Maria-sama ga Miteru

She had a feeling something like that was coming.

It didn"t take long after the start of the semester exams, she thought. But it"s a "now that I think about it" sort of thing, so that might be wrong.

At the time, she didn"t give it much thought, particularly given that it was semester exam time, so she simply wondered, "What is it?" and quickly switched her mind back to a different channel. After all, for an "Academically Average" student, the scope of the j.a.panese history exam, or memorization strategies for the periodic table were far more important information than the hushed whispers of cla.s.smates.

Of course, her goal was "Surpa.s.s Average-ness!" but if she slipped, she could fall under it. Being in the middle was tough.

(Rosa Chinensis en bouton having bad grades would be horrible&h.e.l.lip;)

First-year peach-cla.s.s attendance number 35, f.u.kuzawa Yumi quietly sighed heavily.

The student council of the Lillian Girls" Academy High School, the Yamayurikai staff, was filled with students with extraordinary academic marks. Since Yumi was already holding a complex about her appearance amongst these students, adding academics to the list of things she worried about was painful.

As long as you attend cla.s.ses regularly all the time, there"s no need to cram. That was once said by her onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, who she bonded with during autumn, but Yumi ignored that and during the break period between exams, scanned through the reference book like an express train.

People who end up at the top of the chart academically without putting much effort simply were built differently up there. Commoners needed to study with regularity. Unless she caught up a bit to Yoshino-san and Shimako-san, her onee-sama would look bad, too.

"-Rosa Gigantea&h.e.l.lip;"

(Rosa Gigantea?)

Despite that situation, Yumi still reacted to her cla.s.smates" voices.

Rosa Gigantea obviously meant THAT Rosa Gigantea.

(Rosa Gigantea, with the very non-j.a.panese face and stone-statuesque figure, a middle-aged man inside with an obsession with hugging, and still popular among undercla.s.smen anyways?)

Of course, no one else was called Rosa Gigantea, anyways.

Well, she was always being talked about, so Yumi heard that name said aloud all the time. Then why"d she respond to this one? Well, it wasn"t accompanied by pink heart marks, but had a more secretive tone. And that tone matched perfectly with the hushed whispers floating around.

(What"s going on?)

When she looked up toward the voices, she saw Katsura-san and a number of other students whispering to one another.

Speaking of Katsura-san, she was similar to Yumi, being the type to dive into reference books before exams to cram, but for whatever reason she was expending all her effort into gossip. Curiosity, rather than the exam in front of her. Well, that wasn"t too far off of her, either.

However.

(I don"t know.)

Katsura-san"s subject seemed to be based on the book she was holding. Yumi could tell that much, at least, by looking at them.

Yumi placed the mechanical pencil she was holding on her textbook, and tilted her head. How does Rosa Gigantea come up when talking about a book?

(Maybe she borrowed the book from Rosa Gigantea.)

However that was more believable if it were Shimako-san, being Rosa Gigantea"s little sister. But she hardly had any contact with Katsura-san, so that was unlikely.

Or maybe the book had been left behind. And the name inside the cover was Rosa Gigantea"s.

(That might work.)

And because few people call her by name, she wanted to confirm the name with her cla.s.smates.

(But.)

Then you would ask Shimako-san, first. Plus, they"d been whispering for a few days.

When she glanced at Shimako-san"s seat, she found her elegantly leafing through her text book, like she was gazing at a magazine. Maybe she didn"t hear the "Rosa Gigantea" earlier.

(- but this isn"t the time for this!)

She hurriedly looked back at the textbook, but her piqued curiosity was like lint in a drying machine - you couldn"t get rid of it that easily. This personality of hers was why she was probably destined never to be able to get out of being average. Even Shimako-san, who easily took first or second in academics in the cla.s.s, was completely focused on her textbook. At this rate, rather than catch up, Yumi felt like the gap was simply widening.

Maybe I should just give up on j.a.panese history, she mused, but she imagined the angry face of her onee-sama and threw that thought away.

It would be so much easier if she had a more suitable onee-sama for this kind of situation-. Katsura-san and others were still in a clump talking to each other.

Incidentally, Oda n.o.bunaga"s sister, whose face was on the textbook page she was opened to, looked a bit like Sachiko-sama.

"Ahh, I"m sorry, I"ve actually been out of the loop for that one, too."

Tsutako-san folded her arms and nodded.

"Really?"

"I mean, obviously it smells like something"s up, but only a handful of people are in on it."

Afternoon, after another safely concluded exam day. Yumi was still curious, so she tracked down Tsutako-san and asked for her opinion.

She could have asked Katsura-san, but she seemed to keep her distance from Yumi as she stealthily left school, and at some point Shimako-san vanished, too. And then she noticed Tsutako-san, so she was like, "Nice timing!" Tsutako-san"s always useful in these circ.u.mstances. After all, the photography club was right next-door to the newspaper club, so she picked up little gossip all the time.

"Only a handful of people?"

"Right now, it just seems like a bunch of people in our cla.s.s secretly talking about it. I don"t know about other cla.s.ses, but I doubt they"ve really caught on. The newspaper club wouldn"t let it go if it were, you know?"

"- That"s true."

"That"s all, see you."

"Ah, wait."

Even Tsutako-san restrained herself from barging in on club activities during exam time, so Yumi hurriedly put on her school coat and followed after Tsutako-san. Even Yumi had restrained herself from forcing her own timetable to match with Sachiko-sama so they could leave school together during exam time, so this was a good opportunity to listen to Tsutako-san more.

If it was just an irresponsible rumor begun by her cla.s.s, there was no point in making a big deal out of it by speaking to her onee-sama. After all, these things often end up just being some simple misunderstanding.

"But I don"t think that would be the case."

Pointing her camera at Yumi, who was taking her shoe out of the shelf, Tsutako-san quickly answered.

"No?"

"Yumi-san. You seem to be thinking that the book Katsura-san was holding belonged to Rosa Gigantea, but that"s not the case."

"Why?"

When Yumi asked as she snapped her shoes, Tsutako-san seemed to have liked her bent-over pose, as she took several photos.

"Tsutako-san!"

"I"m sorry, I got carried away. What was it?"

"You-"

"Oh, right. It"s not Rosa Gigantea"s book. &h.e.l.lip; I mean, you saw the book, right?"

"I only noticed it was a novel, though."

She caught a glimpse of the front cover because there was no book cover, but she wasn"t able to check the t.i.tle.

"You didn"t notice after seeing the front cover... Hmm. I guess Yumi-san doesn"t read that sort of book."

"That sort?"

"Perfect. Let"s take a detour."

"Eh?"

After they left out the front entrance, Tsutako-san grabbed Yumi"s arm and walked across the street.

"L, Library?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"It"s faster to show you than to explain, right? If Rosa Foetida en Bouton were here I don"t think we"d have to go to the library, though."

Why is Rei-sama mentioned here-? Yumi"s mind was like a ball of yarn, with everything needing to be carefully untangled.

h.e.l.lo, Tsutako-san. Weren"t we talking about Rosa Gigantea?

"Oh just come on."

Without explaining anything, Tsutako-san happily pushed open the fogged-gla.s.s door and pushed Yumi, sporting a bewildered expression, inside.

It"s amazing how pa.s.sing through one doorway can lead you into a whole different world.

Libraries feel like they have this soft, but heavy feeling drifting in the air. Maybe it"s because of the material of the walls and the floors. It"s a bit like the music room. But a lot thicker, and dignified.

"What"re you standing there for, it"s not the first time you"ve gone into a library."

After a quick bow to the librarian working at the front office, Tsutako-san grabbed Yumi"s arm and led her through the sound-proof door to the left. And then. A s.p.a.cious room, a high ceiling, the unique scent of books, the soft lighting. The reading room for high school and middle school students was in view.

"Umm. Where was it."

After heading to the bookshelf she was looking for, Tsutako-san quickly moved ahead. Of course, she was still grabbing Yumi"s arm.

"I feel like I"m being brought to the police."

"If you don"t like it, walk faster."

"&h.e.l.lip; Yeees."

Probably because it was exam time, there were a lot of students still remaining in the library. But there were almost no students at the bookshelves or the counter. They were all packed into the seats and desks. They were using the library to study.

"Here we are."

Tsutako-san abruptly stopped in front of a bookshelf stuffed with novels. Yumi couldn"t help but notice, though not for the first time, that different bookshelves were used for different shapes and sizes of books. The gap between the shelf holding the encyclopedia and the shelf holding the novels was like comparing a sumo wrestler to a newborn baby.

"Yumi-san, the book you saw was like this, right?"

Yumi looked at the book Tsutako-san pulled out and nodded. It was a beautiful cover, and the light-pink flower insignia was outstanding.

"Wow, Tsutako-san, you saw the t.i.tle?"

"-Of course not. Even with gla.s.ses, my eyesight is just 0.7."

I see. Her trademark frameless gla.s.ses weren"t just for show. Then why, Yumi thought, but her question was immediately answered. Tsutako-san pulled out another book and showed Yumi. "Here."

"Huh?"

They all looked the same. The book Katsura-san held included. But the t.i.tles were all different.

"They all use the same cover?"

"I think there are four different colors. You really don"t know?"

"No."

"Cosmos Book Collection. That the very typical Yumi-san wouldn"t know of them is quite an astonishment."

Tsutako-san grinned and looked at Yumi.

She would have preferred it if she wasn"t being looked at like a rare animal. Typical, meant for better or for worse, she wasn"t very outstanding, so it wasn"t a particularly fond way to be called.

Apparently, Cosmos Book Collection was a type of book collection published by Kyuuteisha, and it specialized in shoujo novels. In reality, they didn"t all use the same cover, but rather, they used yellow, blue and white, other than pink, to signify genre.

(But I thought shoujo novels had cute, florid covers like comics, but I guess I was wrong?)

"Yumi-san, you"re wondering why Cosmos Book Collection doesn"t use ill.u.s.trations for their cover despite specializing in shoujo novels, aren"t you?"

Tsutako-san, you"ve even picked up mind reading.

"Of course, ill.u.s.trations are important. After all, they lend a hand to the dreams and imaginations of young maidens."

Tsutako-san fit into that "young maiden" age group, too, Yumi thought. But she spoke like she was ten or twenty years older.

"Plus, for first-time readers, the cover ill.u.s.tration goes a long way toward introducing the story to them, right? Even if the author doesn"t have name-appeal, if the ill.u.s.tration has enough of an impact, they"ll pick the book up."

"Um&h.e.l.lip; Tsutako-san-"

The story was becoming extremely specialized. She would start off on odd tangents, and once she began speaking, she was like a rolling s...o...b..ll. As time pa.s.ses, it grows and gains speed.

"I understand the cover ill.u.s.tration is important."

Finding a good time to interrupt, Yumi quickly blurted that out. She decided it was better to cut her off now.

"It"s not just the front cover. See."

Tsutako-san opened the book and flipped through the pages for Yumi. No good. She seemed to have been nudged from her original path, but she kept rolling onward.

"No ill.u.s.trations inside, either. Because-"

Roll, roll, roll, roll.

Yumi gave up and decided to listen to Tsutako-san. She decided if she spoke up and said something wrong, Tsutako-san would simply begin rolling down a brand new path. She brought up the topic, after all. Just because she"d become hungry, it wouldn"t be proper to abruptly close the curtains and say good bye.

It would take a while to use Tsutako-san"s exact words, so to summarize, Cosmos Book Collection basically strives for adult-oriented shoujo novels. Or put another way, novels supporting mature girls.

Commuting to work, commuting to school, during break time, people like to read in all sorts of situations. But they don"t often like having the book they"re reading identified.

Normally, it"s almost impossible to figure out what the book is about by its cover and t.i.tle. But shoujo novels are different in that they often have whole pages devoted to an ill.u.s.tration. What could one ill.u.s.tration do? you might wonder, but at the very least, it becomes obvious you"re reading shoujo, and if the ill.u.s.tration is a boys" love scene, that could be pretty bad.

So Cosmos Book Collection eliminated every ill.u.s.tration. The story was introduced by the catch-copy sash that comes with the book, a summary was found on the other side of the cover, and they color-coded the books and made them a bit more pleasant to see. Boys" love is blue, for instance. People who don"t know about Cosmos Book Collection won"t understand the meaning of the colors, and if someone sees them that does know, that"s not as big of a deal. And if people are bothered by even that, they can just slip on a book cover.

"&h.e.l.lip; So I don"t know what book Katsura-san was holding."

After speaking at length, Tsutako-san finally returned to the original topic. There"re no ill.u.s.trations, the covers are the same, so even though we know it"s by Cosmos Books, it"s impossible to know right now which book they were talking about. -Gosh, that took a while.

"Even so, it"s definitely not Rosa Gigantea"s book. She doesn"t read novels."

"How do you know Rosa Gigantea doesn"t read?"

"I think it was around May this year, they had an interview article in the "Lillian Kawaraban." She said she doesn"t read many novels or manga."

"Oh."

Ever since she entered high school, she only watched Sachiko-sama, so she didn"t remember. Come to think of it, she didn"t even know about Rei-sama and Yoshino-san"s relationship even though the "Lillian Kawaraban" had apparently run a big article about it, so she felt like she was a rather blissful creature.

"Ah."

And everything clicked together.

"And that"s why you mentioned Rei-sama."

"Exactly."

Contrary to her boyish looks, Rei-sama was a girl"s girl. And because she said she loved shoujo novels, she must have knowledge about Cosmos Books.

"Rosa Foetida en Bouton might be able to sort this out for us, but she"s not really the type to delve into other peoples" gossip, so I don"t know."

Tsutako-san did her camera obsession proud, showcasing her great observational skills.

Yumi had just been thinking the same, that it would feel extremely awkward asking Rei-sama about gossip.

Speaking of Rei.

While the two lambs were with one another in the library, she had diligently opened her math textbook to a set of problems.

Living close to the school comes with its own set of joys. While other people are busy being tossed and turned inside buses and trains, she would already be home, so she could sometimes even eat lunch there.

She"d become so accustomed to a ten-minute walking distance that she couldn"t imagine having to bear traveling an hour and a half to go one way. And with that, it"d been a quick twelve years and nine months of attending a school for princesses, contrary to her boyish looks. And now, she was somewhat apathetically thinking that at this rate, even after graduating high school, she"d probably end up going to Lillian"s college or junior college.

"Gosh, Rei-chan"s lunches are the best. This hot sandwich, the cheese is so neatly melted, and the corn-cream croquette and the minced cabbage somehow works so well together, it"s so good!"

One of the reasons for Rei being fastened into Lillian - her sœur and cousin, Yoshino, popped the last bit of the hot sandwich into her mouth and admired the lunch menu.

"Flattery won"t bring you anything. Come on, if you"re done, open your textbook."

"I"m not flattering!"

As she exclaimed, Yoshino reluctantly placed her tray on the floor, and brought her textbook onto the table.

This was Rei"s room.

It was the year-end bargain sale or something, so both of their mothers had gone out together, so in turn, Rei had called Yoshino over to have lunch. Incidentally, their mothers weren"t blood-related, but they"d been cla.s.smates at Lillian, so they were rather close friends.

They were such close friends that they married each others" brothers. And then they settled down next doors, so they were way too close, Rei sometimes thought, somewhat exasperated at their mothers.

But she could understand now. She wanted to live next-door to Yoshino forever. Ahh, she didn"t want their relationship to be messed up ever again.

- And as she was sentimentally thinking that.

"Rei-chan."

A super-close-up of Yoshino.

"Woah, you scared me!"

Placing her hand on the low-dining-style table, Yoshino leaned over like she wanted to tell a secret, and whispered.

"Rei-chan, umm. I just remembered, at cla.s.s today-"

She should have been used to it, but it still made her heart race. Yoshino"s eyes were this big.

"&h.e.l.lip; Yoshino, if you want to just chat, save it for later."

She mumbled, hiding her embarra.s.sment.

"Weren"t you the one that asked for help, because you were in trouble for tomorrow"s math exam?"

"But, Rei-chan."

"Private tutors usually don"t come with a meal."

"Fiiine."

In truth, the math textbook Rei had opened was "Math I" from last year, and she"d gone out of her way to dig it out of her bookshelf for Yoshino. Yoshino was hospitalized for surgery over the fall, so she"d fallen behind in cla.s.ses. Let"s have lunch together, of course included a study session afterward. As her "onee-sama" she felt obliged to help her little sister avoid the h.e.l.l of red test marks.

"For starters, I want to know how far along you are, so go through all of these problems. Then&h.e.l.lip;"

She glanced at Yoshino. She was fiddling with her braids, and looked like she was almost about to explode. Gosh, who did she think Rei was spending such valuable time for, anyways?

Sheesh. Rei shut her textbook.

"So, what?"

"Eh?"

"What you were saying. I"ll listen. But you have to promise you"ll concentrate fully on studying afterward, okay?"

And simultaneously, Yoshino"s face brightened like a lamp.

"And that"s the Rei-chan I know."

"I"m way too soft."

But there weren"t many people who wouldn"t be moved by that sort of cute face, she thought. An angel"s smile. They say people are drawn to things they don"t have, and that definitely felt true here.

"Umm, it"s mainly about our cla.s.s, but there"s this weird rumor circulating."

Yoshino happily began.

"A weird rumor?"

She had a bad feeling about this. There was never anything good to come out of gossip. She herself got wrecked by the "Yellow Rose Revolution" gossip just last month. And then the pregnancy rumors of her big sister, Rosa Foetida, took off on its own, and half of the student body actually spoke of it like it was the truth. She still couldn"t understand how wisdom teeth and pregnancy get confused.

"Ah, this has nothing to do with Rei-chan and I, by the way."

"That would be dreadful. &h.e.l.lip; So?"

Relieved, she urged Yoshino on. And there, she lowered her voice a bit.

"This time, it"s Rosa Gigantea."

"Uh?"

"This time Rosa Gigantea"s the protagonist of the rumors."

Crimson October, Yellow November, and now White. What a lovely order of stories. It was enough to make her wonder if the newspaper club caused all of this, but if that were the case, they"d run it as a scoop article. Given that club captain that definitely felt more likely.

"But. If it"s Rosa Gigantea I can"t find myself being surprised at whatever she did."

Aloof, flirty, carefree. Unless she did something super extraordinary, it was easy to just say, "Oh it"s just her."

"Then, how about an autobiographical novel?"

"What do you mean?"

"For example, Rosa Gigantea composes a frank confession of a hidden part of her past? That would be incredible, and it"d cause a lot of uproar, wouldn"t it?"

"&h.e.l.lip; She did?"

"Well, that"s the "rumor," anyways."

"But that"s a lie, right?"

"Oh how cruel! Rei-chan"s doubting me!"

"No, that"s not what I mean."

That rumor can"t be true, she meant. But, having misunderstood her, Yoshino became excited and tossed a cushion at Rei.

"Even if I don"t like studying I wouldn"t lie to get away."

"That"s not what I meant."

On one hand she felt she should be happy Yoshino was this energetic again, but it wouldn"t be funny if it got to bloodshed, so she used both hands to stop Yoshino, who was about to lift a tray filled with dishes.

"I don"t think the first-years, Yoshino included, know."

Rei said to Yoshino, who looked clueless. That meant she"d have to explain.

"Rosa Gigantea"s past&h.e.l.lip; is like, taboo, I guess? We"re not really supposed to talk about it."

"What do you mean?"

"An unspoken agreement, sort of. Everyone who knows about it closed their mouths to protect her."

"What happened?"

"I don"t know&h.e.l.lip; I was just a first-year, and they never told me about it."

But she knew something happened to Rosa Gigantea last year, right before Christmas.

"Past, you mean, last year?"

"Yes."

Around winter last year, Rosa Gigantea changed. Yoshino might not believe it, but that Rosa Gigantea was hardly imaginable with this Rosa Gigantea, being extremely cold and apathetic.

What could possibly change a person this much? It probably had to do with the student that suddenly vanished from Lillian before the third semester-. She thought of a lot of scenarios, but she never found out the truth. But she could a.s.sume something big happened.

So, it was unimaginable Rosa Gigantea would turn that into a novel on her own accord. After all, everyone staying silent around her meant they were afraid of wounding her further with just their words.

"If the rumor were to spread, Rosa Gigantea probably will come out and deny it, but I think it might be good to shut down these irresponsible rumors before they spread."

They are rumors after all, so they needed to act quickly if they wanted to shut it down.

"I don"t think it"s possible to suppress it, though."

"Why? We just have to find where the rumors started, and then deal with it."

"Where the rumors started? Where are you talking about, Rei-chan?"

"Where Rosa Gigantea"s book is supposedly going to be published. The literature club? If it"s just a "Lillian Kawaraban" special, it would be the newspaper club."

It was the middle of exams, but if the situation called for it, she was prepared to walk into the cla.s.sroom of the person responsible and request a meeting. She"d been helped by Rosa Gigantea so many times that she wanted to help her whenever she could.

"Ummm."

But Yoshino still looked troubled.

"Where did it come from?"

This time, Rei probed Yoshino.

"I think Rei-chan will be stunned."

"Stop dancing around, spit it out."

Then, Yoshino pointed at the bookshelf, stuffed with books with floral symbols.

"That."

"&h.e.l.lip; What?"

"Kyuuteisha"s Cosmos Book Collection."

- This was no longer the time for math study.

By the next day, the rumor had spread like influenza.

The virus had certainly spread throughout the entire cla.s.s, and if this were a real case of influenza, there would no doubt have been a quarantine.

"Yumi-san, how was your test today?"

Yoshino-san asked, propping her head on her hand.

"Bad. Even though I tried to study, I couldn"t get Rosa Gigantea out of my head."

"Same. And then I tried to get some sleep, but I couldn"t do that either."

"&h.e.l.lip; Yes."

It was past noon, when the third exam had finally ended.

The two sisters of Boutons had come to the Rose Mansion, even though they had no particular reason to be here, and with no one to see them, they sighed.

Tomorrow would be the last day of exams. So they would usually enjoy their brief respite between exams this afternoon, and also get ready for winter break, by going home and studying for their last exam. But even if they"d gone home, it would have just been a repeat of yesterday, so they"d gathered here. They couldn"t study, because the Rosa Gigantea rumors wouldn"t leave their minds.

"The uppercla.s.smen aren"t coming?"

"Rei-chan&h.e.l.lip; I mean, onee-sama said she would come-"

The rumors were centered more around the first-years, so the second and third-year students didn"t seem to pay it as much heed. After all, they were the sort to immediately gather at the Rose Mansion and think of a counter-measure.

"How about Shimako-san?"

Yoshino-san asked Yumi, lifting her head abruptly, like she had just remembered. Because, see, Shimako-san"s in Yumi"s cla.s.s.

"By the time I left the cla.s.sroom, she was gone."

"Oh."

They sighed together, again.

First-years couldn"t do anything when push came to shove. They"d only been born one or two years earlier, Rosa Gigantea often said, but that one or two year difference was definitely huge. But even with another two years, she couldn"t imagine herself being anything like those super-humans, so people are probably born with different dispositions.

"Mm?"

They heard the dull sounds of feet climbing the stairs. They couldn"t tell, at first, but by the time it"d come close, they could hear the unique characteristic of those footsteps.

"I wonder if it"s Rei-sama?"

"It could be."

For the inexperienced first-years, even despite knowing that footsteps have a unique characteristic to them, they couldn"t actually tell who they belonged to.

The squeaking sound of feet crushing down on the decrepit floors stopped in front of the second-floor salon that Yumi was in, also known as the conference room.

"Is someone there?"

The person who came in through the biscuit-shaped door made her appearance with scarlet roses behind her back (at least, that"s how Yumi saw it).

"O, Onee-sama!"

"Oh, Yumi. And Yoshino-chan."

Always the brilliant and cool expression. Yumi"s onee-sama, a true, elegant, n.o.ble princess, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, entered the room.

"It, it has been a while, onee-sama."

But they"d pa.s.sed each other in the hallway this morning. But Sachiko-sama smiled, "Indeed," and sat down next to Yumi at the round table.

"And?"

Sachiko-sama straightened her back, intertwined her fingers above the table, and asked.

"What are you two trying to do?"

Yumi and Yoshino-san both asked, "Huh?" Speaking of which, what was Sachiko-sama doing here, too?

"I was thinking about going home, but Rei stopped me in the hallway. And she told me to go to the Rose Mansion."

"And that Rei-sama?"

"I"m not really sure, but she was caught by some first-years."

Like background music to Sachiko-sama"s words, they could hear the "grush, grush" sound of someone climbing the stairs. This time it was no doubt Rei-sama.

"Sorry for being late."

Rei-sama appeared with her very-short front hair disheveled, making her forehead bare. Because there were almost no students left, she"d apparently run from the hallways.

"I wish you would be a bit more quiet."

Sachiko-sama muttered to herself, and Yoshino-san wiped Rei-sama"s drenched face with a handkerchief.

"I stopped by the Milk Hall, but they don"t have a whole lot of supplies right now, so they were sold out."

But Rei-sama placed a cute bear-symbol pouch on the table.

"What is that?"

Yoshino-san asked.

"A first-year gave it to me just now. Handmade snacks, apparently, let"s eat it together."

Yumi was the only one that squealed, kyaa.

"I"ll pour tea, then."

And she stood up quickly. To be honest, she"d been hungry for quite some time. She intended to go home right after exams, so she hadn"t thought to bring any lunch.

"Making cupcakes during exam time."

Yoshino-san looked troubled.

Ah. Because Rei-sama received those cupcakes. Which meant, of course, the patissier had to be a big fan of Rei-sama. As her sœur you end up being jealous. She probably didn"t want to say it, but Yoshino-san had to have been a bit hungry, too. So this had to be a dilemma.

But when they re-started the meeting after distributing tea, Yoshino-san seemed to have completely forgotten the circ.u.mstances involving the cakes, as she happily gobbled them up. It might have been because she was bothered far more about Rosa Gigantea"s rumors.

"I don"t actually read everything by Cosmos Books, so I can"t say for sure."

Rei-sama began.

"But I haven"t read anything like that, so it"s probably a new release."

"When did the new books come out?"

Sachiko-sama inquired.

"Today. It"s the sixteenth of every month."

"Today!?"

Yoshino-san and Yumi both stood up.

"If you intend to go to the university book store, it"s futile. They were sold out."

With Rei-sama"s one statement, they both sat back down. Hmm, she"s reading them completely.

"They only order one copy each of Cosmos Book releases. And since apparently a high school student waited for the store to open, and bought it then, there were a number of students that dashed out between exams."

"How powerful."

Yoshino-san mumbled, exasperated. Even though she was just about to dash out, herself.

"So we have no leads?"

"But, Yumi-chan."

Rei-sama reached into her bag, like she was waiting for the chance to do so.

"Huh?"

It was a book exactly like the ones she saw at the library with Tsutako-san yesterday. -Right, Cosmos Books.

"But, Rei. You said they were sold out?"

Sachiko-sama elegantly tilted her head to the side.

"So I bought a different book that was released today."

"Gosh, Rei-chan, you did your own shopping instead?"

Yoshino-san was so exasperated she forgot "onee-sama" and polite speech.

"No. Well, I"m going to read it later, but&h.e.l.lip;"

Rei-sama found the leaflet tucked inside the book.

""Cosmos News"?"

Is how the t.i.tle, in elaborate decorative font, read on what would count as the front cover of the quad-folded leaflet. Rei-sama nodded, "Yup."

That was a "news" leaflet detailing new publications, quick notes by authors, and other such introductions.

"After all, how do you think people find books without knowing their t.i.tles?"

"I don"t know&h.e.l.lip;"

Well, she said that, but it wasn"t actually a question.

"And that"s where "Cosmos News" comes in."

Rei-sama kept talking, engrossed, but without any offense, Yumi still only saw a handsome man. She would definitely be so stylish in a Hanadera uniform, but given that she loved shoujo novels this much, it definitely would feel a bit weird.

"The new publications summaries, see, there"re only a few, but they are listed."

"Ah, that"s true."

Everyone looked at where she pointed.

"So that"s why."

Sachiko-sama whispered. But Yumi had no idea "why." Why would that link to Rosa Gigantea?

"Yumi. Say Rosa Gigantea"s name."

Sachiko-sama suddenly posed a question.

"Umm&h.e.l.lip; I think it was Satou-, Satou Sei."

"Right."

Safe. If she couldn"t say the Roses" names, Sachiko-sama might go beyond just scolding her.

Right, Rosa Gigantea"s name is Satou Sei. For such a flamboyant exterior, her name was actually relatively mundane, so it didn"t really stick.

"Ah, Sei is the same."

She noticed that much, but "so what?" she thought. Even if they sounded the same, they were written differently.

Yoshino-san, next to her, didn"t seem to understand either, mumbling "Suga Sei" and "Satou Sei" over and over again-.

"Shuga Sei!"

Yoshino-san suddenly shouted, a rarity, along with her sudden understanding.

"I get it. Suga must be Sugar. Sugar, Yumi-san what is sugar?"

Yoshino-san is completely excited.

"Sugar? Would be satou&h.e.l.lip; oh, Satou!?"

So, Suga Sei equals Satou Sei. It was a bit of a rough guess, but it might actually be a good deduction. Suga, Shuga, Sugar, and then Satou.

"But that"s not enough to conclude that Rosa Gigantea wrote the novel."

"Right, it"s still a stretch. So I wonder if the rumors only began because of that leaflet?"

In stark contrast to the excitable first-years, Sachiko-sama calmly and collectedly kept thinking.

"By which you mean?"

In an effort to at least give appearance, Yumi asked, setting the muscles in her face.

"I haven"t read it, so I can"t say for sure. &h.e.l.lip; But if the contents of the novel were extremely similar to Rosa Gigantea"s past. Then that would be a good way to deduce Rosa Gigantea is Suga Sei."

"Um, but, it was released today, was it not? Then it would be weird my cla.s.smates were whispering about it since three or four days ago?"

If it wasn"t released yet, they wouldn"t know about its contents. And the first-years wouldn"t know about Rosa Gigantea"s incident last year, either.

"But there"s a way to grab these books before the release date."

Rei-sama folded her arms and confidently said.

"Go to the big bookstore around Kanda. They sell books and comics three or four days before the release dates."

"Kanda, you mean Kanda, with the used bookstores?"

"Yes. It"s pretty famous."

If that were true, people living in mountainous regions or on small islands had reason to be annoyed. Tokyo is useful&h.e.l.lip; although a person living in Tokyo really shouldn"t be admiring that.

"Then, Katsura-san and others bought "Forest of Thorns" at Kanda or some store like that, and already read it?"

"I don"t know who Katsura-san is, but that"s probably what happened, I would think? Even if they can"t talk about it outright, I"m sure some uppercla.s.smen talked about what happened. Yumi-san, too, if you had a sister two or three years above you, you might have found out about it, you know?"

"But Rei-chan never told me."

Yoshino-san interrupted, somewhat cross.

"I"m only one year ahead of you, I don"t really know much, either. I specifically said two or three years, didn"t I?"

Umm. You two, I don"t think this is the time to be having a lover"s quarrel.

While exasperated, Yumi felt a bit envious. After all, there was no way she could act cross to Sachiko-sama.

When she glanced at Sachiko-sama, by chance their eyes met. Yumi immediately became embarra.s.sed, like she was a child that got caught peeping.

"But, it"s the middle of exams, it"s amazing they"d actually go to Kanda to buy the book, and then even read it."

Yoshino-san smiled, "They must be confident," but that felt a bit wrong. Katsura-san"s actions weren"t so much confidence but rather-. "Evasion, isn"t it?"

Rei-sama harshly said what Yumi was thinking. "Evasion?"

Sachiko-sama c.o.c.ked her head to the side, like she just heard something fascinating. It was unthinkable that someone like Sachiko-sama wouldn"t know what "evasion" meant, but Yumi explained, anyways, to keep the conversation moving.

"Evasion, umm. Is a phenomenon when there"s something you need to be doing, but you run away by doing something else."

Sachiko-sama responded with an "of course I know that much" look. Rei-sama came in to help.

"These cupcakes are an example. I do it sometimes, too, by knitting."

"What I don"t understand is what "what you need to be doing" is."

"Wait, what-"

That"s studying for exams, of course. Excluding Sachiko-sama, the three looked at each other.

(Sachiko-sama, you&h.e.l.lip; do you&h.e.l.lip;)

Yumi"s premonition came true.

It wasn"t even a joke, Sachiko-sama truly, honestly never studied for exams.

Deciding that they wouldn"t be able to solve anything by thinking without any new information, the four decided to breakup and leave the Rose Mansion.

After all, none of them had actually seen the book yet (save Yumi, who"d seen Katsura-san holding the book from a distance), so guessing and pondering would lead nowhere.

It was already past three.

After saying farewell to Rei-sama and Yoshino-san, who"d decided to purchase "Forest of Thorns" at a bookstore near their homes, Yumi headed by bus to M Station with Sachiko-sama.

There was a big bookstore inside the station. They had an abundance of Cosmos Book Collection products, so even if it were a heavily-antic.i.p.ated book, it probably was unlikely to be sold out, Rei-sama had advised.

Sachiko-sama stood silently next to her in the rumbling bus.

"I wonder if it"s really Rosa Gigantea."

"&h.e.l.lip; I doubt it."

"Why do you think so?"

"No reason."

Whenever she tried to start a conversation, it would end up one-sided like this. And in the end, Sachiko-sama would just resume staring out the window, so Yumi began wondering if her existence there was a bother.

The bus rounded the rotary and stopped at the station bus stop.

They climbed the stairs to the station, glanced at the wickets, then went into the station"s building. Their objective, the book center, was on the third floor.

When they went through the gla.s.s doors, and when they went on the elevator, Sachiko-sama still remained silent. (Did I say something bad&h.e.l.lip;?)

The sight of the two of them standing together reflected off of the elevator panes.

When she looked carefully, she noticed Sachiko-sama didn"t look particularly displeased, but rather she seemed to be deep in thought. If only a sign saying "Deep in Thought" were to hover over peoples" heads in such situations, then she wouldn"t have to end up worrying so much.

(-As if.)

Sachiko-sama probably never thought such pointless thoughts.

The book center, occupying almost half of an entire floor, radiated a very book-store-esque atmosphere so much it felt like they were in it before they even got off of the elevator. Sachiko-sama wordlessly ploughed ahead, skipping past the magazine racks at the front and entering the store.

"May I enter a small inquiry?"

Oh, what a lady with impeccable form, Sachiko-sama asked a male employee sorting through books.

"Where might I find the new publications of Cosmos Book Collection?"

Dancing around the subject was not something Sachiko-sama would do. As always, she was cool and composed, and on top of it all, she was beautiful.

"Ah&h.e.l.lip; uh, umm, Cosmos Books."

The employee was trying to recover his composure. Yumi couldn"t blame him, because when he looked up, a person so beautiful it put even some models to shame was right in front of him.

(Or something like that. Gosh, I"m a totally obsessed little sister&h.e.l.lip;)

Straightening herself out, she followed Sachiko-sama. Leading the way was the employee, who this time was no longer stunned, but was blushing all the way to his ears.

"Over here."

The two of them were guided to the corner labeled "Junior Novels" between the book collection shelves and the comic shelves. All of the books here had florid cover ill.u.s.trations and a gorgeous mood. This was the shoujo novels section.

"Thank you. And, the "Forest of Thorns" that was published today&h.e.l.lip;"

Sachiko-sama, you"re incredible. She was going to make the employee do all the work, without her laying a finger on anything. Like she was purchasing drapery at a draper, or having a diamond ring taken out of a gla.s.s case at a high-grade jewelry store. I mean, she must know about finding things yourself via self-service, taking them to the cashier and buying them, the more common way of purchasing, right?

"Is this what you are looking for, ma"am?"

(&h.e.l.lip; Wow, the employee"s speaking differently now, too.)

Sachiko magic. This employee, he looks under twenty, I wonder if he"s ever said "ma"am" to someone before in his life.

"May I have two copies of that?"

Sachiko-sama said. She probably meant one for herself and one for Yumi.

"Yes, hold on-"

But the employee"s face grew dim. The hill of books was a valley at one place, and that valley had only the thickness of one book. And that was where the employee had retrieved the "Forest of Thorns."

"It"s sold out?"

Sachiko-sama asked, noticing.

"I apologize."

The employee lowered his head - he didn"t have to bow so much though.

"There"s no helping it."

Then I"ll just have the one, Sachiko-sama told the employee, and then she turned around to Yumi.

"I"m sorry, Yumi. You"ll have to find a copy somewhere else."

"Ah, yes."

Well, in Yumi"s case, it was probably going to be easier for her to buy the book than Sachiko-sama. But she wondered if the book was still in stock inside the drawers under the shelf. Apparently not, though.

"We were supplied two hours ago, but they"re all gone&h.e.l.lip;?"

The employee seemed to have question marks floating around his head, so they must have sold out extremely fast. Yumi knew the reason. The Lillian students going home probably snapped them up like piranhas.

(There"s no helping it.)

Yumi mimicked Sachiko-sama"s speech in her thoughts. She would have to stop by different book stores on her bus-ride home to find "Forest of Thorns."

After paying at the cashier, Sachiko-sama went straight toward the second floor, where the wickets were, without even glancing at the year-end super-bargain show-window. Of course she wondered about Rosa Gigantea, too, but Yumi was a bit disappointed, because she was hoping for the possibility of going shopping with her onee-sama.

Well, it WAS after school, and they were still in uniforms, and Sachiko-sama probably barely had time to even stop by at the book store. But still, they were sisters, but they never went out together, so she wished they could slow down and enjoy some time together, and she thought that wasn"t entirely being greedy.

"&h.e.l.lip; Yumi."

In front of the wickets, Sachiko-sama fixed Yumi"s tie, as always, and then spoke in an unusually doubtful voice.

"I wonder if we shouldn"t."

"What?"

Because it was so abrupt, Yumi blinked, confused.

"Shouldn"t&h.e.l.lip; what?"

She fearfully asked. Sachiko-sama wasn"t going to say we shouldn"t be sisters, was she?

"Read this."

"Huh?"

She was surprised, because "this" was pointed toward the newly-purchased book that was settled into Sachiko-sama"s bag.

Because.

"But you bought it to read it, didn"t you?"

"&h.e.l.lip; That"s true, but&h.e.l.lip;"

Why was Sachiko-sama having doubts about reading the last copy of the book in the store, that she"d gotten by even having her little sister give up on it?

"It feels like we"re digging up Rosa Gigantea"s past on the merits of simple curiosity."

"Ah."

"How do you feel?"

How&h.e.l.lip;

(Onee-sama"s always so self-confident, but now she"s asking for my opinion-)

I don"t think it would be any useful.

Frantically resisting the urge to run away, she glanced up at Sachiko-sama"s face, and noticed Sachiko-sama was simply awaiting Yumi"s answer.

"Umm, I think."

She reluctantly opened her mouth. Yumi wasn"t grand enough to ignore her onee-sama"s question.

"a.s.suming that means what I would do&h.e.l.lip;"

"Of course?"

Sachiko-sama tilted her head to the side, urging Yumi on. Her straight black hair swayed.

"I would read it."

"Why?"

"Because I like Rosa Gigantea."

"I like her, too. But still."

Because she likes her, it wasn"t right to uncover things, and her role was to protect Rosa Gigantea. Yumi understood Sachiko-sama"s feelings painfully well.

"Onee-sama, you said so yourself, that Rosa Gigantea probably wasn"t the author of "Forest of Thorns.""

"Did I?"

"Yes. Then I would want to read the novel right away and find proof that it isn"t her."

"And what if it turned out to be definitively Rosa Gigantea?"

"Nothing&h.e.l.lip;"

"Nothing?"

"If Rosa Gigantea were Suga Sei, I would probably respect her. I might even ask for an autograph."

When Yumi finished, Sachiko-sama sighed.

"Um&h.e.l.lip; onee-sama?"

Did she say something completely out of line, again? But Sachiko-sama was laughing.

"It"s good, your att.i.tude."

"You"re right. I should learn from you. I should just read it, and think about it afterward."

"Um&h.e.l.lip;"

She couldn"t figure out what Sachiko-sama was talking about. There was no way that Sachiko-sama meant lining up together to receive an autograph from Rosa Gigantea, of course.

A bit of a summarizing, but Sachiko-sama vanished on the other side of the wicket without expounding further. If they lived closer together, like Yoshino-san and Rei-sama, it would be so much better. Because then they"d be able to share more time.

The book store she stopped by on the way home was a small family business that only received one copy of Cosmos Books on release dates, but aided by the long distance away from the train station as well as the store"s rather plain appearance, Yumi was able to safely obtain a copy of "Forest of Thorns."