Volume 29 Chapter 1 (1/2)

In the middle of winter, a mere 30 minute difference in morning bus departure time meant a world of difference in ambient temperature.

You could say that this was obvious, since the sun would have had less time to warm the Tokyo atmosphere, but as she rode the bus that looped between the north gate of M station and Lillian's Girls Academy she couldn't dismiss it so simply.

She had thought it worthwhile checking if the bus that left at 7:30 was the same as the one that left right on 8:00. The peak-time for middle-school and high-school students heading to school was around 8:00am, so the bus was usually loaded to 200% capacity with students packed in tight and hanging on to overhead straps or handrails. Naturally, the heat was incredible. On days when you were carried through to the general vicinity of one of the heating ducts it was so steamy that you wanted to take off your m.u.f.fler and gloves, but there was no room to move, so all you could do was endure until you arrived at the Lillian's Girls Academy bus stop. - That was the scene that usually played out around Yumi on her trip to school these days.

(Oooh, it's cold)

So then, the only conclusion you could draw for why Yumi was now shaking as she sat in a deserted bus was that she had caught an earlier bus than usual. Even so, there would normally be more students catching this bus, but the one immediately before it had been running late and scooped up all of the students waiting on the platform, which meant that when this bus departed it only had about ten students on-board. It sounded like the heater was turned on, but its rattling did very little to warm the air.

Yumi placed her hand over her chest as she looked out the window. Underneath the layers of her gloves, coat and school uniform was a small weight. The cross that hung from her rosary was listening intently to the rhythmical thudding of her heart.

By following the line of thought that led to her catching an earlier bus, Yumi arrived at this rosary.

(&h.e.l.lip; Today's definitely the day I give this to Touko-chan)

As a result of that decision she had been a.s.sailed by waves of various emotions, including nervousness, excitement and sorrow, to the extent that she opened her eyes an hour earlier than usual this morning. In spite of her exhaustion from their long trip yesterday, Yumi had awoken without the aid of her alarm clock.

And once her eyes were open, there was nothing she could do. At the very least, her emotions made going back to sleep impossible, so Yumi turned the heater on with the remote control then quietly crept out of bed while it was still dark. It seemed a waste to spend the extra time on 'image training,' so she decided to head to school early instead. And when she arrived at M station, Yumi realized that by missing the morning peak she had also avoided various people asking her about how yesterday's date went.

The bus stopped in front of the gates to Lillian's Girls Academy. Ten girls, including Yumi, filed out of the rear doors of the bus, all of them students at Lillian's. Yumi was last off the bus, and as she stepped down, she turned and look inside the bus. The lone middle-aged woman who remained in one of the priority seats looked ill-at-ease.

Of the nine other students who got off the bus with her, none of them seemed to be smiling. Naturally, they recognized her as Rosa Chinensis en bouton, but they just gave a slight nod and then hurried off ahead of her. They all had their reasons why they had to arrive at school early. Yumi saw them off with a smile, then slowly walked after them.

Yumi glided smoothly across the pedestrian bridge, when usually she would have to trudge in order to keep pace with those around her. Of course, there had been days when she had to arrive early as part of her Yamayurikai work, but she'd never arrived at school so early without a meeting or task scheduled. It didn't matter when she arrived at the Rose Mansion today, so the feeling of being rushed was absent.

Yumi spotted a small sprout growing in a corner of the pedestrian bridge. The wind may have carried it there, since it was in a spot where dust had gathered. In spite of how cold the air felt on your skin. The pedestrian bridge was, just a tiny bit, closer to the sun than the ground, and perhaps it had good exposure to sunlight. Spring would soon be here.

As she pa.s.sed through the tall gates, the number of people Yumi could see walking in front of her increased. Students who caught the bus that looped in the opposite direction blended together with those who walked to school. Sprinkled in amongst these were a few university students and members of the teaching staff, who weren't wearing uniforms.

After walking down the path lined with trees, now stripped back to their branches, the statue of Maria-sama appeared. Normally Yumi was just one in a crowd of people when she pa.s.sed by here, and was always mindful of the people behind her, but today it looked like she'd be able to take her time.

Oh.

The sole person in front of the statue of Maria-sama was just finis.h.i.+ng her prayers as Yumi arrived.

The student turned around slowly, perhaps having sensed Yumi's presence or heard her footsteps. The girl turned around as though in slow-motion, and the instant their eyes met her mouth made the exact same shape as Yumi's.

”Ah”

The two faint sounds overlapped each other, sounding like a voice. The two of them stood facing each other with their mouths agape. But surely that couldn't have lasted for very long. The young lady in front of her quickly put on a smile, as though her momentary surprise had never happened, and said:

”Gokigenyou, Yumi-sama.”

This time around she projected her voice from her diaphragm.

Vertical hair-rolls that swayed beside her ears, a determined brow. First year camellia cla.s.s, Matsudaira Touko. Member of the drama club. Yesterday, Yumi's partner on a date. And -

”Thank-you for yesterday.”

As expected. She was someone who was able to act properly even in such circ.u.mstances.

”It seems like I caught the bus just ahead of yours. As our bus was leaving, we could see the next one pulling in to the bus stop and all the students on board sighed. Ahh, if only we'd waited for the next one.”

Not only that, but she seemed the same as usual.

”Yep. It was deserted.”

Belatedly, Yumi smiled and walked forward. Then stopped in front of the statue of Maria-sama. Yumi's heart leapt when she pa.s.sed in front of Touko-chan, but she took care not to show it. Because it was kind of annoying. It would be embarra.s.sing to be the only one who looked as though they were getting all excited.

But the truth was, Yumi was all excited. Because the face that she had been picturing as she walked along the path had suddenly appeared in front of her. And since she didn't know why this good fortune had befallen her, Yumi couldn't help herself.

When she lowered her hands that had been joined in prayer and turned around, Touko-chan was still there. So close that Yumi could almost reach out and touch her.

”Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Yumi walked over and stood beside Touko-chan. The cross hanging from her neck asked if she was sure about this, but Yumi walked alongside Touko-chan towards the school buildings.

Their chance meeting in front of the statue of Maria-sama may have been a perfect opportunity to give the rosary to Touko-chan, but Yumi didn't think so.

In order to retrieve the rosary, she would have had to undo the b.u.t.tons on her school coat.

Would have had to call out to Touko-chan to stop her from walking away.

People would have noticed. While Yumi was contemplating this, two other students had already walked past them.

But she knew immediately that these were all minor things. There was a bigger reason why she thought that this wasn't the right time.

For instance, if her coat jacket was to come unb.u.t.toned right now, Touko-chan were to stop walking and she could see that there was no-one else around, it would still be no good.

As they walked, Touko-chan spoke.

”For some reason I woke up earlier than normal today.”

So that was why she had arrived at school somewhat earlier than usual.

”Hmmm.”

Despite responding indifferently, Yumi's heart fluttered. It may simply have been a problem with her sleep cycle. But there was also the possibility that Touko-chan arose early due to excitement.

The pair stopped in front of the entrance to the school building. When they entered inside, they would each go in different directions, first to change into their indoor shoes and then on to their cla.s.srooms. If there was something she wanted to say, now was the time.

”Today at lunch-time.”

That was probably all Yumi needed to say for the astute Touko-chan to understand.

”Okay.”

At Touko-chan's small nod of a.s.sent, Yumi added, 'In front of the statue of Maria-sama.'

Students were walking around them as they stood there talking. Some students didn't even look at their faces. Others looked inquisitively at the pair who were the center of so many rumors.

Yumi turned to leave when she was stopped by Touko-chan saying, 'Umm.'

”I have something to ask of you.”

Despite the presence of a group of three first years noisily making their way past, Touko-chan drew close to Yumi and whispered in her ear.

”At that time - ”

When she heard what Touko-chan said, Yumi was surprised. But judging by Touko-chan's expression, she hadn't misheard her.

Touko-chan had been thinking about the same thing.

Yumi was elated at Touko-chan's request, even more than she had been about them both waking up early.

First year camellia cla.s.s, Matsudaira Touko.

Member of the drama club.

Yesterday, Yumi's partner on a date.

- And the girl who would become Yumi's pet.i.t soeur in a few hours time.

Yumi's predictions were confirmed when she opened the door to the second year pine cla.s.sroom and saw that there were hardly any students inside, and the room seemed colder than usual.

”Gokigenyou.”

Yumi started by greeting the three students who had arrived ahead of her. After that, she walked over to her seat and placed her schoolbag and purse on the table. Then she took off her school coat and gloves, and put them in her locker at the back of the cla.s.sroom. Yumi then returned to her seat and had just finished taking out the notebooks that she would use for today's cla.s.ses when she was confounded. Something had gone missing.

”Oh, what's this about, you don't have to go to the Rose Mansion?”

Yumi's cla.s.smates were watching her, intrigued, as she remained seated.

”I just felt like coming to school early today, for no real reason.”

Yumi's cla.s.smates chuckled at her answer, one of them adding, 'My, what a luxury.' When she asked about this, Yumi learned that they all regularly arrived at this hour because of the public transportation near where they lived. If they caught a later bus or train they would risk being tardy, so their only option was to wake up early.

”It must be hard to do that every day.”

As for Yumi, she caught a bus to and from M station. Traffic congestion made it harder to judge when a bus would arrive compared to a train, but thankfully even if she if she did miss the bus she only had to wait about ten minutes for the next one to arrive.

”Because you do it every day, you get used to it.”

”Right, right. And once you're used to it, it's surprisingly pleasant.”

”You get to skip the morning rush hour.”

All three of the girls spoke. Yumi thought that they were the ones who had the luxury.

”And there are other girls who have club activities or committee meetings that get here even earlier than us.”

That was true. There were a number of desks with a bag on them, but the owner nowhere in sight. Most clubs had canceled their regular morning practices because the 'Third Years' Farewell Party' was drawing near, but some were holding special club activities.

”So what do you usually do during the thirty minutes or so until everyone arrives?”

Yumi bowed her head as she asked. Since they were all experts, they undoubtedly had some brilliant way of making use of the time.

”Nothing much &h.e.l.lip; right?”

The three girls exchanged glances.

”Around Christmas and Valentines Day we'll knit, or do something similar. But, these days? We'll usually just finish off some homework or go over our English vocabulary.”

”Yeah, that's it. Because we have to wake up early, we also have to go to bed early. And it's just more efficient to study in the morning.”

”Ohh...”

At least for today, f.u.kuzawa Yumi had finished all her homework and was fully prepared for cla.s.s. Naturally, she hadn't brought along some unfinished knitting either. And she wasn't such an avid reader that she always carried around a book to read.

”Oooh.”

Yumi thought about the many occasions when she was low on time but desperately wanted some more, but now that she had unexpectedly found herself with some spare time she didn't know how to use it.

”Yumi-san, you're really&h.e.l.lip;”

”Looks that way.”

Her three cla.s.smates laughed, amazed. They were undoubtedly thinking that she was dull and lacked interests.

”Anyway, if you had some Yamayurikai work to do, you could do that.”

That was true, so Yumi couldn't really object.

”Or how about going to the Rose Mansion? There's probably something there to do.”

”Maybe.”

The next Yamayurikai organized event was the 'Third Years Farewell Party,' so of course there was work to do. But the Yamayurikai members had decided to co-ordinate when to come in early and stay back late so they could all work together. Even so.

”I'm not sure how well it would go down if I went to the Rose Mansion early and started working by myself.”

”Ahh.”

Since Yos.h.i.+no-san would be the only one shouting about 'throwing off the pace' or 'breaking a promise' it would probably be okay, but then Noriko-chan would show up early tomorrow morning to meet Yumi. What was simply a way for her to waste some time would turn into a major drama.

”Really, what I want to do is go and see my onee-sama, but I don't think she'd be here just yet.”

Yumi flopped down over her desk. The other girls looked surprised.

”Oh, is that so? Sachiko-sama seems like she's the type of person who would come to school early.”

”She wouldn't be here this early unless she had something to do.”

Sachiko-sama was no good early in the morning because of her low blood pressure. Especially in winter, when it took quite a while for her body and brain to get in gear.

Even so, it's not as though she would burst through the school gates rus.h.i.+ng to make it on time. Running, and consequently rustling her skirt and tossing her sailor collar, would be such an offense to Sachiko-sama's sense of dignity that it would rank as one of the most indecent acts she could perform.

While they were chatting, the number of students in the cla.s.sroom was steadily rising. Then the other three girls left her with a cryptic remark before returning to their respective desks.

”Yumi-san, good luck.”

”Huh?”

Good luck, they said. But what on earth would she need luck for? Before Yumi had a chance to turn around and ask, a new group of students tramped into the cla.s.sroom.

”Ahh - Yumi-san's here.”

In the time it took the one person to say that, she had been surrounded by six of her cla.s.smates.

(Ah.)

Belatedly, Yumi understood the meaning of the 'Good luck.'

”Is the rumor about yesterday's date true?”

”What happened? Your partner was Matsudaira Touko-san, right?”

”Where did you go? I tried looking around K station yesterday.”

”...Well.”

Yumi was frankly amazed at how her life somehow managed to be constantly in the spotlight. But she couldn't just sit there dumbfounded, she had to think.

So then, how to weather this storm?

If she were s.h.i.+mako-san, she would only have to smile to evade their concentrated attack. Even if Yumi wanted to emulate her, they were fundamentally different. Yumi would only succeed in creeping them out with a forced smile.

(That's right. There's a phrase that's perfect for this situation.)

Yumi thought, 'What was it?' as she looked at her cla.s.smates, who were anxiously waiting to see what would come out of her mouth. Mami-san had taught it to her, a magic phrase that would get her out of this kind of situation.

”Umm, it's that thing.”

Yumi raised her right index finger, and twirled it around.

”That thing?”

Her cla.s.smates shook their heads blankly.

”Right. That, that thing.”

It was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite get it out. What was it? She knew what it was, but she just couldn't find that phrase that meant something like a promise.

”Oooooh.”

Well, she'd come this far. The girls asked her, 'Are you okay?' and 'Does it hurt?' as Yumi grimaced, trying to force sound through her larynx.

”It's annoying. The words aren't coming out.”

”Huh?”

Instantly the worried expressions all changed to relieved expressions, well, all except for Yumi's.

”There's a phrase for it.”

Yumi told her cla.s.smates, who were starting to recover from shock. But having said that there was a phrase, she was still no closer to working out what the phrase was.

”It's not so much a promise, more an order[1]? Right, at the end I was given an order. A &h.e.l.lip; mumble, mumble order.”

”Hasekura Rei?”

”No!”

”An order to show compa.s.sion to all living things?”

”Shorter than that.”

”A suppression order?”

”That's it!”

”That's it, huh?”

After a cheer of relief, there were high fives all around.

”Well, if you're under a suppression order, that's all there is to it.”