Volume 30 Chapter 2 (1/2)

”Don't tell me you were waiting here for us?”

Yumi asked in disbelief.

”It's just a coincidence.”

Yos.h.i.+no-san answered sourly. When Rei-sama appeared from behind them she greeted Yumi's group of four with ”Gokigenyou,” but seemed to be forcing herself to be cheerful.

”I wonder if they've been fighting.”

Even if Sachiko-sama hadn't whispered this in Yumi's ear, the tension that filled the two metre gap between the Yellow Rose sisters was obvious.

”They haven't changed a bit. No matter how much time pa.s.ses, they're still acting like children.”

That was an incredibly morally superior position for Sachiko-sama to take, considering she had been bickering with Kas.h.i.+wagi-san not that long ago. But, thankfully, it looked like those comments hadn't carried to Yos.h.i.+no-san's ears. Still with a sour look on her face, Yos.h.i.+no-san poked her thumb over her shoulder and said:

”The impromptu gathering's still going on.”

When Yumi turned around, Tsutako-san and Shouko-chan were standing right behind her. s.h.i.+mako-san and Noriko-chan were also visible, a short distance away.

”It seems they caught the same train here.”

Yos.h.i.+no-san said. Although everyone had arrived at the amus.e.m.e.nt park half an hour after its opening time, Yos.h.i.+no-san's use of the word 'seems' implied they hadn't arranged this meeting.

”Were the trains running late?”

”I didn't hear anything about that.”

So, at the very least, Yos.h.i.+no-san and Rei-sama's late arrival wasn't because of the trains.

”But there was congestion during the bus ride.”

”Hmm.”

They hadn't made it in time to catch their intended train due to the slow-moving bus and had lost thirty minutes. It all fit together. Still, as Yumi watched the Yellow Rose sisters walking away, she was convinced that something else had happened on their journey here. If the problem was only that they were late because they got stuck in traffic, Yos.h.i.+no-san would be more animated, saying things like, ”They need dedicated bus lanes,” or, ”There needs to be more buses.” In contrast, gentle Rei-sama would never get upset over something as trivial as a traffic jam.

But enough of that. Yumi, Sachiko-sama, Kas.h.i.+wagi-san and Yuuki each purchased a ticket with their own money.

Having said that, the decision that they should all pay their own way was arrived at only after a ma.s.sive dispute. Sachiko-sama had announced, unprompted, that she would pay Yumi and Yuuki's share, since this was all so she could have her revenge. However, Yumi's parents were unwilling to stray from their principle that school students should each pay their own share, and the f.u.kuzawa siblings were unwilling to disobey their parents. In the end, they struck a deal where Kas.h.i.+wagi-san would drive them, thereby letting the Ogasawara family cover the travel expenses (Kas.h.i.+wagi-san and Sachiko-sama obviously kept their finances separate, but Yumi's parents knew they were related). Back then, neither Yumi nor anyone else in her family had imagined that Sachiko-sama would be driving.

After buying an all-day pa.s.s, they waited by the main entrance for Tsutako-san, Shouko-chan, s.h.i.+mako-san and Noriko-chan to join them.

”Oh.”

Surprisingly, it was only then that the White Rose sisters realized the other members were present. s.h.i.+mako-san looked at her watch, then quietly said something like, ”I wonder if we should go in.” They probably hadn't expected to meet their friends here since they had arrived late themselves. Yumi had waved at them from the ticket counter, but apparently they hadn't noticed.

Still.

(What, what?)

A pall hung over the area, as though they were holding a wake.

There should be more energy to a gathering of ten young men and women at an amus.e.m.e.nt park on Sunday. But this group seemed to have run out of fizz, like a soda can that had been opened and then left to stand for an hour. They hadn't entered the park yet, and they were all like that. Even though they had been so enthusiastic yesterday evening.

They started by greeting each other with ”Gokigenyou,” although no-one looked particularly happy.

The Yellow Rose sisters were fighting about something. Noriko-chan was acting reticent with s.h.i.+mako-san around. Even Tsutako-san and Shouko-chan were strangely awkward. Kas.h.i.+wagi-san and Sachiko-sama were on-edge because of their bickering over traffic and driving, while the f.u.kuzawa siblings were exhausted from fretting over their respective seniors.

”&h.e.l.lip; I suppose we should go inside.”

Even though Yumi was worried about her friends, they wouldn't solve anything by standing there looking at each other. Since they had all arrived about 30 minutes late, they entered the park together, as though they had planned to do this.

”Since it turned out like this, it's a shame that Touko and Kanako-chan aren't here as well.”

The amus.e.m.e.nt park date was always intended to be an optional outing, and if they happened to run into each other they could have some fun together. When they parted company last night, they hadn't been able to contact Kanako-chan and Touko had said she didn't know whether she would be able to come or not. If the park has just opened, they would have waited a while for Touko and Kanako-chan, but the park had already been open for thirty minutes so, a.s.suming they intended to come, it was possible they were already inside.

”Surprisingly, they may have made it here when the park opened.”

”It'd be nice if we met them inside.”

Then let the Touko-and-Kanako-hunt begin!

”Ahh - the steam train's running!”

Yos.h.i.+no-san pointed and shouted just after they'd walked though the main gate.

”You, you, and you. Let's go ride it.”

As for who Yos.h.i.+no-san was proposing should go on the ride with her, it was Yumi, s.h.i.+mako-san and Tsutako-san. In other words, all of the second-years from Lillian's Girls Academy. By all rights, the first one to see Yos.h.i.+no-san's smiling face should have been her partner, Rei-sama, but she was being completely ignored. Yumi didn't know what caused their fight, but the insinuation was quite obvious.

Noriko-chan and Shouko-chan were pulled in as well, following s.h.i.+mako-san and Tsutako-san respectively. And then, just like that, Yos.h.i.+no-san was in high spirits as she led the group of six.

”Yos.h.i.+no. Yumi-chan's here with Sachiko.”

Rei-sama was hastily chasing them, but Sachiko-sama said to her:

”It's okay. We'll all split up sooner or later, so we may as well have some fun together now.”

”Indeed. The steam train looks as though it can hold ten people riding together, so does anyone mind if we join in?”

Kas.h.i.+wagi-san smiled as he grabbed hold of Yuuki's arm. Yuuki shrugged himself free, saying he wasn't a child, and walked alongside Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama. Maybe older women were his type.

”Oh look, they have bicycles for inside the park.”

”Ah. There's a bear riding a bike.”

As they all traveled together, the conversation gradually picked up and the pall was lifted. There was no boisterous laughter, but it approached the liveliness of a Buddhist memorial service. Even Sachiko-sama and Kas.h.i.+wagi-san, by keeping a buffer of other people between them, were able to soften their mood. Since it was such an insignificant quarrel, there were unlikely to be any long-term repercussions.

In that case, perhaps Yos.h.i.+no-san and Rei-sama didn't want to be left alone just now. The White Rose sisters and the photography club duo didn't really understand what was going on, but since they agreed to ride on the steam train they obviously weren't looking to spend some time alone just yet.

Since the steam train could take over a hundred people at a time, it didn't take long until it was their turn. Now the problem was who would sit where. Normally, the couples that came together would pair up, ie. the White Rose sisters, the Yellow Rose sisters, the photography club duo, the Red Rose sisters and the pair from Hanadera Academy.

Occasionally they'd shuffle things around, but at present they had no way of randomly a.s.signing lots, and no-one would want to do a show of hands for who sat where.

”Yos.h.i.+no-san, what do you want to do?”

Yumi asked the most problematic person directly. Thereupon.

”It's okay. I'll sit with Rei-chan.”

Was Yos.h.i.+no-san's response. They way she said it made it obvious that she didn't want to be with Rei-chan, but that it was the lesser of two evils. That may be true, since she would be asked to explain if she sat with anyone else. Everyone had noticed that something was up, but Yos.h.i.+no-san hadn't said a single word about their fight. It must be something she wasn't proud of.

So, they all boarded the steam train and sat down with their usual partner. Yumi was happy to be next to Sachiko-sama, but found herself glancing two seats forward to where Yos.h.i.+no-san sat, out of concern.

As expected, Yos.h.i.+no-san was completely ignoring Rei-sama on her left, instead looking only at the scenery through the window on her right.

The kindergarten aged boy sitting in the seat in front of her was constantly exclaiming ”Wow!” and ”Cool!”

At first he was excited just to be on a steam train, which he'd only seen in picture books before (apparently), then when it started moving he took great joy in the park scenery that coalesced around them, then called out rea.s.suringly after confirming that his parents were sitting beside him.

(Ignorance is bliss.)

As she gazed at the scenery without noticing it, Yos.h.i.+no let her own deep sigh join the rus.h.i.+ng wind. It wasn't that she found the boy annoying or foolish. If anything, it was closer to envy or nostalgia. Yos.h.i.+no had been that ignorant and determinedly excited when she woke up this morning.

Yesterday, after it was determined that they would be going to the amus.e.m.e.nt park, Yos.h.i.+no couldn't stop herself from getting excited. Thoughts of going on the rides with Rei-chan, and what they would have for lunch, thrilled her - so much so that she awoke before her alarm clock went off this morning.

But despite that.

(How did things end up like this?)

Yos.h.i.+no desperately wanted Maria-sama to tell her how she could turn things around, so that she could grab hold of Rei-chan's arm and innocently say, ”Look at that,” and ”Wow,” like the boy sitting in front of her.

Yos.h.i.+no had arranged to meet with Rei-chan at 8:10am.

Having excitedly woken up over two hours before that, she had a leisurely breakfast, tried on the clothes she had picked out to wear last night, changed into a different pair that she thought might be better, then eventually went back to the first set of clothes. Despite taking such a long time to get dressed, there was still plenty of time left over.

Because she had so much free time, she started thinking unnecessary thoughts, which led to the cracks starting to form and the beginning of her sorrow.

”Hehehe.”

Yos.h.i.+no thought that her brain had probably melted from excitement. Upon reflection, it was obviously a mean-spirited practical joke, but at the time she was only thinking that it would be a bit of fun. She'd had the high spirits of a child in pre-school.

Yos.h.i.+no finished all her preparations for going out, then at 8:05am got back into bed and pulled the blanket over her head.

When 8:10 rolled around and Yos.h.i.+no still hadn't come out of her house, Rei-chan would enter the s.h.i.+mazu house, and Yos.h.i.+no's room, as usual.

(Yos.h.i.+no, what are you doing? Wake up already.)

Just as Rei-chan pulls down the blanket:

(Buh!)

Yos.h.i.+no, already dressed to go out, would poke out her tongue.

(Geeze, Yos.h.i.+no.)

(Hehehe. Did I scare you?)

The two would look at each other and laugh. - Well, that was Yos.h.i.+no's plan, anyway.

Still wearing her jacket and with the blanket pulled over her head, Yos.h.i.+no started to boil, but she kept enduring it. A little bit of patience is always needed before something fun.

However.

No matter how long she waited, Rei-chan still didn't appear in her room. When she lifted up her blanket to take a look at the clock, thinking that perhaps it hadn't been five minutes just yet, Yos.h.i.+no saw that it was 8:20am.

”Don't tell me Rei-chan overslept?” Yos.h.i.+no thought as she got out of bed, but then she heard the sound of someone walking up the stairs, so she hurriedly got back in bed.

The sound of knocking on the door was quickly followed by the door opening.

Now, come to me.

Yos.h.i.+no was waiting for the blanket to be ripped off her bed. Instead.

”What are you doing, Yos.h.i.+no?”

The voice she heard was not Rei-chan's.

”Mother!?”

Naturally, when Yos.h.i.+no pulled down the blanket the person standing there was the woman that had given birth to her.

”Where's Rei-chan!?”

”As she was leaving, she said she'd go on ahead since you weren't there on time.”

”Huh.”

”Hurry up and chase after her. Really, going back to sleep after you'd woken up so early.”

Explaining that she hadn't gone back to sleep would be a pain, so Yos.h.i.+no said, ”I'm off,” and flew out of the house. As she ran towards the bus stop, Yos.h.i.+no cursed Rei-chan for making her do this.

Turning the corner, she caught sight of someone up ahead. The long, jeans-clad legs that poked out of the short, off-white trench-coat were moving briskly.

”Rei-chan.”

Rei-chan stopped walking when Yos.h.i.+no called out to her.

”Why'd you go on ahead of me?”

Yos.h.i.+no complained as she ran.

”Because you weren't there at the time we'd set. I waited five minutes for you.”

Rei-chan brazenly fixed Yos.h.i.+no's bangs when she caught up. d.a.m.n it. It seems her hair got messed up while she was hiding under the blanket.

”But you usually come and get me.”

If Rei-chan were to say, ”I'm sorry,”, then Yos.h.i.+no was prepared to say, ”It's my fault too.” But that didn't happen.

”Why are you acting so spoiled?”

When Yos.h.i.+no heard that, it was like a switch was flipped inside her.

What's wrong with that? After all, once Rei-chan had graduated, she wouldn't be able to partic.i.p.ate in their morning ritual of waking Yos.h.i.+no up just in time to make it to school.

But Rei-chan didn't agree. It was probably because she was graduating that she didn't want Yos.h.i.+no to rely on her anymore.

Perhaps it was due to their different positions. The one heading out on a journey wanted to cut off all ties, while the one left behind wanted to cling to them.

”Ahh!”

Rei-chan cried out. The bus had sailed past them right at that moment. There was no-one waiting at the bus stop. It didn't look like anyone was getting off either, since the bus kept on going until it disappeared from view.

”Ahh.”

As she listened to Rei-chan's despondent cry, Yos.h.i.+no said:

”There's nothing we can do about it now.”

”There's hardly any buses on a Sunday.”

Rei-chan scratched her head.

”This is your fault, Yos.h.i.+no.”

”What?”

Sure, she hadn't been out in front of her house at the time they had agreed to, but that just meant Rei-chan should have come and got her. It had been Rei-chan's decision to wait five minutes, then leave without her, so she had no right to blame her. Even now, it was because of a choice she had made. If Rei-chan hadn't stopped when Yos.h.i.+no called out to her, instead continuing to walk along in silence, she would have caught that bus.

”&h.e.l.lip; Honestly.”

Rei-chan studied the timetable printed on the bus stop, then looked at her watch and sighed theatrically.

For argument's sake, let's say Rei-chan did make it here on time and Yos.h.i.+no still hadn't come, would she have got on that bus?

That's cold, Rei-chan. Yos.h.i.+no curled her lower-lip as she looked at Rei-chan's profile. If that's how it was going to be, then d.a.m.ned if she'd open her mouth until she'd received an apology.

The next bus wouldn't be here for about twenty minutes. Rei-chan didn't attempt to talk to her, so Yos.h.i.+no remained silent as well.

When they finally boarded the bus, it moved at a sluggish pace. The only possible reason was that the roads were packed. Looking out the front window, Yos.h.i.+no saw all makes of cars, both big and small, filling the road to the train station. Even when the lights turned green, there was no hint of movement.

”Yos.h.i.+no.”

Rei-chan spoke, for the first time in thirty minutes. Thinking that Rei-chan was about to apologize, Yos.h.i.+no responded with, ”Yes?” and turned towards her. However, the next words out of Rei-chan's mouth were:

”Don't you have something to say to me?”

- That.

”Good morning, Rei-chan.”

Yos.h.i.+no forced a smile.

”That's not it.”

Rei-chan was waiting for something else, but Yos.h.i.+no said, ”That's all,” and shut her out.

It's a shame, but Yos.h.i.+no wasn't going to be the first one to say, ”I'm sorry,” today.

As she absentmindedly watched the red light on the car in front of them, Yos.h.i.+no thought, ”At this rate, we're not going to make it to the amus.e.m.e.nt park by opening time.”

They began their time at the amus.e.m.e.nt park with everyone riding the steam train together. When they disembarked, Noriko thought that it had been a splendid idea from Yos.h.i.+no-sama.

At the very least, it had been for the White Rose sisters. Squeezed into that single carriage with the rest of the pa.s.sengers, they felt the vibrations of the train track as they were quickly whisked around the grounds. The gentle caress of the wind coming through the open windows upon Noriko's face had relaxed her. If it had just been the two of them, the situation would have seemed more serious, so much so that she would have been conscious of how she was breathing.

So when Yumi-sama had enthusiastically asked, ”Who wants to go to the haunted house?” Noriko raised her hand without hesitation. She loved s.h.i.+mako-san, and they really needed to have a proper talk soon, but for now she just wanted to spend a bit more time with her friends.

s.h.i.+mako-san said, ”I wonder if we should go too,” perhaps because she understood Noriko's feelings. As usual, Noriko's chest tightened when she saw s.h.i.+mako-san smile.

s.h.i.+mako-san had said that, ”It's not that big a deal,” but Noriko couldn't set it aside that easily. But, while still not knowing what she should do, Noriko realized that there had been nothing she could have done all along. All she could do was take the hit, but she was running away to try and avoid that.

What had been her state of mind when she first discovered that s.h.i.+mako-san was the daughter of a Buddhist priest? No matter how hard Noriko tried to remember, she couldn't. s.h.i.+mako-san's secret had been announced to the whole school, making it no longer a secret, then they had become soeurs, and the quiet, peaceful days had piled up one on top of the other.

Certainly, there were still many things she didn't know about s.h.i.+mako-san. But Noriko had never considered that this would be one of them.

Some lively music intruded on Noriko's thoughts. It looked as though a parade had started on Main Street. The group of friends she was walking with had paused to watch as well.

The characters in their brilliant costumes sang, danced and paraded. The spectating children waved at the bears and squealed with delight. Everyone seemed to be having fun.

Still, as the parade became more and more cheerful, Noriko became more and more depressed. Or perhaps her mood hadn't changed from five minutes ago, it just seemed more or less p.r.o.nounced depending on the excitement level of her surroundings. Like if someone had been walking along a flat road for a long time and suddenly there were mountains towering over them on each side, they'd think they were in a valley. That kind of thing. Probably.

(Was it a heavy burden for you?)

Even now, the words s.h.i.+mako-san said to her about an hour ago lingered in her mind.

s.h.i.+mako-san, standing right beside her and smiling as she shook the bear's hand, seemed incredibly mysterious.

Noriko had arranged to meet with s.h.i.+mako-san at the subway's ticket gate.