Volume 33 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Yu by the bus doors so when it arrived at the Lillian Girls Acadee across the pedestrian bridge
There was still some time until they were supposed to meet Even if she walked to the classroom, she probably wouldn't be late
(Even so)
If five of the six people were already there, the last person to arrive would give the i late even if they were a few minutes early
(Especially considering)
Yoshi+no-san was one of the members, so Yumi expected soine it Yoshi+no-san standing there with her hands on her hips, saying, 'You're laaate'
When she got on the bus, Yu toYoshi+no-san, alked to school) were also on board, but she couldn't see any of theht an earlier bus As expected,the earlier bus to the station had cost her
Yuht of the students that were following behind her and instead decided just to walk quickly As the next Rosa Chinensis, it would not be proper for her to be seen running around with her skirt in disarray
”Oh?”
Just before the fork in the ginkgo tree lined path, Yumi saw the back of a person that she kneell
”Kanako-chan?”
There was no need to wait until she had turned around to confirm this There were very few students at this school ere as tall as she
”Ahh Gokigenyou, Yumi-sama”
”What's the matter?”
Since Kanako had arrived here before Yumi, that meant she must have been on an earlier bus But if that was the case, then she had taken quite a long tiet to here The previous bus would have arrived over five o, and if it had hit traffic there should have been other students here with her too Further there
”It's a bird”
”A bird?”
”Just after I'd stepped through the front gates, a tiny bird on a branch caught my attention so I stopped to watch it”
”For five minutes, or ten minutes?”
”No,”
Kanako-chan smiled
”It was probably only two or three minutes I felt like I could stay and watch it forever, but I had to getanother her rosary, so I waited until they were finished”
”I see”
Looking further down the path, Yu away hand-in-hand They had probably waited until the crowd of people had passed through before perfor the rosary ceremony Kanako-chan, who had stopped to watch the bird, had become separated fro time
Like Yumi had witnessed earlier, there were people that would wait until the day before, or the day of, the graduation ceremony to decide to become soeurs Don't tell me that the onee-sama is a third year, …, no, there's no way that could be the case
”Shall alk together”
Yued Kanako-chan on, and they walked over to the statue of Maria-sa around talking, the next wave of people was bearing down on them
”You said it was a tiny bird, but what kind of bird was it?”
Yumi asked Kanako-chan, as they walked towards the school building
”It was a green color, that looked like powdered green tea”
”A Bush Warbler?”
When she heard it described as sreen tea, that was the first bird that came to mind Yumi looked up Of course, the sht
”That's what I thought too, so I stopped to have a look at it I guess it is the time of the year for plum blossoms, after all”
Which means
”You don't think so?”
Kanako-chan shrugged her shoulders when asked this
”I can't really say for certain I was a fair ay from it, and couldn't see all of it It could have been a white-eye It didn't really look like a parrot, but it could probably be identified by its call”
”Did it sound like 'hoohokekyo'?”
”Yeah, that's what it sounded like”
If its call was 'hoohokekyo,' then it was undoubtedly a Bush Warbler No parrot would be able to imitate that sound
”Do you knohat the call of the white-eye sounds like?”
”Nope But at the very least, it wouldn't sound like 'hoohokekyo,' right?”
”I suppose so”
Just then, they heard a 'ca' sound co from somewhere
”And it's not that either”
The pair looked at each other and laughed
”You're laaaate”
Just as Yued, when she opened the door to the second year pine group classroo
”U to my watch there's still one minute…”
Before Yumi could open her mouth, Mami-san of the newspaper club tried to intervene, but Yoshi+no-san quickly sta 'You should have been here five minutes early'
Yumi instinctively nodded her head, but if you think about it, it's a strange rationale If they really needed that extra five ed to meet five minutes earlier
”Well, now that everyone's here, let's go”
Yoshi+no-san seized the initiative, stripping Yuuide The five other ed, then followed after her
”Why is Yoshi+no-san so pumped up?”
Misa-san whispered to Yu
”Huh?”
Now that shejust arrived at school, Yu on But she really wanted to hear what Yoshi+no-san had been doing in the classroom before she arrived
”Who knows?”
While Yumi-san wracked her brain, Itsue-san slowed down so that she was also walking alongside Yu 'It's a mystery, that's for sure'
”It's much better for Yuroup”
Fro, 'Right?' Yu that Yoshi+no-san, walking ahead of her, couldn't hear the with Mami-san and Satoe-san, so she was probably okay
Yoshi+no-san, Mami-san, Satoe-san, Itsue-san, Misa-san and then Yuroup, but they were the ones appointed fro flowers to the chests of the graduating students
It was a tradition that the students ould perfor seniors were froroup but the year below In other words, the ones that would pin the flower to the chest of the third year pine group were froroup Which is why they had said that she was much better off, since her onee-saroup And it was also why it was such a mystery that Yoshi+no-san was so pumped up, since her onee-saroup
”But she's been bursting with enthusiasm ever since we decided as involved”
When Yuht said, 'That's true,' nodded, and folded their arms
This happened about a week ago
When they arrived for their afternoon ho, bold letters on the blackboard:
Helpers for the day of the graduation ceremony
Below that ritten;
1: Students to pin flowers to the graduating seniors (6 names) 2: Students to decorate the classroom (a few names)
”Are there any volunteers?”
When Kaede-san, as leading the discussion, asked this most of the students raised their hands Their ho, 'I wish they'd show thisclass'
”Should we give preference to those students whose onee-saroup?”
”But surely the petit soeurs would have been there before? Wouldn't it be better to give this chance to students who haven't had any reason to visit their beloved seniors?”
”It should be based on ants to go the most … but there's no way to measure that”
Everyone had their own ideas about how it should be decided, but it didn't look like they would coreement
As the heated discussion raged around her Yu about how nice it would be to pin the flower to her onee-sah she made sure she raised her hand when the call for volunteers went out
”For fairness sake, we'll decide this with scissors-paper-rock”
In the end that was the approach they agreed upon At first it seemed that no-one objected to it, but someone behind Yumi quickly raised their hand It was Michiyo-san, who had earlier suggested that the students with an onee-saet priority
”I just want to check soh scissors-paper-rock, can they transfer that to someone else?”
”Huh?”
At first no-one really understood what she was trying to say
”Because”
She explained that because she didn't have an onee-sa that she wanted to do no matter what So if she won, she would turn over her position to soroup, if allowed Such a kind girl
”That's okay, I guess”
The transfer wasn't limited just to people who had an onee-saood friends could pitch in and help each other There were no objections
”Well then, Katori-sensei, can you do the honors?”
At Kaede-san's insistence, their hoe
For the first round of the contest, the whole class would play against their teacher Only those ould advance to the second round A draas the same as a loss This way the whole class could be involved, but it would be sorted out in two or three rounds This would continue until there were only six people re - if there were fewer, then the people that had been eli places These were the rules they had decided upon
”Scissors, paper, ”
It was Yoshi+no-san that was conspicuously shouting this out
”Rock”
Yue enthusiasm played in whether someone won or lost at scissors-paper-rock
”Uwaaaah!”
About thirty students held one of their hands above their head in either the scissors, paper or rock gestures Ast the various cries of joy and despair, Yoshi+no-san's cry of 'yeah' could be heard as she held aloft her right hand in the winning form of scissors In a seat sohed
Their teacher had gone with paper And a draas a loss It felt kind of hollow Yuht she would have felt better if she had put out rock, and been properly defeated
The winners were decided after the second round
The six people were Yoshi+no-san, Satoe-san, Itsue-san, Misa-san, Michiyo-san and Minato-san
”So is there anyone ae to someone else - ”
Surprisingly, everyone except Yoshi+no-san raised their hand to this Yumi probably wasn't the only one to think 'what a shame' when they saw this
”Well then, let's hear who you want to transfer it to and confirm whether or not they will accept We'll start with you, Michiyo-san, since you originally proposed this idea”
”I'd like to give this to fukuzawa Yumi-san”
”Huh!?”
Not expecting to be named, Yumi's eyes widened in shock Everyone turned to look at her, but they were all in the same class so it didn't bother Yuer at herself and asked, 'Me?' Michiyo-san nodded in agreement
”Won't you accept this in place of me?”
”Is that okay?”
This was soreed immediately, without hesitation
”Wait a minute!”
Satoe-san, Itsue-san and Misa-san all cried out at the same time
”We also wanted to give our positions to Yumi-san”
”Huuuh!?”
fukuzawa Yu sorry for Yuroup
”But Yumi-san is just one person”
Even if she were to accept all their proposals, one person could not fill four chairs
”If there's anyone else who has an onee-saroup that wants to take part - ”
Itsue-san offered, but no-one raised their hand
”Very well then”
With that, the three others resolved to carry out their duties and took back their declarations to stand down
Still, Yumi felt incredibly happy
”My thanks to all of you”
Yumi bowed her head, and thanked them from the bottom of her heart
”But what about Minato-san?”
That's right, Minato-san also raised her hand when they were asked if anyone wanted to transfer their winnings
”I' scissors-paper-rock, but can I beup decorations around the classroom”
”Sure There's no limit on how many people can be involved in that”
Kaede-san wrote Minato-san's na
”Although, if possible you should name someone to take your place”
There were plenty of people anted to take part But another round of scissors-paper-rock would be ti
”Then, Tsutako-san”
A few scattered cries of excite about Tsutako-san being there
”Thank-you But I'm sorry, I can't accept”
This time around the scattered cries were of dejection The tone of the voices rose and fell If you were able to see sound with your eyes, the inside of the second year pine group's classrooantic wave
”Why's that?”
Don't do it if you don't want to Kaede-san asked, although normally you wouldn't ask an individual why they refused Kaede-san probably thought that everyone wanted to hear Tsutako-san's reason Because it see with Tsutako-san's character that she would have said, 'I'll do it'
”If I accepted your offer, I'd want to take pictures of it, right”
Tsutako-san answered i her small camera
”Huh?”
Yuht that was probably what Minato-san expected when she named her Everyone knew that Tsutako-san was the ace of the photography club Tsutako-san and her camera had an inseparable relationshi+p
”But the job isn't about taking photos, it's about pinning the flowers to the seniors, so I wouldn't be able to take my camera”
When put that way, it seemed like quite a natural response
”Then would you go to the third year pine group's classroo the flowers on the seniors?”
So to let the matter drop If they weren't able to take part themselves, they at least wanted to see some photos of it
”I wouldn't, because it's not my class”
Tsutako-san smiled
”So, I'm sorry”
Even if they were to try and pressure her further, Tsutako-san probably wouldn't agree to it Minato-san said, 'Well then,' and faced a different direction
”How about Mami-san? Would you refuse because you wanted to collect information for a newspaper report?”
The Mami-san that had been named was the head of the newspaper club
”Not at all I don't need soather inforladly accept your offer”
Ma she would burn the information into her memory and write an article about it to appear in the coraduation edition of the Lillian Kawaraban
And that was the story about how these six people had been chosen for this job
”I was thinking about giving you my spot, you know”
Yoshi+no-san had idly remarked to her, much later
”But since it was Michiyo-san that originally brought up the topic of passing on the privilege, I let her have the honor this time”
”Oh, is that so?”