Volume 21 Chapter 1 (1/2)

Yes, of course.

”This coming Sunday I should be free.” Having reached the midway point through the week, she had heard this come out of Rei-chan's mouth. She certainly had heard it. She wasn't making this up; she'd heard it. Why was she blaming her? She had already bowed and said, ”It was my fault.” Yos.h.i.+no guessed she just couldn't let it go there. It was staring her in the face; it wasn't good enough to just turn a blind eye to it.

At that time (in other words, the time Rei-chan had been talking about going out on Sunday) Yos.h.i.+no, unluckily interpreted this as ”the way I WANT to spend my Sunday”. In this way, she suitably ignored her and missed an essential part of Rei-chan's story.

She had been listening properly at first. Yanaka-san (previously Yos.h.i.+no had only seen his face in pa.s.sing) hadn't visited her Uncle's (that is, Rei-chan's father's) dojo for a long time. Rei-chan and her father had received an invitation to lunch together with him. She thought that was the story anyhow.

Yanaka-san is a gentle person who is never disagreeable, but an old man is a old man. Even if she'd heard that Rei-chan was eating dinner with Yanaka-ojiisan, Yos.h.i.+no didn't particularly envy her at all. She may have also mentioned that the lunch was going to be a j.a.panese style meal at a hotel restaurant. But that was largely her imagination. In saying that all three people would be present, in the end it probably amounted to nothing more than an enforced kendo lecture.

And then, ”Making friends is important. It would be good if you could come.” It seemed like that was what she was saying. The rest of the story from this point on, Yos.h.i.+no had ignored. It seemed like Rei-chan had continued on with a more detailed account, but she'd given up on listening and the information hadn't stayed in her head at all.

Yos.h.i.+no's plans? What should she say if she's asked? Having absentmindedly listened to only half the conversation was the cause of her nervousness.

This coming Sunday, Yos.h.i.+no had made plans in secret from Rei-chan. Yeah&h.e.l.lip; a secret. If discovered, somehow this secret would give her a bad reputation. She supposed it was enough to just not tell Rei-chan about it. But even if she did that, what sort of verbal deflection could she use? Something that wouldn't necessarily be untrue&h.e.l.lip;

The truth is&h.e.l.lip; Yos.h.i.+no had promised to spend the day out and about with Arima Nana next Sunday.

Yos.h.i.+no had been the first to wage war.

Given that Yumi-san wasn't simply a cla.s.smate, but also her best friend, she was able to tell her, ”If I become a third-year and haven't been able to get a little sister at that point, I'll make Nana my sister.” With that proclamation, Arima Nana, who was in middle school, who hadn't even been a blip on the radar, leapt up to be Yos.h.i.+no's tentative top little sister candidate. Emphasis on ”tentative”. None of the candidates from immediately following the tea party remained. The fact that at present there was no second place winner was a sad state of affairs. Apart from that&h.e.l.lip; since the Interhigh school kendo match, she had been more and more interested in Nana, but there was no helping it.

She'd checked in to her background and family situations, etc., thoroughly without Nana having noticed. Though she seemed to have rammed into her in the corridor under the civic gymnasium, with agility Nana had been able to immediately dodge. And when she'd made the request of her accomplice to uphold the lie that she hadn't just then met her, the girl had been able to carry the burden. Even though the ribbon of her uniform under her sweater had come loose, she'd been oblivious. It had only been peeking out a smidgen. There's no way she would have noticed.

But, this wasn't enough to go on. Yos.h.i.+no thought that she would need to know more about Nana. It was something someone of the past used to say: ”Know your enemy and know yourself, only then can you be victorious in battle” . In this case, Nana probably wasn't her enemy. Operation code name: Get a Little Sister, for Yos.h.i.+no, had already completely broken out into war. Her favorite phrase was, ”victory goes to the one who makes the first move.” For Yos.h.i.+no it was always, green light means GO! In work, waiting was her number one weakness. Although it is also said, ”be immovable like a mountain,” this was probably the slogan of someone who has great endurance.

And, now, halfway through the week, Yos.h.i.+no decided to go observe Nana for the moment. However, a high school student grandly visiting a middle school cla.s.sroom would be overly conspicuous. Thus, the strategy was to wait in ambush at the entranceway amongst the many comings and goings in the morning.

She gave a suitable excuse to Rei-chan and went to school a little earlier than usual. She held the stakeout nearby the student entrance to the middle school, and waited for about fifteen minutes. Gradually, the game of playing detective was growing tiresome when finally Nana came into sight.

Of course, she wasn't wearing the pink sweats.h.i.+rt of the other day. She wore a school coat over her uniform. She had been crowded into a ma.s.s of middle school students, but beyond all expectations, she had been easy to find.

Yos.h.i.+no moved toward Nana, walking slowly head on. First she would say, ”Good day.” Then she would give a beaming smile. ”Thanks for the other day.” She had already decided on this course of action.

Nana's face became honest and straightforward. Yes, now. ”Go...” But Nana&h.e.l.lip; about 1.5 meters short of Yos.h.i.+no, pivoted and changed direction. Just like that she was sucked in to the school entrance. ”W-wait.” In confusion, Yos.h.i.+no chased after her. Yet, this was the peak time for girls to enter the school--chatting and greeting each other, they flitted about. All the voices ran into each and comingled like mixed juice. In this state, it wouldn't be easy to identify anyone by the sound of their voice. (In that case...)

Yos.h.i.+no put her fingers in her ears and shouted forcefully, ”Tanaka-san!” A moment later a middle school student moving on the periphery stopped. (Was it magic?) It didn't seem to be. She removed her fingers from her ears. The area was engulfed in silence. Simultaneously, many students turned their attention toward her. Somehow Yos.h.i.+no had managed to emit a cry on par with an emergency alert.

”I-I'm sorry. I made a disturbance.” Is this what Yumi-san had meant when she said, ”To burn with embarra.s.sment”? At any rate it had resulted in a terrible effect. She should come back here and start over later in the day. Since she had only momentarily called out, ”Tanaka-san”, blessedly, Nana might not have noticed. Yet, when she tried to turn away&h.e.l.lip;

”...Actually, it's Arima.” The person in question had quite definitely noticed. It was no longer a matter of gracefully bowing out. Where is the reset b.u.t.ton for this situation?

As they'd be a bother standing around talking while students were trying to change their shoes, the two of them stepped outside for a moment. ”Umm&h.e.l.lip; Hasekura Rei-sama's&h.e.l.lip;” Nana paused. They continued moving away until they were out of the flow of students. ”&h.e.l.lip;honored little sister, s.h.i.+mazu Yos.h.i.+no. It seems you've already forgotten my name.”

Yos.h.i.+no was able to keep her composure for the time being. Yet after having been seen in that blunder, she was not able to manufacture anything beyond that of a considerably ill-fitting uppercla.s.sman. ”But I remembered yours. The incident of nearly colliding in the gymnasium, and the beautiful rosary that you dropped.”

”...” What is with that way of remembering it, Yos.h.i.+no thought. Nana remembered her, because she'd continued in the habit of s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g things up with this latest episode. And then even though she couldn't see it, she recalled the rosary before she recalled the owner.

”I was worried about it for a while. Afterwards, were you been able to tell Torii Eriko-sama anything?”

”You know Torii Eriko-sama's name.”

”Of course.”

”Of course.”

She tried her best to put on a smile. Nana hadn't known her name, but she had known Eriko-sama's. As for being called ”Hasekura Rei-sama's honored little sister”, she was not amused. Despite the fact that this person might become her little sister someday, in truth, she wasn't showing a great deal of interest in Yos.h.i.+no.