Volume 28 Chapter 4 (1/2)

”Everyone told me that I had to watch out for Tatsunami Mayu”

The girl with the swollen red eyes looked at h I were some hypothetical enemy of all humanity

”Do you even knohat it is you're doing?”

Ahh, so that's it She thought I was the ene hypothetical about it But, unfortunately, I'rand a person

I reremark after another

”They told me I shouldn't be fooled by your pretty face You knohat, you're despicable”

How pitiful I wonder if she realizes what position she's put herself in by saying that

If she thought I was despicable then she would have been better off givingwith someone despicable like me, she's put herself on the saood

But, what do I know

Even though I kneouldn't change anything, I couldn't stopto try and woundin kind

Which hy, after listening to everything that she had to say, I felt no co her misery into overdrive In the end, I said just one sentence

”So, then, your onee-sama had no problem with it at all?”

”Waaaaaah”

I was idly watching the young girl as she ran away, crying, towards the school buildings when a voice suddenly called out to me from behind

”I know I' Akiko-san, but you're despicable”

E sound was my classmate, Tanuma Chisato-san

”I am?”

I laughed I had no idea that somebody had overhead our conversation Even if I had known, it probably wouldn't have stopped ht, Akiko-san

”I droppedlunch, then had to wait until after school to look for it Then you and Akiko-san ca and started your heart-to-heart talk, so I had to stay hidden until it was over”

Chisato-san briefly explained how she happened to be there I knew she wouldn't have been intentionally eavesdropping anyway

”So, found your hair-clip?”

Chisato-san responded to , ”Not yet”

”Then I'll help you look for it”

”It's okay, you don't have to”

”Oh, do you feel the same way? That Tatsunami Mayu - ”

”Is someone I have to watch out for?”

Chisato-san snorted derisively

”I don't have an onee-sama, so there's no reason for me to watch out for you”

”Fair enough”

The ru around was that I meddled catastrophically in other soeurs' relationshi+ps, and was therefore someone to watch out for

”Hey, hey, which part of me is despicable?”

Ignoring her initial refusal of my offer to help, I followed Chisato-san's lead and poked around the base of the shrubs and the grassy areas

”The way you find someone's sore points and open up those wounds If you keep doing that, you'll end up with no friends at all”

Beaten down byof her, Chisato-san relented and allowed me to assist her

”You know, it's strange I've heard that advice before, but it soundsfro any resent the love”

I placed my hand over my heart and smiled Chisato-san looked shocked as she said:

”There's no love whatsoever”

It was only since the beginning of high-school that I had grown close to Chisato-san Tatsunami and Tanuma in the sa one row apart

”The sun's setting, so I wonder if I should just co”

Chisato-san ht hair that hung down to her shoulders, the only part that faintly curled here the hair-clip had been attached this

”So, Chisato-san, ere you walking around here during lunch?”

It was the middle of February Even when the weather was fine it wasn't the season to be eating lunch out in the courtyard

”Well, you see”

Chisato-san hesitated for a

”This , I saw Hasekura Rei-sa around down here”

”Rei-sama … ?”

What ca out of Chisato-san's mouth was the name of the second-year student as called Rosa Foetia en bouton within the high school She enjoyed immense popularity with the first-years due to her boyish looks, and Chisato-san was one of her ardent fans

”I thought sheout locations for the treasure hunt”

The boutons of Rosa Chinensis, Rosa Gigantea, and Rosa Foetida had agreed to take part in a treasure hunt event to be held on the upco Valentine's Day Whoever found the card that a bouton had hidden would win a half-day date with that bouton

”Scouting? That see, don't you think?”

Chisato-san agreed with my opinion

”I know There's no way she'd do so so brazen”

Even though she knew this, Chisato-san couldn't help but walk over the saround

”Did you give Rei-sama chocolates?”

Still squatting on the ground, I turned rass

The vigor of summer had departed There were still plenty of plants in the area, rooted firh most of them would probably be called weeds

”And you, Mayu-san? It's your first Valentine's Day in high-school”

Chisato-san turned the question back on me

”Indeed it is”

I plucked a single ste it off close to the ground

”If I gave someone else's onee-sama chocolates, I don't think it would end with theme”

”What about your initial onee-sama … Motoyama Sakae-sama?”

Chisato-san said, somewhat hesitantly

”And what, reconcile now after having said farewell to her? It's not like I'm Yoshi+no-san … ah, sorry”

Seeing Chisato-san's face go stiff, I put my hand over my mouth Yoshi+no-san was the petit soeur of her beloved Rei-sama

”It's okay I'm just fed up with the whole Yellow Rose Revolution”

Chisato-san stood up and stretched Then, rather than condeh she were only trying to find an answer

”Mayu-san, why are you always doing that sort of thing?”

That sort of thing - She et close to second-year students that already had a petit soeur

”That's probably because I'uess”

I laughed, then threw the clover I held in my hand as far away as I could

Back when I was in kindergarten, there was a brief period of ti for four-leaf clovers was really popular ast my friends

Where did I first hear that finding a four-leaf clover would bring happiness? It was probably from one of my friends who had an older sister, or was friends with sorown-up

At any rate, we beca the number of leaves on pieces of clover

During our free tiht for the swings or other playground equipment

Luckily, there was a section of the playground where clover greild The teachers adored the cute, white flowers that blossorew too fast in suarteners e plucked the pieces of clover

Nonetheless, it wasn't that easy to find a four-leaf clover One by one the kids lost interest in this ga Akemi-chan and myself

Once I'd considered ould happen if Akemi-chan found a four-leaf clover after I had stopped, there was never any

Eventually, we came up with some rules that we both followed Every day we'd mark off a block of land, and search within that area Usually the block was about 1 metre square

”Which one do you want?”

Akemi-chan always allowed hts i my choice

”Ah, I guess I'll take this one”

Consequently, we'd often swap places If Ake, she'd let , ”What can you do?” But if she had already started searching, then she wouldn't let e places with her

”You can't do that, Mayu-chan”

She was softly spoken, but even as a child she understood the truth about things

Then, one day, our game abruptly came to an end Akemi-chan finally found a four-leaf clover

I had chosen where to search on that day too

I viewed that single stalk with its four petals that Akerasped in her hand not only as reward for numerous days worth of effort but also as a certificate that promised future happiness

I bla happiness slip away before ht that if I had chosen the other location, I could have been the one s aloft the four-leaf clover

Once Ake suddenly cooled There probably wasn't just that one four-leaf clover around If I had kept searching relentlessly, I too hted as it may have been, I stopped

I convinced entle Akemi-chan had found one because she was favored by God, whereas I was reat mass of three-leaf clovers

I resigned reat expectations

I'd grown up withe in appearance, and definitely not the type of person that grew up to be a beautiful woman

So, naturally, when I entered into high school I wasn't looking to become the petit soeur of a Rose, or a bouton, or some other superstar like that

Cognizant of rades and looks, and of my somewhat harsh personality, I was irl asked to become my onee-sama and so I accepted the rosary that was offered to me by my senior in the tennis club, Motoyama Sakae-sama That was last year, in the first week of May

My onee-saentle and kind Our relationshi+p wasn't exciting, but I thought it worked out well, in its oay After all, a school life that was the very picture of ordinariness was only fitting for a three-leaf clover like myself, and I was satisfied with it

But then, one day in autumn, I heard so by a full 180 degrees fukuzawa Yumi-san, who I had always considered to be a three-leaf clover much like myself, had becoasawara Sachiko-sama, as admired just as irl with no special features or traits

However, slowly but steadily, Yu in spring, day by day Yuhtly There was no way she could be called a three-leaf clover any more At some point she had become a four-leaf clover

That hen I had a realization It had to be Sachiko-sa Yumi-san shi+ne Sachiko-sast the three-leaf clovers, she possessed the e the three-leaf clover she had accidentally found herself with into a four-leaf clover

In that case, was there was someone out there who could turn me into a four-leaf clover too? There were plenty of other first-years that were also sparkling, they couldn't all be because of Sachiko-sama's power

But it was too late for ht have been possible if I hadn't already received a rosary, but it had been six months since I'd become a petit soeur and there was no way I could tell h-school pecking order was strict, even at the best of times

Even so, there was a first-year student that had the audacity to pull off such a stunt Rei-sama's petit soeur, shi+mazu Yoshi+no

The unprecedented act of a petit soeur casting aside her onee-sama, which came to be known as the ”Yellow Rose Revolution,” caused a shock ast the student population and, for a time, it became popular for first-years to imitate Yoshi+no-san and return the rosary to their onee-samas

At that time, I too said farewell to Sakae-sama

”Why?”

Looking at the rosary I had removed from my neck, Sakae-sama had a completely bewildered expression on her face

”I don't think I'ht match for you, Sakae-sama”

”But I thought things were going along nicely”

”I'm terribly sorry”

”Oh I see”

Sakae-sama didn't try to stop me She simply accepted the rosary in silence, turned her back and walked away She was probably thinking that at soret what I had done and return to her

Before too long the Yellow Rose Revolution booain i their onee-samas for a reconciliation Despite this, I never made the request of Sakae-saht where I started Naturally, I quit the tennis club too

And, after that, I started the search for my true onee-sama When I found a second-year that interested me, I would proactively call out to her Usually they would already have a petit soeur, but that didn't botherso to be near each other when they weren't fully compatible Consequently, I approached them unashamedly If we had similar hobbies, I'd meet them outside of school

However, after we'd grown a bit closer, I would invariably start to feel a sense of disco would seem fresh, but then I would realize that, just like Sakae-sama, this person couldn'tfor the next one

And if the previous person had split up with her petit soeur, there was nothing I could do about that I never said, ”Break up with your petit soeur,” or ”Make me your petit soeur” If a pair of soeurs break up just because a third person gets close to the to break up anyway

On the day after Valentine's Day, Chisato-san spotted me theover and said:

”What should I do about the date with Rei-sama?”

I had elected to have a quiet Valentine's Day, and had gone ho in the treasure hunt Consequently, I initially had absolutely no idea why Chisato-san was so excited

”A group of us found the card Then I won it with rock You see”

Froather, the rules stipulated that in the event that multiple people found the treasure card simultaneously, they would have a playoff of scissors, paper, rock to determine the winner, and blessed Chisato-san had earned that privilege

”I have to write a report about it, which will be a major pain, but still I'm - ”

”Going to steal her?”

I interrupted Chisato-san's excited chatter

”Huh?”

”Well, Chisato-san, you've spent a lot of tiht? You've said to irl manipulates wonderful Rei-sama””

”Well, I know I said that, but still”

My proposal was certainly unconventional, and perhaps because of that Chisato-san looked down and said, ”I don't know … ”

”It would have been poor form to split them up while Yoshi+no-san was still unhealthy, but she's fine now, right?”

”Well, she was running around yesterday, albeit rather slowly”

”In that case, there's no reason for you to hold back”

At that ti to tar Chisato-san with the same brush that had been applied to me

Instead, I felt that if Chisato-san and Rei-sama worked well as a couple then it would be a vindication of ht be able to find an onee-sama who fit me perfectly

Not long thereafter, an unlikely rumor made its way around the school

I think it was after school on Friday when a first-year from the tennis club made her way to my classroom and said:

”Have you heard that Sakae-sama has a petit soeur?”

”Huh?”

She overlooked my momentary unrest

”Ah, but I don't suppose you'd be interested in hearing about that, Mayu-san”

Even though she was acting polite, it was quite obvious that she was thinking, ”Serves you right”

Her onee-saet close to And yet she still despised me It looked like I was an enemy to all first-years, after all

”It all started a few days ago, on Valentine's Day, when she gave Sakae-sama chocolates”