Volume 25 Chapter 3 Part2 (1/2)

After school on Monday.

It was surprisingly fast, but it came at last.

”Gokigenyou. Pardon my intrusion.”

”Coming.”

Unfortunately, Noriko-chan was still busy preparing tea, so Yos.h.i.+no went to the first-floor to welcome their visitor and when she saw who it was she made a somewhat stupid sound.

”Wha?”

The person who'd shown up on the Rose Mansion doorstep holding a manilla folder filled with some doc.u.ments was her cla.s.smate, Yamaguchi Mami-san.

”It's the newspaper club.”

Yos.h.i.+no already knew that. However.

”I thought you said we were going to do the student council interview tomorrow.”

This morning, when they met. Right after, ”Gokigenyou.” She'd said, ”We're going to do the interviews for the Lillian Kawaraban tomorrow after school, so can you keep that free?” Yos.h.i.+no had been with her cla.s.smate Yumi-san, and they'd both heard it. There was no mistaking it.

”I did say that.”

For reasons Yos.h.i.+no couldn't understand, Mami-san puffed her chest out.

”Then what brings you to the Rose Mansion today?”

Yos.h.i.+no had a bad feeling about this. This series of events reminded her of a certain someone who had been in the newspaper club before Mami-san became editor-in-chief.

”Now that the election's over, I thought it was time we started planning for the Valentine's Day event.”

See, there it was.

”I haven't heard anything about that.”

Although she had actually heard about it indirectly via Sachiko-sama. But that was an inconvenient fact so she chose to ignore it.

”Well of course. I haven't spoken directly with you about it, Yos.h.i.+no-san.”

”Why haven't you?”

Even though they'd been studying in the same cla.s.sroom day after day after day after day. It wasn't as though their cla.s.sroom was split into separate cliques, with the opposing groups never having a chance to speak to each other. It was quite the opposite, with Mami-san being in the top ten people Yos.h.i.+no got along with in her cla.s.s, so it seemed like they should have discussed it.

But despite all that; Oh yes, but despite all that; Why did she not say? (a Haiku).

”How can I put this &h.e.l.lip; for insurance?”

Mami-san stepped into the Rose Mansion and closed the door. She'd obviously decided she had to do this herself since Yos.h.i.+no wasn't exactly inviting her in. It was currently late January. It went without saying that it was cold outside.

”What do you mean by that?”

Even so, instead of leading her to the room on the second-floor, Yos.h.i.+no stepped in front of her and blocked her path. As expected, Mami-san looked stunned.

In truth, Yos.h.i.+no had nothing against Mami-san personally. However, she did have a lot against the newspaper club.

But it wasn't like she wanted to get revenge for each and every incident that sprang to mind. For one thing, she didn't have the time, nor was she that stubborn. In the past, she hadn't even had the time to take notice of each and every one of them.

Basically, Yos.h.i.+no had been in a bad mood recently. And Mami-san was just the unlucky victim of that, this time around.

How sad. Like, if she'd just shown up tomorrow, then Yos.h.i.+no may have gone to meet her cheerfully - although that may only have lasted as long as the greeting.

”Well, by insurance, I mean like &h.e.l.lip; ”

Mami-san said.

”Remember last year, the boutons weren't very cooperative when my onee-sama proposed the Valentine's event.”

”Sure, I remember that.”

Yos.h.i.+no agreed, thinking back to last year.

”So I thought about what might happen if this year's boutons had the same reaction, and I started coming up with countermeasures &h.e.l.lip; pardon me.”

Slipping past Yos.h.i.+no, Mami-san reached the staircase.

”Countermeasures?”

Yos.h.i.+no asked, chasing after Mami-san.

”Repeating the events of last year would be a waste of time, and kind of boring, don't you think? Although from our point of view, I can't think of a single reason not to be excited about such a dream-like plan.”

Mami-san climbed the creaky staircase.

”Is everybody here?”

”We are, but.”

Yos.h.i.+no answered, and it was only when she reached the second floor that she finally realized.

”Ah! Today we have both Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan here as well. Is that your doing!?”

Mami-san grinned in response to this accusation.

”When did you become so underhanded, Mami-san? You're like Tsukiyama Minako-sama the second.”

”Whatever could you mean? What's wrong with being like your onee-sama? First of all, I wouldn't have to do this if you'd just cooperate with the newspaper club. Since you'll be going along with the plan anyway, you should just happily get on board.”

The question was, where did she get the confidence to make statements like, ”You'll be going along with it anyway,” and, ”get on board?” Well, sure, last year the previous Roses had pressured the boutons, so they had no choice but to cooperate.

But Yos.h.i.+no thought that it wouldn't be like that this year. Even if Yumi-san followed her onee-sama's order to partic.i.p.ate, s.h.i.+mako-san wasn't the type of person to use her authority over her pet.i.t soeur and Yos.h.i.+no herself certainly wasn't afraid of Rei-chan. Even with the help of the current Roses, it shouldn't go the way the newspaper club was antic.i.p.ating.

After climbing the stairs, Mami-san stopped and said to Yos.h.i.+no, ”After you.”

”Surely it would be a complete loss of face for you if the visitor entered before the person sent to greet them.”

”I never would have expected such consideration from you.”

But, since she'd gone to the effort, Yos.h.i.+no decided to enter the room first.

”Mami-san from the newspaper club has arrived.”

Yos.h.i.+no announced, opening the door.

”Oh, hi there.”

”Do come in.”

Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan acted as though their visitor was completely unexpected as they welcomed her.

(Even though they're only here today because they knew she was coming.)

In her mind, Yos.h.i.+no complained about those sly old foxes. It was annoying how the two third-years had recently come to resemble their predecessors.

”Oh my, what's wrong, Yos.h.i.+no-chan? Offer Mami-san a seat.”

Wearing the guise of a princess, ”sly old fox #1” acted unconcerned as she spoke.

”Well, fine. Come in, Mami-san, have a seat here.”

If they were going to be foxes, she'd have to be a wolf.

”Thank-you kindly.”

After Mami-san was seated, ”sly old fox #2” called out to Noriko-chan.

”Another cup of tea, too.”

If #1 was the princess, then #2 would be the b.u.mbling prince. Well, the princess was a metaphor, she didn't actually take that form so there was no need to cast everyone into the play.

Yos.h.i.+no headed over to the sink to help Noriko-chan, but Yumi-san got there first and sidled over to Yos.h.i.+no and whispered:

”Why's Mami-san here?”

”Planning for Valentine's.”

Was all Yos.h.i.+no had to say.

”Ahhh - ”

Yumi-san loudly exclaimed. They'd discussed it once prior to the election, but Mami-san's arrival was just too reminiscent of Minako-sama last year.

”Okay? We mustn't lose, Yumi-san.”

Yos.h.i.+no kept her voice low as she gripped Yumi-san's hand tightly.

”Uh, okay &h.e.l.lip; lose to who?”

The newspaper club &h.e.l.lip; or, their onee-samas? Either? Or both?

”To anyone. At any rate, to yourself. You mustn't lose to yourself. As long as you fight, you'll win. Noriko-chan will be fine too.”

Glancing over, Noriko-chan had finished adding the black tea leaves to the cup, and looked perplexed.

”I'm sorry, I don't really understand what you're saying.”

”Basically, you don't have to do what the newspaper club and your onee-sama says.”

Yos.h.i.+no added water to the electric kettle and plugged it into the outlet.

”Ah.”

”That's why &h.e.l.lip; you'll be fine. Since you don't seem like you'll get discouraged easily.”

Since she always spoke her mind, even to older students - and it was impossible to imagine s.h.i.+mako-san looking scary and ordering her to do something in the first place.

As she added the hot water to the tea cup, Yos.h.i.+no and s.h.i.+mako-san's eyes met.

”What is it?”

s.h.i.+mako-san's smile was as warm as ever. Rather than ”What” it felt like ”Wha~t.”

”No, nothing.”

It felt a bit sad to lump this angel in with the ”sly old foxes” Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan. But, take care. Depending on which way she went, she could be either an enemy or an ally.

s.h.i.+mako-san was a ”Rose.”

Yos.h.i.+no had to be careful, to see which way s.h.i.+mako-san lent.

The first thing she had to determine was whether this plan, or at least the direction, had already been agreed upon behind-the-scenes by the two third-years and the newspaper club.

Why would she think that? First of all, it was only this year that Sachiko-sama had told them that the newspaper club were sounding her out about it towards the end of last year, which certainly smelled fishy.

Well, maybe Sachiko-sama could be given the benefit of the doubt and that really was just absentmindedness on her part. But since Mami-san had known that everyone would be here before she arrived (or maybe she'd chosen today because she'd heard a rumor that everyone was at the Rose Mansion) and hadn't informed the boutons beforehand, this was less like a surprise attack and more like a foul play.

Especially since the presence of Rei-chan, on a day when they didn't have a meeting scheduled, after she'd made her ”I'm studying so I won't be attending often” announcement, was the same as a confession.

Ah, humans, why did they feel the need to push things they were forced into on to the younger generation? Even as she lamented this, there was no way Yos.h.i.+no would break this chain when it was her turn to pa.s.s it on. Even if she detested it immensely when it was her turn, she enjoyed watching it once the storm had pa.s.sed over her. That was the sort of girl s.h.i.+mazu Yos.h.i.+no was.

So then, the question became, what was s.h.i.+mako-san's position? After they sat down Yos.h.i.+no was able to observe s.h.i.+mako-san indirectly, and it looked as though she didn't support the sly old foxes, aka the third-year Roses, in their plan.

Come to think of it, s.h.i.+mako-san had been kept in the dark alongside Yos.h.i.+no and Yumi-san when they'd decided on the cast for the school festival play. It must be because they were in different grades. It didn't seem likely that the third-years would had been worried about s.h.i.+mako-san leaking some information to the boutons. Having said that, Yos.h.i.+no thought it was better for s.h.i.+mako-san's peace-of-mind that she hadn't been told.

As she distributed the papers she'd brought, Mami-san spoke.

”Well then, I present you with our proposal for this year's Valentine's Day event.”

Wha - .

She was speaking like it was already decided that the Yamayurikai would be co-operating with the newspaper club.

Yos.h.i.+no was all for shortening meetings, but wasn't this going too far as a starting point? The correct behavior when asking something of someone was to start by bowing your head and saying, ”Won't you please co-operate?” Even Tsukiyama Minako-sama, who was p.r.o.ne to flights of eccentricity, had done this last year. Well, even if Mami-san did bow her head, Yos.h.i.+no wasn't about to say, ”Okay.” Now then, at what point would Mami-san get punished for this?

”Ah, right. It might be a bit late mentioning it now, but.”

Mami-san said, noticing Yos.h.i.+no's angry glare.

”We're holding an event on Valentine's Day again this year, and the co-operation of the Yamayurikai &h.e.l.lip; has already been approved by Rosa Chinensis and Rosa Foetida.”

”What!?”

Even without the preface of, ”It's a little late mentioning it now,” Yos.h.i.+no knew that the two parties were conspiring. But, they'd already approved it?

”Well, there was no reason to refuse, was there?”

Sachiko-sama looked confused as she asked, as though to say, ”What's so surprising?”

”But even so.”

Yos.h.i.+no dug in. She hadn't taken a look at the proposal so she didn't know exactly what plan Mami-san had in mind, but, going by last year, the ones that had to co-operate the most were the boutons. But the ”comfortably retired” people had approved the plan even before hearing the opinion of those who would have to do most of the work. What the heck was going on?

”You too, Yumi-san. Don't be silent, say something.”

Yos.h.i.+no spurred Yumi on. In this situation, the boutons had to stick together steadfastly to oppose the tyranny of their onee-samas.

But, that Yumi-san.

”&h.e.l.lip; Um, what's this year's event?”

”Wh - hey!”

Sure, she'd been told to say something, but she didn't have to play dumb like that.

”Huh?”

No, that wasn't it. Yumi-san was being serious. She wasn't playing for laughs, she was actually interested in what Mami-san was proposing. But in that case, rather than looking at Yos.h.i.+no with a puzzled expression, she could have looked at the doc.u.ment she held tightly in her hand &h.e.l.lip; unbelievable.

”Hang on, Yumi-san. Aren't you angry about the onee-samas agreeing to this on their own?”

Oh f.u.kuzawa Yumi, have you been ensnared by the sly old foxes?

”That does annoy me a little.”

”Only a little?”

The baby fox said, ”Yeah.”

”But, you know, is being angry about that a reason to reject the plan entirely? Because those are two separate matters, right?”

Wait, don't say any more.

”I'm sure I'll have all sorts of concerns about the Valentine's event itself. But even so, I'm of the same opinion as my onee-sama - the conclusion I came to was that there's no reason to refuse.”

Yumi-san, Yumi-san, Yumi-san. Even though you were told to be quiet. Well, that was only within Yos.h.i.+no's mind, so there's no way she could have heard it.

”Last year, Mizuno Youko-sama's dream was realized. I want to see that dream come true again.”

The only sound in the deathly silent room was the whistling coming from the kettle.

That's right, how could she forget? Yos.h.i.+no hung her head in shame.

Yumi-san idolized Youko-sama. Hadn't she said this clearly during her candidate's speech?

”So why not listen to what Mami-san has to say before deciding whether or not to co-operate?”

It was a sound argument. Too sound - Yos.h.i.+no had no retort.

Looking back, Yos.h.i.+no had been such an idiot when she'd told Yumi-san, ”Don't lose to yourself,” a couple of minutes ago. Yumi-san had stated her opinion brilliantly. She hadn't lost at all. Yos.h.i.+no was the one who appeared to have lost.

”Why are you opposed to it, Yos.h.i.+no-san?”

s.h.i.+mako-san asked, looking straight into Yos.h.i.+no's eyes. So then, s.h.i.+mako-san was in favor of it too. Well, that was probably to be expected.

”&h.e.l.lip; Because it's an order from above.”

Ooh, it was such an unpersuasive reason that she hated having to say it. It was most likely pointless arguing it, especially since Yumi-san had already concluded that that was a ”separate matter.”

”And you, s.h.i.+mako-san, you didn't want to do it at all last year, right? You only partic.i.p.ated because you were pressured by Sei-sama. So you'd have to understand this side's feelings. Why have you joined that side, now that you're a Rose?”

”This side&h.e.l.lip; ? That side&h.e.l.lip; ?”

s.h.i.+mako-san had a perplexed expression as she looked back and forth between where Yos.h.i.+no was pointing with her left and right index fingers for a little while, before finally saying, ”It's not like that.”

”It's not a matter of being on one side or the other. After last year's event, my opinion changed.”

”Huh?”

She continued after another smile that could also be labeled a foul play.

”I think it was good that we gave it a go. Both for the Yamayurikai, and for myself personally. But it's only because I gave it a go that I can say that.”

Come to think of it, during the candidate's speeches, s.h.i.+mako-san had made some impa.s.sioned plea about using her experience to help the Yamaurikai, or something along those lines. Yos.h.i.+no thought, ”d.a.m.n it.”

Incidentally.

The third-years, basically Sachiko-sama and Rei-chan, were sipping their tea and elegantly watching over the second-years' argument. No, watching over was the wrong expression. They were detached observers.

If their juniors had formed a unified opposition to the Valentine's Day event, in other words, if they'd done what Rei-chan did last year, then they probably would have applied pressure from above. But since Yumi-san and s.h.i.+mako-san were interested in the plan, it'd be better if they could convince Yos.h.i.+no themselves. There was no need for the third-years to intervene. That's how it was.

”So, then.”