Volume 32 Chapter 9 (1/2)
After leaving Katsura-san behind and eventuallyher way to the rooreeted with Yoshi+no-san asking her, 'Are you sick?'
”Sick? No”
As she answered, Yumi made her way over to the chair by the wall and du
”I guess not But, Yu to the toilet'”
”Ahh”
That's right After they had finished cleaning, she had gone to the staff rooether with shi+o back to their classroo off to the Rose Mansion Because shi+mako-san was in a different class she had split froings Yuo to the toilet, so had asked Yoshi+no-san to go ahead of her Then after she was done she had run into Katsura-san in the hallway
”Sorry, sorry”
It see from the toilet
”Did you take the scenic route back?”
”I bumped into Katsura-san”
Yumi carried her lunch over to her usual seat at the table It looked as though Noriko-chan and Touko, who had co, had already finished their lunch while shi+mako-san and Yoshi+no-san appeared to be about halfway through
”Katsura-san?”
shi+mako-san said
”I ran into her just before too I think she said she was going to look for her onee-sama You must have seen her after that, then”
It made sense, since shi+mako-san and Katsura-san were classmates, they would have more chances to see each other
”Ahh”
Just like in a coht-bulb flicked on inside Yumi's head
”You didn't happen to say so to the Rose Mansion to do some odd jobs,' did you?”
”Yeah … maybe Why?”
”So that's how she knew”
The true shape of the psychic was revealed Well, she already knew that Katsura-san's claim of ESP was mostly fake anyway
”More importantly, your cute petit soeur was also worried”
Yoshi+no-san turned her head prior to speaking Yuaze, and there was her 'cute petit soeur' Touko pouring tea at the sink Yumi didn't think that Touko would have ize anyway
”Sorry”
”Don't mention it”
Touko seeht the tea over
Perhaps this was a result of so Yoshi+no-san had said to make her worry needlessly 'She's so late, I wonder if she's okay,' or 'Perhaps she's got a sto sick
Especially after what had happened with Katsura-san, Yumi admonished herself that as an onee-sama she should pay more attention to her petit soeur
The plan was to check the first floor roo left behind by Sachiko-saraduation to well, it may be better if she went home early instead She shouldn't strain herself, and they shouldn't ask her to
But Yuo ho to work There was a part of her that was very stubborn In which case it was probably better to finish this quickly
Yu lunch at double speed and while she didn't quiteat the same time as shi+ for her
”Well, this shouldn't take too long”
Yu the stairs
”Even so, we have to do this for appearance's sake”
Yoshi+no-san's lack of interest was obvious as she said this But it was so it Both her tone of voice and her attitude see that this was a bother
”Oh, do you think on't find anything?”
shi+, but even she was allowing for the possibility of finding nothing
At any rate, they won't have left anything behind and we'll be able to head hoeneral consensus of the search party members
So when that iteeneral sense of weary exasperation
The search inding dohen Noriko-chan found a single ribbon in the space between two cardboard boxes
This discovery was obviously unlike the Rose Mansion stationery, the pens and labels, that had been discovered earlier But even so, it didn't look like it was so of Sachiko-sa that it aroused was that it was one half of a matched set
”Is it yours, onee-sama?”
When Touko asked her this, and Yumi looked at the ribbon, she was immediately sure of it
(Ummmm…)
The White Rose Family, shi+mako-san and Noriko-chan, Yoshi+no-san and Touko, in other words all the otherfor Yu, but Yu down her back It felt like an interrogation
Yunized it, and already knew that it was hers But what she couldn't understand hat it was doing here
Why, is that, here? Why, is that, here? Why, is that, here?
Those words swirled around her head
The shi+ny, black velvet ribbons had been her favorite, so she would often wear them on special occasions
Like for school opening cere ceremonies, or Christmas -
But currently it was neatly folded in the drawer of her closet at home
There were no questions about how one of the pair had co either - Yumi and her onee-sama were both entrusted with the care of one of these precious items
On Christh school, when Yuht a present, her onee-sama had asked her for one of the ribbons that she had tied in her hair
To Yumi, this ribbon was like one of those heart pendants that come in two pieces
So then, as it here?
Had the ribbon teleported itself here?
That's just stupid
Then, did thataround, but then forgot all about it In that case, it was a huge probleo to a hospital and have a doctor examine her if she suspected such a defect in her memory
(So that means - )
”… It's mine”
Yumi mumbled
”What's up with that pause?”
Naturally, that dig came from Yoshi+no-san
”Oh, I didn't expect to find it again, so I was a bit surprised”
Because this was the ribbon that Yuain It had been quite a while One year and three months, or thereabouts
”Co those ribbons lately I suppose it's because you lost one of thee to drop one”
”Hehehe”
It was true Yumi didn't wear these ribbons any more because she only had one of them, but she hadn't dropped it She remembered precisely how it had left her possession But it would be hard to concisely explain that so Yuh it off
But as the ribbon that she had given to her onee-sa here?
Sachiko-sa hair, so she didn't usually use ribbons So it was impossible to believe that she had used it to tie her hair, then untied it, carelessly flung it aside and forgotten it
First things first, how long had that ribbon been here?
Yuined a calendar that went from Christmas Eve of the year before last until today Like a scroll with the dates flowing froht
The start date was Christmas Eve of the year before last
Right before the party was about to begin, Sachiko-sama had unfastened the ribbon and put it in her purse She had said that it would be a disaster if she were to lose it when forced to wear a paper hat in the Rose Mansion
But Yuht the truth was that she was embarrassed Sachiko-sama wouldn't have liked it if so ribbons and teased her about it So Yumi had also taken her ribbon off and instead rolled her hair around a ruler and then wreathed it with crepe paper And then Youko-sa 'Yureat'
In other words, Yumi could safely assume that the ribbon remained inside Sachiko-sama's purse and made its way to her home
Then jump forward a bit until this time last year At the very least, the ribbon hadn't been found during the equivalent search last year So she could cross out all the way up to March of last year in the calendar in her mind
Yue-scale searches that took place after that, but from time to time they would come down here and they would usually have a cursory look around And participants in this year's Valentines Day treasure hunt would probably have had a ru was found then - So that means it wouldn't have been here before the middle of February
(A cursory search…)
That's right, they were just here looking for soifts for White Day and were here looking for the sewingmachine and iron are hardly small items, so they didn't look in every nook and cranny but they probably would have shi+fted the cardboard boxes So if the ribbon had been here back then, they probably would have found it
(Which means)
The conclusion Yumi reached was that the ribbon wasn't here back then At which point, realization started to dawn on her
Why was the ribbon here? If we rule out the ribbon teleporting here by itself then the only reasonable explanation was that Sachiko-sama had hidden it here
(But, for what purpose?)
About a week ago, on the second floor of the Rose Mansion, Sachiko-sahed like some olden days noble from a comic book and said:
”Well, there's no ould have forgotten any of our personal belongings”
You wouldn't expect that someone ouldof theirs Or perhaps it was e - if they couldn't find the ribbon then just what kind of search had they done?
(No, it's not that)
Yumi's intuition told her
This wasn't sootten
The black ribbon that Yumi previously wore The other people here didn't know that this was soiven to Sachiko-sa that Yumi had dropped
Her onee-sae that only Yumi would be able to understand
That was it There was absolutely noit
”Well,”
Yumi turned to shi+mako-san and Yoshi+no-san and addressed them
”I think we're finished with the search, don't you?”
”Yeah”
shi+reed
”Then, I suppose we're done for today”
Yoshi+no-san and shi+mako-san both looked at Yu that Yuht up the topic of leaving But they didn't take it upon theht nod, they cheerfully responded
”Looks that way Don't worry about tomorrow”
”Right, right We've already done enough preparation and practice”
shi+mako-san and Yoshi+no-san probably didn't have any idea what Yu But they were aware that her thoughts had turned to iven her a pleasant farewell Just what you would expect from close friends
Sorry
Since they were both probably expecting that there would be a finalabout tomorrow after the search was over
”Thank-you”
At any rate, Yuenerosity As she turned to leave, Touko caught her eye
”Touko, you can go home ahead of me”
Those were Yu words as she left the room She was still a little bit concerned about Touko, but shi+mako-san and Yoshi+no-san and Noriko-chan were still there with her
She'd be fine If anything happened, they would take care of her
She had left the Rose Mansion in a hurry, but Yuo
Her only thought was, 'Onee-sa to me'
Yuhtly the ribbon that she held in her hand for the first time in a year and a half
To everyone else this wasn't Rosa Chinensis' lost item So there was no need to have a ceremony to return it either today or tomorrow
But Yumi alone kneho the owner of this ribbon was So it was up to her to deliver it
Onee-sa for this
But where could she be right now?
(Thinking logically, she'd be in her classroom)
But before that, Yumi went to check her onee-sama's shoe box If her indoor shoes were in there, then there was a high probability that Sachiko-saone home and Yumi would have no option but to abandon the search
(I knew it)
Just as she had expected, inside the s was a neatly placed pair of black outdoor shoes
Her onee-sama was still at school There was no doubt about it (because it was i her indoor shoes)