan”
For a while now, Yuht that Tsutako-san was an adult She knew all sorts of infors happened Like some kind of superwoman, who could answer any question she was asked
”Well, that's because Yoshi+no-san's behavioral pattern is easy to understand, and all your thoughts show clearly on your face, right?”
Tsutako-san walked around, checking that the ere locked It sounded like Tsutako-san wasn't able to figure out what everyone was thinking, it's just that her targets were easy to figure out
”Then what about Touko-chan?”
”I don't really know about her Becausea mask, don't you think?”
”A mask … ”
”You've never got that impression?”
”I have”
Quite strongly
Touko-chan was an actress, right to her core But, soe it felt like she was playing some other character
”As for ood points is the way you're always showing your open and honest feelings, Yu, even if you think you're doing a good job, just makes you look even ood actor”
Even so, it felt better to hear her say this directly, rather than beating around the bush Although if she'd said it a bit earlier, say before the school festival, Yumi may not have accepted the lead role in the Yamayurikai play
”But I like that So I think you look great when you're not acting But when an ae as a professional actress, do you think she can win?”
”So, you're saying that even if I understand Touko-chan, it's impossible?”
”For how things are now She's just too far ahead of you”
Tsutako-san finished her check of the s, and gave the ”OK” signal to their class To show her understanding, that girl n back
”Your opponent's wearing a s There's no way you can win Ah, I' about the election here”
”Yeah”
Yu for Touko-chan, and what she should do Yumi decided to think about it some more
”Thanks for the advice”
Yuht that Tsutako-san was definitely an adult Even though she said she didn't know anything, she was still able to say so pertinent A hint But Yumi had to come up with the answer herself
”I'll take your s face over words of thanks”
Just as Tsutako-san was steadying her camera, Yoshi+no-san raced into the classroo
”Yumi-san, Yumi-san”
Yoshi+no-san grabbed her by the arht from the flash and the sound of the shutter went off, so it must have ended up as a weird photo of the two of them
”Come with me”
Yulances and smiled
”Come on”
Yoshi+no-san's ed quickly, like the weather
Yoshi+no-san dragged Yumi to a rather delicate position - the hallway next to the first-year camellia classroom
”Got it? We'll walk past slowly, having a friendly chat, so get a good look at what's going on inside that classroom”
”Um”
Slowly, friendly, good Overly complicated orders would just result in confusion So if she dropped the adverbs and just focused on the verbs, then, basically, they were going to walk and chat and look in to that classroom ”That classroom” was obviously the first-year camellia classroom
”Because of what's going on, you haven't had a chance to check it out, have you Yumi-san?”
”No, not really”
Yumi didn't kno she'd react if she saw Touko-chan So for the last couple of days she'd been avoiding the first-year classrooside Touko-chan's classrooer zone
”I figured as ht we should do this”
But even so, Yoshi+no-san herself had obviously checked things out Like last year, when she started investigating Rosa Canina as soon as she heard about the new contender
”At any rate, take a look We'll talk about it after”
Yoshi+no-san grabbed Yu off
Walking slowly and having a friendly chat by itself wasn't that bad, but adding on ”getting a good look at what's going on in the classroom” made it a bit more difficult
Because, wouldn't it look unnatural if she alking along, apparently engrossed in conversation, but staring into the classroo to?
Luckily, the first-year camellia class looked like they were still in the , with the front and back doors wide open despite it being the ood view into the rooood view of them too, so they may have looked like a rather suspicious duo To the trained eye, theyout the enemy's positions
”Well?”
Yoshi+no-san said, after they'd hidden thee if they stopped walking just past the first-year camellia classroom
”Nothing e about it?”
Yu if she'd overlooked so
Yu, ”Have a better look,” but instead she cracked her knuckles and said, ”That's it”
”What's it?”
”It's nored in first-year camellia class Don't you think that's odd?”
Nothing had changed in first-year camellia class
”It's odd that it hasn't changed?”
”Think back to last year, and second-year wisteria class”
”… Ah”
With that, Yumi suddenly understood too
”Right?”
Last year, Kanina shi+zuka-sama, Rosa Canina, was in second-year wisteria class In a sense, she had been in the same position that Touko-chan was in now, despite their difference in grades