Volume 25 Chapter 7 Part3 (1/2)
After counting to 100 on the spot, she felt like she'd calmed down a little bit.
Just a little bit.
While her boiling blood had gradually cooled, the waves of anger, sadness, disillusionment and despair that had accompanied it did not also disappear.
The thing she hated most was pity.
So she couldn't stand the thought of becoming a pet.i.t soeur due to pity. How could someone who didn't understand that ever think of being her onee-sama? It was unbelievable.
She'd reached 100 a while ago. But still Touko remained rooted to the spot.
Touko looked towards the school gate, where Yumi-sama would probably have disappeared to. She saw a group of university students walking together.
She could follow along behind them. Then get on a bus, then a train, and arrive home.
But once she arrived home, she'd have to deal with the fact she had nowhere to go. Her only option would be to crawl into bed and cry.
Rejecting that, Touko turned towards the school buildings. The way things were, she wouldn't be able to contain her anger.
Even if it didn't change the situation, there was something she had to say.
(I wonder if she's still here.)
Touko looked at her watch. 1:30.
Her target may have already left a long time ago. In that case, all Touko could do was confirm that and head home. She retraced her footsteps.
Touko walked back alone along the path she had earlier taken with Yumi-sama. She pa.s.sed some girls that looked like third-years, but none of them were the girl she was looking for.
She made her way to the third-year shoe-box area and had a look inside one of the lockers. Sure enough, there was a pair of outdoors shoes in there. This was proof that her target was still at school.
(Noriko said there wasn't a meeting at the Rose Mansion today.)
Touko headed for the third-year cla.s.srooms.
She heard voices coming from inside the third-year pine cla.s.sroom. It seemed as though there were a few students still there.
”Pardon me.”
Touko flung the door open, not waiting for a response to her knock.
Five girls turned to look at her simultaneously. Her target was one of them.
”Touko-chan &h.e.l.lip; ”
The third-years inside were puzzled by this younger girl who had thrown open the door and then stopped moving, like a toy with its batteries removed. One of them came forward and stood in front of her. Ogasawara Sachiko-sama.
”Whatever is the matter?”
”We have to talk.”
That was all she said, but Sachiko-sama obviously inferred something and gave a small nod. Then she briefly returned to the group of students, gathered her belongings, said, ”I'll leave you here,” and exited the cla.s.sroom.
”Yeah. Gokigenyou.”
”Thanks for helping us out.”
Sachiko-onee-sama's cla.s.smates said their various farewells.
”Is that alright?”
Touko asked, worried that she'd interrupted something. There had been sheets of paper spread across the desks, like they'd been working on something.
”Yeah, it was just the non-entrance-exam cleaning group. We'd already finished and were reading magazines.”
As she said this, she s.h.i.+fted her school bag to the side and fastened her coat b.u.t.tons.
”I don't know what you want to talk about, but this doesn't seem like the right place, wouldn't you agree?”
Touko nodded slightly.
In winter, after most of the students had gone home for the day, the halls echoed more than expected. That said, they weren't about to go back to the third-year pine cla.s.sroom, and the specialty cla.s.srooms were either locked or had people in them.
They walked out into the courtyard.
The air was cold, but with a coat it wasn't too cold to bear. More importantly, their voices wouldn't bounce off the walls or windows or ceilings, so they didn't have to worry about being overheard. The words they spoke here would be picked up by the wind and carried off into the sky.
”Have you been talking to Yumi-sama?”
Touko started by asking this question.
”About what?”
Sachiko-sama asked, sounding confused. But Touko ignored this and continued.
”Didn't you say something about how you weren't going to interfere in Yumi-sama's choice of a pet.i.t soeur?”
”Certainly, I may have said something along those lines.”
Sachiko-onee-sama smiled as her long hair flowed in the breeze.
”And? What do you think I've been saying to Yumi?”
She asked quietly, as though she had no idea whatsoever.
”Well.”
Touko was struggling for words. Even though it related to herself, she had considerable resistance to saying it out loud.
”Just say it. It's obvious you've come to complain to me about something, but Yumi and I have all sorts of conversations every day. I won't know which one of those has apparently offended you if you don't tell me.”
Now that she'd said this there was no other option. Touko firmed her resolve and began to speak.
”About my birth.”
”Your birth?”
For a moment, Sachiko-onee-sama's expression changed. It was the look of someone who had just remembered something.
”There, I knew you'd remember it.”
Touko was convinced. Sachiko-onee-sama's failure to respond didn't change that at all.
”So? When did you tell Yumi-sama?”
Was it just before Christmas, or even earlier than that? It probably wouldn't change the current situation, but Touko desperately wanted to know.
When did Yumi-sama start looking at her with pity? That was a very important question to Touko.
But Sachiko-onee-sama made no allusion to that. Instead, she repeated her question.
”What would I even tell Yumi about your birth?”
Acting like that at this point in the game? Annoyed, Touko spat it out.
”Don't play dumb. Obviously that I'm not the Matsudaira's child!”
The moment she heard this, Sachiko-onee-sama's expression froze. Touko knew. This was surprise.
”Touko-chan &h.e.l.lip; you're not the baby that Mrs Matsudaira gave birth to?”
Those black pupils started back at her, unblinking. Touko put herself on guard.
”No way.”
”I'm afraid to say, this is the first I've heard about this.”
”There's no way that's true.”
She found it hard to believe that Sachiko-onee-sama hadn't heard about it.
Saionji or Ayanokouji or whoever knew about it three years ago. So how could the heiress to the Ogasawara family, who held the most power among their relatives and lived in Tokyo to boot, make it to this age without knowing about it?
But Touko had felt it earlier. Sachiko-onee-sama had been shocked by Touko's words. There was no way that was an act.
”Then why did you look like you'd just remembered something before?”
Wasn't it strange? It was her first time hearing it, but she remembered something.
”I simply remembered Suguru-san asking some leading questions.”
”Suguru-onii-sama &h.e.l.lip; ?”
Touko asked, and Sachiko-onee-sama looked up at the sky and laughed.
”I'm sure he was trying to determine whether or not I knew. He asked me if I remembered anything from when you were born.”
”And you said?”
”I told him I didn't remember. That's the truth. I couldn't answer any more than that.”
Her story was too concrete for an on-the-spot lie. Plus Suguru-onii-sama was given to asking leading questions.
”So then who was it?”
Suguru-onii-sama hadn't been talking to Yumi-sama. That much was obvious from their conversation the other day.
”Honestly, acting so high and mighty.”