Volume 6 Chapter 4 (1/2)
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”You've been crying a lot lately.”
Rosa Gigantea murmured.
”I'm sorry.”
s.h.i.+mako separated herself from the arms she had been leaning against. She wondered how long she had been like that. It was already starting to get dark.
”If you like, I'll stay with you until the morning.”
”That's not...”
”It might do you some good. Shall we go someplace else?”
With great effort, she stood up and stretched. Perhaps thinking she had recovered, Rosa Gigantea did not lend her a hand. For that, s.h.i.+mako was again grateful.
”&h.e.l.lip; But, crying might be a good sign.”
Rosa Gigantea went back to cutting the cheesecake into pieces with her fork and eating it. The lights in the room weren't turned on. Because it was the weekend, the guard probably wouldn't patrol this area but it would still be bad if light were to leak out.
”It might be good for you to show some more of the weakness befitting your age, s.h.i.+mako.”
”My weakness”
s.h.i.+mako took a seat facing Rosa Gigantea. It felt like the first time in a long time that it had just been the two of them in the Rose Mansion. They were the type of soeurs that always kept some distance as they looked at each other.
After all, the two of them were mirrors. They could see themselves in each other.
”If you try to shoulder everything yourself, you'll be crushed. n.o.body is going to criticize you if you show some weakness. Or if they do, it just means they're a worthless human being and you should cast them aside. That's not the sort of thing friends do.”
”Yeah”
She understood Rosa Gigantea's reasoning.
The people who loved her knew of the secrets hidden within her heart, so would not change their behavior towards her. So the only one worrying about it was herself. As long as she stayed calm it would be no big deal, and her world would probably open up further.
”But I can't take the next step.”
”Spring will arrive very soon.”
As she said this, Rosa Gigantea stood up and took a clean fork from the cutlery drawer. She then skewered a piece of the cheesecake and offered it to s.h.i.+mako.
”Things will change when Spring arrives, right?”
s.h.i.+mako took the offered fork and ate from it. It was sweet and sour. A hint of salt was mixed in, from her recent tears.
”Yep. The cherry blossoms will bloom. You'll meet new people.”
”I first met you in Spring, Rosa Gigantea.”
”Right. I first met you in Spring, s.h.i.+mako.”
The two of them ate their way through the cheesecake, little by little.
”s.h.i.+zuka-sama tricked me.”
”s.h.i.+zuka? Oh yeah, what happened to s.h.i.+zuka? I came here because she called me, you know.”
”Yeah”
Having washed the cutlery, s.h.i.+mako smiled as she dried her hands on her handkerchief.
”Her forte is surprising people, don't you think?”
”Yeah”
”A real criminal mastermind. But she's also quite considerate.”
”Really?”
Rosa Gigantea shut off the s.p.a.ce heater. As they hadn't turned the lights on, it was now almost pitch black.
”So now I finally understand.”
The front gate may already be shut, in which case they would have to climb over the wall. But even that would be okay. Given the way things were going today, it seemed likely.
”What is it you understand?”
Rosa Gigantea asked her, waiting by the open door.
”The main reason for my date with s.h.i.+zuka-sama.”
s.h.i.+mako answered as she hurried over.
”The reason?”
”So there would be no acrimony between s.h.i.+zuka-sama's cla.s.s and the boutons.”
”Acrimony, huh”
Rosa Gigantea gently closed the door and then spoke.
”&h.e.l.lip; Aren't you perhaps over-thinking this?”
Yos.h.i.+no had come out of her room because her mother had told her that her friend was here, but when she saw who was standing there she was lost for words.
”Gokigenyou. Can we talk for a bit?”
Her frilly dress could be seen poking out from underneath her coat. Her wavy hair that appeared to have been styled with a curling iron was already wilting, no longer able to defy the pa.s.sage of time.
In the entrance was her hated rival for Rei-chan's love, Tanuma Chisato.
”&h.e.l.lip; I guess. Although are we really friends?”
”What else could I do? It would look suspicious if I didn't say we were friends, right.”
”Well, that's true.”
Chisato-san's position was actually 'Rei-chan's fan,' but it would seem a bit odd if she said that when visiting Yos.h.i.+no. Certainly, it was convenient for both Yos.h.i.+no and her family that Chisato-san had called herself a friend from Lillian's.
”Won't you come in?”
Her mother had called out, asking 'Why don't you invite her inside?' so, unpleasant though it was, Yos.h.i.+no reluctantly asked her in.
”It's okay.”
Chisato-san shook her head and said she'd be going home soon.
”So? Why did you come here? If you're looking for Rei-chan's house, it's next door.”
”I know.”
”And what about Rei-chan? You didn't come here together?”
”No. She'd still be riding her bike now.”
”Bike?”
Yos.h.i.+no left Chisato-san in the entry and went outside. Rei-chan's usual bike was definitely missing from the Hasekura family's bike shed.
”What do you mean? Are you saying that Rei-chan rode her bike to K station today?”
She asked, returning to the entry. Chisato-san said 'Yeah' and nodded, looking slightly proud.
”Rei-sama was so incredibly kind. When we were planning the date, I said I wanted to see a movie. And she said 'Let's do that then.' And then she said 'But if we do that, we won't have any money left over for lunch or train fares, right? So we can each make a box lunch and eat them in the park.' Rei-sama's cooking was really good. She even ate my failed attempt without complaining.”
”Uh huh. So what is it you want to say?”
”It's about Rei-sama's kindness. I was fine because I used my commuter pa.s.s to get to K station, but Rei-sama doesn't have a commuter pa.s.s, does she?”
”Well, yeah. Since we walk to school.”
”So she rode her bike there, for my sake. Because the 3000 yen had to include transportation. And we have to write a report, so the numbers have to match up.”
That was pretty stingy of her, Yos.h.i.+no thought. Because she wanted to see a movie, they had to bring their own lunch. Because she wanted to see a movie, Rei-chan couldn't catch the bus. While they were doing that, Yos.h.i.+no had been eating her extravagant lunch and reading her book.
”Because it was dark, Rei-sama took me home.”
”Huh?”
”She said that I didn't have to write it in the report. To say that we had split up at K station.”
”&h.e.l.lip; I don't understand what you're trying to say.”
”She bought a ticket with her own money, and accompanied me to my home.”
Now it made sense.
Saying that they had split up at K station was camouflage, to hide the fact that the budget had been blown by Rei-chan spending several hundred yen of her own money in order to properly escort her date home. Just what you'd expect from Mr. Lillian. Impeccable, wouldn't you say?
Yos.h.i.+no understood Rei-chan's immense popularity.
”She even went as far as buying a magazine at a convenience store in my neighborhood.”
”That's typical of Rei-chan, being so serious. She'd even prepared an excuse about doing some personal shopping to go to the station closest to your house.”
”That's what I'm talking about. Rei-sama's kind, right?”
Yos.h.i.+no knew about kindness. But in Rei-chan's case, it went beyond kindness to stubbornness. Not just Mr. Lillian but Mr. Perfect.
”So? What is someone that was escorted home like a princess doing in a place like this?”
Unable to see the theme of the conversation even after all this time, Yos.h.i.+no was getting irritated. Just having Chisato-san standing here in front of her wasn't putting her in a good mood.
Yos.h.i.+no couldn't believe her ears when she heard Chisato-san's response to her question.
”Me? I returned home for a few moments, then headed out again.”
”Ehh?”
Involuntarily she cried out. All of the effort Rei-chan had gone to by buying a train ticket and escorting Chisato-san home had just been casually tossed aside, hadn't it?
But that wasn't the only surprising part. What Chisato-san said next was even more amazing.
”I quietly followed Rei-sama and caught the same train to K station.”
”Huh? Then? No way... Did Rei-chan - ”
”She didn't know. I was in a different carriage, and she was reading her magazine. Then I caught a bus and came here ahead of her.”
”That's pretty stupid, yeah?”
The words were out of her mouth before she knew it. The p.u.s.s.y-cat image she hid behind while at school was too restricting. They didn't have time to mince words.
”I know it was stupid. I get it.”
Chisato-san shot back, angrily.
Well, that was probably true. There was no need for Yos.h.i.+no to objectively point this out. Chisato-san would have been able to realize subjectively that her own behavior was quite odd. But if she hadn't realized her strange behavior, it may have explained their confusing conversation.
”Once more, why?”
Yos.h.i.+no asked, after she had calmed down. Chisato-san's response to her question was curt.
”Because I had something I wanted to tell you.”
”Something you wanted to tell me?”
You've already said plenty, Yos.h.i.+no thought. About how kind Rei-chan had been.
”The movie was fun. Rei-sama listened to my request and took me to see a romantic movie even though she probably wasn't interested in it.”
”Well, that's &h.e.l.lip;”
That's precisely her tastes, Yos.h.i.+no thought. Chisato-san must have believed the incorrect information that had been printed in the Lillian Kawaraban, so she didn't know Rei-chan's preferences. There's no doubt that Rei-chan would have happily watched the romantic movie.
”We also went window shopping. There was a cute antique doll but it was expensive so we only looked at it. And Rei-sama accompanied me everywhere we went.”
Chisato-san continued.
”We couldn't go to the zoo or the amus.e.m.e.nt park because they have an entrance fee, but we walked around the lake in the public park. They had rowboats that some families and couples were using, but I was content just to watch. Because Rei-sama was by my side. When I would turn to look at her, her smiling face would be looking only at me.”
”So, what. You came all this way just to give me your report?”
”That's right. Something wrong?”
Chisato-san grinned evilly. Her matter-of-fact att.i.tude was grating.
”I came to brag to you. About how fun my half-day date was with Rei-sama. About how kind Rei-sama was. I”
Chisato-san's voice faltered at that point.
(Huh?)
The proud look on her face that had been so grating gradually contorted and then the tears tumbled down in large drops.
”&h.e.l.lip; Hey, why are you crying?”
Yos.h.i.+no was trying to understand, but Chisato-san just gave a small sniffle and cried. The half-day date was fun, right? Rei-chan was kind, right? So why was she crying and looking so miserable?
”Chisato-san...”
Yos.h.i.+no gently put her hands on Chisato-san's shoulders. Even if she was an annoying rival for Rei-chan's affection, there's a temporary truce when your opponent is crying.
Chisato-san slowly raised her downcast head.
”I saw you, Yos.h.i.+no-san.”
”Huh?”
”On the pedestrian bridge, in front of the park.”
”Oh, really?”
She had failed, and been seen. Even worse, it was by the person she least wanted to be seen by.
”So I thought I'd make you jealous by clinging to Rei-sama's arm.”
”Then you succeeded splendidly. I was so jealous I wanted to slap you.”
Yos.h.i.+no was starting to get angry just remembering it.
”I hated you, Yos.h.i.+no-san.”
”Oh, really.”
Yos.h.i.+no hadn't thought that Chisato-san liked her, so it didn't come as a shock. Indeed, it would have been worse if Chisato-san had told her that she liked her.
”Before your surgery you had the image of a tragic heroine and Rei-sama was always by your side, helping you out. That was exactly how I interpreted it.”
”I wasn't forcing her to do that, you know. Rei-chan enjoyed fussing over me.”