Volume 32 Chapter 8 (2/2)

To ads left undone, and to realize that was okay, was refreshi+ngly noble Far better than puffing your chest up with pride and declaring that there is nothing left undone

After going their separate ways, Touko was struck by a thought:

- Rosa Foetida, what on earth have you been doing until now?

”That person - ”

As Noriko alking or, rather, running, along the path between the classroo in front of her

”Rosa Chinensis…?”

Even froraceful carriage, the long, straight, glossy black hair and her proportions There was noit, that was Rosa Chinensis

(Hmmm)

Noriko hit the brakes, slowing to a walk

If that was Rosa Chinensis, just what on earth had she been doing until now?

Since there were no classes this afternoon, the students who didn't have activities were allowed to go home And because Rosa Chinensis hadn't participated in their search for lost items, Noriko had assumed that she would have left by now Perhaps she had been reluctant to leave her classmates and her classroom

Or perhaps it was just a look-alike

Supposing that was Rosa Chinensis on her way hoical reason for her to leave the path and continue walking straight ahead Like Noriko, she would have followed the path as it curved towards the left in order to arrive at the front gate

It must be someone else after all, then

Noriko wanted to make sure of this, but then she reave up on the idea If Touko were to get on the bus before Noriko caught her, it would be a waste of the emotion that shi+mako-san had sent her out with

Noriko followed the path towards the left

As Noriko picked up speed oncewho that person had been

At any rate, that girl had looked just like Rosa Chinensis

And looking that much like her, she would be a shoe-in for the 'Rosa Chinensis look-alike when seen from behind' contest at the school festival (if there was such a thing)

Perhaps she wasn't on her way home

Noriko didn't think she had been wearing her school coat She couldn't re or not Si her indoor or outdoor shoes was fuzzy

But if she wasn't on her way ho to do?

(If she kept going straight, she'd reach the sports oval Before that is the gymnasium)

By now Noriko had completely discarded the 'look-alike' theory, and decided that it must have been Rosa Chinensis

Arriving at the fork in the road, Noriko again slammed on the brakes and prayed to Maria-saious shi+h she was alone and didn't have ti extremely fond of Buddhist statues, she was flexible on this matter

(If you think about it)

As Noriko resu: It doesn't matter whether or not that really was Rosa Chinensis It's no business ofsoa me so much?

”Ahh”

That hen she finally realized

It did matter whether that was her or not Because if Rosa Chinensis was hiding in some out of the way spot then Yumi-sama wouldn't be able to find her

If Touko's instincts were correct, then Yu to meet Rosa Chinensis And since it seemed to be a spur of the ed to meet each other

When you're searching for so yourself to that person's territory is the conventional approach

Yu Rosa Chinensis' classrooroup Even before that, she may have checked Rosa Chinensis' shoe box to ascertain whether or not she was still at school

And if Rosa Chinensis wasn't in her classroom, but her shoes were in her shoe box, what then? The next step would probably be to check areas where students would be gathering

Milk hall, the staff room, … Rosa Chinensis wasn't a member of any clubs, so Yumi-sama probably wouldn't check the clubhouse

- The gyraduation ceremony there probably would be people there today And that's probably where Rosa Chinensis was heading

(If that's the case)

The deterh it would be a bit difficult for her

Noriko exited the school gates just in time to see the bus arrive She hurriedly boarded the bus that looped past M station

”What happened?”

Touko, who had boarded the bus earlier, asked the panting Noriko that had just appeared

”Where's Rosa Gigantea?”

The bus was less crowded now So Touko had settled down in a double-seat

”She's a bit busy”

”Busy, huh?”

Noriko waited until she had her breath back before she spoke again

”She told me about the role of the onee-sama”

The onee-sama embraces and protects - what's up with that?

Just as she was thinking, 'Geeze, that sounds like so Youko would say,' confirain

Caught up as those tere in their conversation, they hadn't realized that so forwards to listen in

Well, that's okay, I guess - Sei thought It would be bothersome if she was found out She'd just stay like this until the last stop, inconspicuously listening to their conversation

Sei hadn't realized it while she aiting for the bus to arrive, but it looked like drill-girl had been there

Nah, it's not fair to call her drill-girl She accepted Yumi-chan's rosary and officially becah she has such a hard to reht to be called by it What was it, ahh, rhat's right, Matsudaira Touko-chan

Sei had probably been a little bit ahead of Touko-chan in the line When she got on the bus all the single seats were taken, so she had plopped down in one of the double-seats That hen the girl with the vertical hair rolls sat down in front of her

In this day and age you don't often see such wonderful vertical hair rolls as those It didn't take long to work out it was Touko-chan Since they were acquaintances, Sei was thinking about saying hello to her and having a bit of fun but then shi+mako's petit soeur made an entrance and she decided to watch instead Noriko-chan see attention to anything else around her

Noriko-chan seemed to view shi+mako and Yumi-chan as a 'blanket'

Touko-chan spoke about a great actress stepping down fro to take her role

Then Noriko-chan asked Touko-chan where she thought students would be congregating currently, and there was a discussion about whether Touko-chan was going to, or went to, the row accustos behind What's that all about?

Sei found it hard to folloas being said because she was a few steps re she could do about that Also, they were facing away from her as they talked, so she couldn't catch all they said either And if you , it's not like you can say, 'Huh?' or 'Can you say that again?'

But still, a blanket? That's an eye-opener

Come to think of it, back when she was a first year, Youko had apparently been likened to a cloth wrapper Maybe by the time she became a third year called Rosa Chinensis it had evolved into a blanket

(Youko, huh)

Re what Yoshi+no-chan had asked her, Sei took out her mobile phone and looked up Youko in her address book

The subject was 'Free tomorrow?'

Then she typed in the following for the body: 'Even if you're not, add this to your schedule and co'

With that done, Sei turned back towards the innocent chatter that was happening right in front of her