Volume 26 Chapter 3 (1/2)
After school
As arranged, both the organizers and the participants in the Valentine's Day event gathered in the courtyard once they'd finished cleaning
Since the Lillian Kawaraban had repeatedly carried the e that anyone not present at 3:40pm would be disqualified,about likely hiding spots as they cleaned and then made their way to the courtyard by 3:30pm - ten minutes early - and waited
Yumi and the other hosts were to stay in the parlor on the second-floor of the Rose Mansion until just before the start
”Hoho”
Yoshi+no-san kept peeking out thefrom behind the curtain as she spoke
”I'd have hated it if there weren't as many participants as last year, when it was Sachiko-sa their cards, but there's quite a lot of people out there”
There were three other people in the room but none of the outside If they'd all gathered around to take a look, they would undoubtedly have been spotted by the students waiting out in the courtyard, and that would have been quite e At any rate, if they were spotted, they couldn't very well go out on a balcony and elegantly address them like Marie Antoinette
”Oh, there's Sachiko-sa over towards her I wonder what they're planning I guess they'll probably follow her around, like what happened with us last year In that case, I hope they're brave”
Then, without a moment's delay, Noriko-chan interjected
”'You girls, stop following me!' Like that?”
”Oh, that's good!”
Yoshi+no-san heartily applauded this unexpected imitation shi+ her petite sœur with a ”Noriko”
Yumi remained seated, fixed to her chair
”Hey, it hasn't even started yet, you don't have to sit there so nervous”
Yoshi+no-san joked, looking back over her shoulder
”Well, I suppose”
But even so, what else should she do? There was no point having a strategy a all the setup and behind-the-scenes work, so there wasn't anything for the hosts to do
”Oh, right There ht be some students that won't want to track dirt into the Rose Mansion, so we should --”
Hitting upon this idea, Yumi stood up, but Noriko-chan interrupted her
”Put sos out? I left three of them by the Rose Mansion entrance earlier”
”Ah … I see”
So she sat down
”We could check on the first floor storerooo down there once it starts”
”But we just gave it a quick tidy-up at lunch-time”
shi+ on the wall
”And you were the one that said we should let our visitors see the Rose Mansion as it usually is, and not dress it up just for them, Yumi-san”
”That's true”
In the end, it looked like all she could do was sit and wait for the event to start
On that topic, Maet in the newspaper club's way and be a nuisance Yumi in particular had been cautioned to watch what she said both before and during the event, so she wouldn't let slip a hint She'd been labeled as so extra attention because she usually let everything she thought show on her face
”Oh, there's a surprise”
With fiveof the event, Yoshi+no-san called out, still keeping watch over the courtyard
”Touko-chan's arrived”
Naturally, the other three were all surprised when they heard this too
”Touko's…”
Apparently even her classmate, Noriko-chan, hadn't known Or, , Touko hadn't given a concrete answer and instead left her with the impression that she wouldn't participate
”Yumi-san”
shi+h to say, ”Isn't that great?”
”Yeah”
Yumi smiled back at her
Perhaps this was Touko-chan's attempt to meet her half way But even if it wasn't, the fact that Touko-chan had decided to participate in the treasure hunt was enough to please Yumi
On Saturday, they'd left the school building together and then parted ways at the statue of Maria-sama Yumi still had no idea why Touko-chan had attacked her with such venom back then
She thought that it was probably awhether she had done so to offend Touko-chan and just been too thick-headed to notice
If it was a , then it should be cleared up If she'd caused offense, then she should apologize But she couldn't do that until she knew the cause Saying, ”I'm sorry but I don't knohy,” would just rier
So Yumi had decided to leave Touko-chan alone for a little while Just until Touko-chan illing to meet and talk with her
Yu unrecoverable would happen by leaving her alone, since Touko-chan had Noriko-chan as her friend Touko-chan would be okay as long as she had Noriko-chan
Yury, but it had to be so serious to warrant that level of emotion
If only Touko-chan hadn't reacted by sla to school as usual And today, she'd been coh to participate in the event
”Yumi-san, want to see?”
Yoshi+no-san offered up her place by the , but Yumi declined and remained seated
It was good to know that Touko-chan was there It was good just to know that Touko-chan was there
”Our three stars and Noriko-chan, don't you think it's about time you made an appearance in the courtyard?”
Mami-san called out to them up the stairway
”An appearance, huh”
It lances and laughed
Then the four princesses fired the their hands one atop the other, and shouting ”Let's do it!” before descending the squeaky staircase
”Now it's time to start the Future Roses' Treasure Hunt”
Maaphone
At the same time, the three future Roses - shi+mako-san, Yoshi+no-san and Yumi - made their appearance, and the cheer from the assembled students echoed into the cloudy winter sky
”We'll begin by sealing off the second–chance draw”
That phrase was the signal for Noriko-chan to appear holding the box that had been set up in the Rose Mansion for second–chance entries
Ma tape, then used a thick marker pen to write ”Not to be opened until after the cards have been returned” so that it covered both the box and the tape This way, neither Mami-san nor the future Roses would be able to tamper with the contents
The students that were about to participate in the treasure hunt weren't eligible for the second–chance draw, so they had no stake in that entry box Even so, they were lured in by Mami-san's performance and let out an ”Oooh”
”Now, I trust all you participants have your entry forms with you? Anyone that doesn't, please raise your hand”
After checking the s of raised hands, Noriko-chan set down the second–chance entry box and ran about handing out entry for this unfold, a portion of the students made an ”Oh?” expression
Why was Rosa Gigantea en bouton doing this? Other than Mami-san, where were all the newspaper club members?
Actually, while these questions seemed the same, there were subtly different answers to the two
”Would all the sœurs of the future Roses coiven a five ain this year”
Sachiko-sama was the only person that followed these directions Noriko-chan didn't move towards the indicated spot beside Mami-san
”Thank you, fukuzawa Yuasawara Sachiko-sama I can confirm that shi+mazu Yoshi+no-san's onee-sama, Hasekura Rei-sama, has already made an entry in the second–chance draw And finally --”
Mami-san looked at Noriko-chan as she spoke
”Toudou shi+mako-san's petite sœur, Nijou Noriko-san, has chosen to assist with today's event as part of the staff instead of participating - for which she has our gratitude”
The students that had been watching Noriko-chan in confusion, and those that hadn't noticed, all had expressions that said, ”Why?” When the treasure hunt was first announced, the Lillian Kawaraban had printed an article stating that the future Roses' sœurs would be participating Accordingly, Sachiko-sa ready to accept her five minute handicap Rei-sama couldn't be present today because she had exae round for losers ( someone who couldn't be present on the day) called the ”second–chance draw” But, Noriko-chan
”I was happy just to hear that my onee-sama wanted to search for my card So I'll stay by my onee-sama's side and assist where I can”
Was what she'd said when she decided not to participate There wasn't even a trace of resignation or self-denial about it Rather than spending the intervening time away from shi+mako-san for a chance to search for her card, Noriko-chan had chosen to experience those hardshi+ps together with her onee-sama Perhaps Noriko-chan felt that even if she didn't search for it, she already had shi+mako-san's card in her heart
So that explained why Noriko-chan was assisting, but it still left the mystery of where all the newspaper club members were The ansas that, at present, they were distributing the cards and hints throughout the school
Last year had been the first year for this event, and both the organizers and the participants hadn't really knohat they were doing, so a certain a seen how it turned out, certain ragged edges becas they'd noticed and predictions about how the next one would go So, in the lead up to this year's event, they'd made certain improvements
One of those was that the cards weren't hidden until just before the event
Last year, Sachiko-sareenhouse early in the , and Rei-sama's yellow card had remained hidden in a book in the library for quite a while too
shi+mako-san's white card had been hidden just before the event, but that was only possible because the spot she'd chosen: the committee notice boarda notice
But this year was different Things were a bit more complicated The newspaper club members had to cover the area of the treasure hunt in a very short period of time
It was more complicated because it would be a complete waste if they hid the cards at their leisure and they were discovered ahead of time So they'd decided to hide the cards when all the participants were gathered in the courtyard, just prior to the start The repeated warnings that anyone not in the courtyard at 3:40pm would not be able to participate were so that the participants wouldn't be able to see them hide the cards
The registration forms had been distributed a couple of days ahead of time, rather than immediately before the start like last year, to reduce the number of people required (in fact, it had all been left up to Noriko-chan to deal with)
The registration form was more or less the same as last year It was split into two parts by a line to cut along, with the top part containing the treasure hunt rules and the botto they'd abide by the rules On the back, the top part contained aand surrounds, with a dashed line showing the bounds of the treasure hunt Basically, anything within the dotted line was in-bounds, and everything outside was out-of-bounds
This year, the bounds were extended along the gingko-tree path to just before the school entrance Naturally, it didn't extend into the neighboring university, nor into the security guard's hut near the door
”There are three cards that look like this: one red, one white, and one yellow The first person to find them will be awarded the half-day date with the respective future Rose Any ties will be decided by scissors-paper-rock”
Mami-san held up an example card as she continued her explanation
”But it's not just the cards that are hidden There's also hints and advice, so take care when you're searching”