The next morning, Yumi went to school earlier than usual and went to the library.
The Lillian Girls" Academy middle school and high school library reading rooms opened at seven thirty. The students that were in charge of looking after the library didn"t arrive until later, so as to not burden the supervising teacher too much, borrowing and returning books wasn"t allowed until eight, but it was a good system for students that wanted to do pre-cla.s.s research or finish studying. -Of course, Yumi"d never taken advantage of this before.
"Umm, a book of roses, a book of roses&h.e.l.lip;"
There was no Rosa Canina in her plant encyclopedia at home. Not just Rosa Canina, but there was no Rosa Chinensis, Rosa Foetida or Rosa Gigantea, either, so it was quite useless. Even though nine species for breeding and seven species for gardening, for a total of sixteen, species of roses were in it. Finally realizing that there were many types of roses, she decided to look it up in the library. She"d already concluded that because it was called Rosa Canina, that it must be a rose.
Seven fifty. When she went straight to the library and then into the reading room, one of the three catalogue computers was luckily open.
The search requested you to choose between author, t.i.tle or keyword, and then prompted you to enter the name or words. Yumi, of course, chose keyword and entered "rose."
Please wait. Searching...
(How long will it take?)
-But it immediately finished.
"Eek."
Showing restraint in the quiet library, Yumi covered her mouth.
(Eek&h.e.l.lip;)
She casually entered "rose," and found her screen flooded with entries. There were so many hits the list kept going.
(What, what should I do?)
It was like yanking on the roll of toilet paper, and then finding the roll kept spinning and spinning.
Spin spin spin spin.
When will it end? Probably until you could see the earth-colored wick in the middle. Then what do you do with the enormous amount of toilet paper in your hands?
(Ummm.)
How worrisome. Well, it wasn"t actually toilet paper so she didn"t have to worry about being overwhelmed by the white sheets all over the floor.
4712 entries.
After the message showed up on the computer, she hit back.
(Phew.)
Saved. The computer"s toilet paper had an automatic re-wind.
(However.)
If she went through each of the 4712 entries, the day would be long over. And she"d only been up for a couple hours since waking up, too.
The list was ordered by name, rather than relevance or price of the book. So the first one on the list was a novel t.i.tled, "Ahh, my beloved, you remind me of a rose."
(Time to go further down the list.)
Bringing her mouse cursor to the scrollbar, she dragged the list down to where t.i.tles began with "rose." She wondered if there were books in the library that actually were about roses, but she found out that the system catalogued books from the university library and the elementary and kindergarten libraries, too, so if needed, they could move the books around. A useful system.
But even such a useful system was useless if the user computer illiterate, like pearls before swine, or praying into a horse"s ear&h.e.l.lip; wait, that might be wrong. Anyways, her search was apparently bad, because "rose" ended up with all sorts of things, like "rose-like blood-splatter," so it was dreadful indeed. She wished it would at least divide things into categories.
"Umm, excuse me-"
As Yumi frantically tried to search, someone suddenly touched her shoulders from behind.
"Ah, yes?"
At first, she thought she was being cautioned for using the computer so long.
"I"m sorry, I"ll be done in a moment."
But that was wrong. Because no one was at the other two computers anymore.
"Indeed. I think you should be done now, though, f.u.kuzawa Yumi-san."
That person smiled. Yumi didn"t recognize her. From her ambiance, she felt like an uppercla.s.sman. Her first impression was, "She looks cool." Maybe it was because of her short, straight hair, or maybe it was her looks. She looked cool, but on top of that, she was also pretty.
"Uh, umm-"
The other computers were open, so why did she need to leave? Yumi became confused. Then, she reached past Yumi and told the computer to conclude the search.
"You should finish research during lunch break or afterschool, I think. At least, if you don"t want to be late."
"Eh!?"
She looked at her watch. Eight twenty-one. Wow. The early bell had already rung, and the morning prayer would be broadcast soon.
"Thank you very much. I completely forgot."
"You"re welcome. I"m part of the library committee, so it"s part of my job. &h.e.l.lip; Now, let"s hurry."
She had also seemingly come straight to the library after coming to school, as she picked up her bag and coat and left the library with Yumi.
"Yumi-san, were you looking up roses?"
"Yes."
Yumi nodded, walking quickly.
She wondered how she knew, for a moment, but remembered she had finished the search for her. Of course she"d caught a glimpse of the screen.
"My encyclopedia at home doesn"t have them listed. Even Rosa Chinensis."
"There"re a lot of modified species of roses. Though, shouldn"t it have Rosa Chinensis? It"s a major species, as many roses nowadays used it as a root."
"Is that so?"
"Yes."
She probably didn"t mean it that way, but Yumi felt a bit down when she giggled. The sister of Rosa Chinensis en bouton was learning about the rose Rosa Chinensis from someone else. She walked through the entrance, disparaging herself. However, the library committee student was well-versed about roses-.
"Umm, do you know of the rose Rosa Canina?"
Maybe, she thought, and she asked after placing her shoes in the shoe boxes.
"Rosa Canina?"
After repeating the question, she immediately replied.
"Yes, I do."
It was an unexpectedly quick turn-about. After searching so hard, she couldn"t find the answer, but now she found it in a simple place.
"It"s a rose, after all?"
"Yes."
"What sort of flower is it?"
When she shot questions in quick sequence, she was countered, "What sort do you think it is?"
"What sort&h.e.l.lip;"
In truth, she"d never even stopped to imagine it. But she was an undercla.s.sman who was being taught. Plus, she didn"t have much time left. The number of students in the hallway had dwindled, and even those students were jogging.
"If I were to come up with an image off the top of my head&h.e.l.lip; a black rose."
There was already a red, white, and yellow rose. And if, as Rei-sama said, Rosa Canina was a Lillian student and challenging the traditional red, white and yellow boutons, then she must have a strong personality. So, black. Plus, from a personal viewpoint, she was more of a villain, so it was definitely black.
"Correct."
She narrowed her eyes and answered.
"Rosa Canina is a black rose."
Just then, the late bell began ringing.
"Ah, that"s not good. Thank you very much, gokigenyou."
Yumi bowed slightly and began running. The cool girl calmly walked to the second-year cla.s.srooms.
"Let"s meet again, f.u.kuzawa Yumi-san."
After she whispered thus.
"Did something happen with Sachiko-sama?"
She stood, holding the broom and staring into s.p.a.ce, when Tsutako-san leaned in and peered into her face.
"Why?"
Yumi remembered to sweep the floor. Then, Tsutako-san went and brought a dustpan and placed it just beyond the pile of dust. They weren"t in the same cleaning group, but she stood there anyways, like it was natural. Her cleaning group already finished, apparently.
It was cleaning time, after school.
"Yumi-san, you"re in an unusually gloomy state. When that happens, the reason must be Sachiko-sama. Plus, you were almost late to the morning prayers today, too."
"Tsutako-san, I appreciate you helping with cleaning, but&h.e.l.lip;"
"I know, I know, it"s because of Rosa Canina, right?"
"How did you-"
"I read your mind. Who do you think I am?"
The photography club ace, Takeshima Tsutako-san.
"I heard the details from the newspaper club captain."
"&h.e.l.lip; You were just eavesdropping."
Yumi interjected as she swept the dust onto the dustpan. The students in her cleaning group had begun running a moistened mop across the wooden floors, where she"d finishing sweeping.
"Oh don"t be like that. Anyways, it sounds like Sachiko-sama"s in a pinch."
"True."
She took the dustpan from Tsutako-san and bee-lined for the garbage bin. But the photography club"s ace hounded her. Usually, she would just be getting in the way of cleaning, like this, but she was helping, so Yumi couldn"t complain.
In the end, Yumi would have her uneasiness pried out of the shadows by Tsutako-san.
"So basically, Yumi-san is pondering over her raison d"etre."
"Raison d"etre?" That"s right, she would spontaneously pull out difficult words or phrases and make the conversation difficult. That"s what Takeshima Tsutako-san did.
"Raison d"etre, or in other words, your personal charm point that no one else can hope to match. You are "f.u.kuzawa Yumi" because of this, for instance. Of course, most people never figure out what makes them attractive."
"Attractive? My charming, baby racc.o.o.n face? Or being a natural airhead?"
When Yumi put away the broom and dustpan into the cleaning locker, looking exasperated, Tsutako-san looked extremely serious and said, "Not that kind of superficial thing."
"For example, Yumi-san is here. And with that, some people"s lives have changed."
"Even if I don"t do anything?"
"Of course."
Even if the pitcher throws the same ball, if the angle of the bat changes just a bit, it could end in either a home run or a foul, she said. Yumi didn"t watch baseball much, but she still got the idea.
Even if it began from the same spot and went the same distance, with just a small turn the landing spot would change completely. Is what she was trying to say. Even the smallest of incidents could affect a person and change their life.
"Isn"t that dreadful?"
"It is dreadful, life. But, that"s what makes it fun. Perhaps Sachiko-sama thought, in a good way, that her life would change by choosing Yumi-san to be her sister?"
"Hmm."
"It"s a good thing, is what I mean. Sachiko-sama didn"t want a sister like her. You hear it a lot, that people seek people who have what they don"t, you know?"
It sounded like she was generalizing quite a bit. She was no match for Tsutako-san when it came to a verbal discussion.
When they finished cleaning the rear-half, and then the front-half, they brought the desks back to their original positions. When Yumi dragged a desk to the right place, Tsutako-san took the chair that was placed upside-down on the desk, lowered it to the floor, and turned it around. The students that finished wiping the blackboard would then rinse their dust cloths and wipe the desks. And, when you finished all of that, cleaning would be finished. The painstaking waxing was done once every two weeks, so they didn"t do that today.
"I&h.e.l.lip; What should I do?"
"You have to think of that yourself."
Even though Yumi cordially listened to her, Tsutako-san simply left her alone when it came to a crucial topic.
"You"re cold."
"Yup. Human relationships are different, person to person, you know? Sachiko-sama"s sister is Yumi-san. I"m just Yumi-san"s friend. So all I can do is divert the newspaper club"s information to illegal channels."
Then, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her student notebook.
"Kanina Shizuka (蟹名静). Second-year wisteria cla.s.s, attendance number ten. She"s part of the chorus."
"What?"
"Rosa Canina"s ident.i.ty. You hadn"t found that out yet, right?"
She"d taken a photo, too, but she hadn"t developed it yet, so she"d bring it tomorrow. Said Tsutako-san, extremely proud of herself.
"Thank you, Tsutako-san!"
It"s good to have friends. Plus, for all her c.o.c.kiness, she did her share of work.
"How do you write Kanina?"
"Kani, from hair crab, and na, from name."
"What an unusual name."
"Well there"s an Ebina (海老名 - Ebi = shrimp), so Kanina isn"t that far off."
"Mmm."
Yumi took out her own student notebook and jotted it down. She would ask Yoshino-san later if she knew anything about "Kanina Shizuka-sama."
"Mmm, that"s all?"
Tsutako-san looked let-down.
"Is that bad?"
"Come on, Yumi-san. Kanina becomes Rosa Canina. What are your thoughts, on such an embarra.s.singly straight nickname?"
"Oh, right, I didn"t notice."
She found out this morning that Rosa Canina was a real rose, and that it was a black rose, so she ended up being satisfied. So her real name was more like simple memorization. All she really cared about was that it was a name she hadn"t heard before. After all, no matter what that person"s name was, she was still Sachiko-sama"s opponent.
"Get a grip. How"re you going to weather the storm like that?"
That hurt. That really hurt. Because she didn"t need to be told it.
"However. Onee-sama"s Yamayurikai staff election episode is quite a burden, but then you think about going through that, and living through your onee-sama"s exam as well as her graduation, like Shimako-san, and now you"ve got problems, don"t you think?"
"Oh, Rosa Gigantea is taking exams?"
How unbelievable, Yumi thought. Because she never looked like she was, and to start with, were people taking exams allowed to wander around in that manner?
"Maybe, apparently. At the very least, no one"s heard her talk about a priority entry into Lillian"s university or junior college. Right, Shimako-san?"
Seeing Shimako-san step into the room by chance, Tsutako-san forcibly dragged her over.
"Eh? What? Onee-sama"s course?"
Shimako-san tilted her head.
For a moment, Yumi thought, "No way," but then she rejected the notion. After all, even with how "their" relationship was, even Shimako-san had to have heard about what Rosa Gigantea planned to do after graduating. After all, it was already in the countdown stages, being after New Year"s.
But.
As Yumi and Tsutako-san held their breaths and watched, Shimako-san looked extremely serious and said.
"I wonder&h.e.l.lip;?"
As expected of the my-pace Shimako-san. "Come to think of it, what does she plan to do?" said Shimako-san, as if she"d just now thought of it.
"&h.e.l.lip; h.e.l.lo, Shimako-san. Why don"t you ask something that important directly?"
It was dead winter, but Tsutako-san still had a sweat drop.
"Indeed. But, it wasn"t that I couldn"t ask, but rather that I forgot to ask. But I understand, I"ll try to remember asking the next time I see her."
Smiling like an angel, Shimako-san went to her seat and took out note-taking equipment from her bag. The water vapor on the gla.s.s windows reflected the sunlight and illuminated Shimako-san.
Shimako-san looked so white that it wouldn"t have been a surprise if angelic wings sprouted behind her. Not so much the color of her skin, but her existence, as a whole. If Yumi could see people"s auras, Shimako-san would no doubt be white. As expected of the white rose family.
When Yumi pointed that out, Tsutako-san snickered.
"Then Yumi-san is always blushing, so you"re part of the crimson rose family."
One zabuton for Tsutako-san!
The pitiful part was that Yumi couldn"t make a retort.
"Second-year wisteria cla.s.s" Kanina Shizuka-sama? Oh, the chorus songstress?"
Yoshino-san immediately answered, in the second-floor conference room of the Rosa Mansion. Plus, she even groaned, "Rosa Canina because her name is Kanina," so Yumi was impressed. Tsutako-san was probably hoping for that sort of reaction from Yumi.
"Yoshino-san, do you know her well?"
"No. But she"s pretty famous."
"&h.e.l.lip; I see."
She could only nod. In Yumi"s case, she didn"t really remember anyone she didn"t actually come in contact with.
"She"s pretty, with long hair. She did a vocal solo of Aria during the school festival, don"t you remember?"
"I was probably eating curry with Sachiko-sama."
"That"s right."
Yoshino-san laughed and shut the windows. While their onee-sama were attending the election management committee"s explanatory session, the two of them cleaned the room, so they kept the window open despite the cold weather.
"Shall we take a break?"
Yumi stood up without waiting for an answer and flipped the two teacups over. The electric kettle was making bubbling sounds, and hot steam escaped from the little hole. The water had just finished boiling.
"A rest."
Yoshino-san revolved her shoulders. It was right after cla.s.sroom cleaning, so they"d been running around cleaning all day. But they couldn"t help it, the Mansion with spider webs wasn"t a proper sight. The two sisters of boutons pondered over what they could do to help their onee-sama and decided that, at the very least, they could make it so their onee-sama would be able to sit comfortable, and undertook, not quite a major cleaning, but a pretty decent amount of cleaning. They"d done most of the cleaning prior to the year"s end, so this was more of the surface-area cleaning.
"Yoshino-san, would you like coffee?"
"Yes. And plenty of powdered milk, please."
"OK."
Rosa Foetida brought a collection of stick-coffee as a gift during the second-semester closing ceremony, saying she was sharing part of her New Year"s gift, so the Rose Mansion drinks were currently extraordinarily rich. Yumi first placed a stick of coffee, milk, and sugar into each cup, and as per request, placed an extra milk stick into Yoshino-san"s cup, and added an extra sugar stick into her own. Then, she poured boiling water into the cups. Because it was just the two of them, that was it. They wanted to limit how much washing they"d need to do, so they didn"t use a spoon to mix. Plus, the process ended up mixing the coffee pretty well, anyways. Of course, it didn"t need to be said that they didn"t use a tray, either.
"The election management committee"s explanatory session, what do they do there?"
Yumi mumbled, absent-mindedly. As they"d finished cleaning, when she sat down in her chair, it felt like all of the exhaustion crept up at once. I don"t want to do anything more, was how she felt.
"When, and how they"ll hold the elections, for one. How candidates should sign up. What violates the election process. I guess they explain those things?"
"Mmm."
Sounds difficult, Yumi thought.
"What do you mean, mmm, you know we"re going to go through it next year?"
"What!?"
"Get a grip, Yumi-san, we"re becoming bouton in April."
"Umm&h.e.l.lip; that"s true-"
After she nodded, she started, "Wait." There was, of course, the matter of becoming a Rose down the line, something she"d taken pains to not think about, but the situation was different now because of Rosa Canina, wasn"t it?
If they lost in the election, then Rosa Chinensis next year wouldn"t be Sachiko-sama. And when Kanina Shizuka-sama becomes the new Rosa Chinensis, her sister would be the bouton, so there was the possibility that Yumi"s next two years would change dramatically.
"Yumi-san, you can"t possibly be thinking that Sachiko-sama might lose, can you?"
On the other side of the vapor rising from the teacups, Yoshino-san looked at her, menacingly.
"Shimako-san is like that, too, but you shouldn"t have that kind of pa.s.sive att.i.tude. When someone challenges you, you stand and take it. If we, the bouton"s sisters, become fainthearted, there"s no way our onee-sama can fight full strength."
"Oh, yes."
She"d been lectured, without realizing it. But it was true, she"d imagine for a moment she and Sachiko-sama living a normal school life. Not the uppercla.s.sman everyone admired, but just her "onee-sama." It actually sounded kind of nice.
"If you"re considered the successor, you"re supposed to win the election. So try losing to some independent newcomer. Yumi-san, how"re you going to cheer up your onee-sama as her little sister if things came to that?"
You"re right, is all she could say. So in truth, she needed onee-sama to win.
When they finished slowly sipping down their coffee, the three boutons returned to the Rose Mansion.
"Would you like a drink?"
While Yoshino-san washed the used cups, Yumi walked next to the table the boutons were sitting around and asked for their orders, like a good waitress.
"Do you want to drink bitter j.a.panese tea?"
Sachiko-sama asked the other two.
"Sounds good."
Answered Rei-sama. Shimako-san said she didn"t care. The three of them looked tired.
"Bitter j.a.panese tea."
When Yumi repeated the order, Rei-sama added, "Cups are fine."
"I didn"t think Rosa Canina was going to be lady Kanina Shizuka."
They had probably walked through the school hallways, the stairs, and other such places without saying a word. After seating themselves on familiar chairs and ordering drinks, the boutons relaxed themselves and began discussing. While they poured bitter tea, Yumi and Yoshino-san pointed their listening antennae in their direction.
"I don"t really know, but she was the one who sang Aria at the school festival, correct? She looks very different from then."
Yumi thought, "Hmm, hmm, so that person did an image-change over the winter," when she heard Shimako-san"s words. However, she also realized that the Aria songstress was famous indeed.
"Cutting her hair short during the winter of her second year, is just like Rosa Gigantea. Like she"s carrying on a tradition."
"You don"t say!"
She wasn"t Sachiko-sama, but even Yumi thought, "You don"t say!" Because if someone looks up to Rosa Gigantea that much, then they would be an adherent to Rosa Gigantea, and then you would a.s.sume that sort of person wouldn"t issue a proclamation of war to the Yamayurikai staff. People cut their hair all the time, even without any reason.
"Come to think of it, didn"t Kanina Shizuka-san"s name come up as a potential sister for Rosa Gigantea, way back then?"
"Yes, there was such a rumor."
As the two second-years conversed, the three first-years simultaneously went, "What!?" It"d happened at least a year ago, so of course, it was their first time hearing this.
"Is that true?"
Yoshino-san didn"t even wait to place the teacups in front of each person, instead rushing toward the table with the tray.
"Just a rumor, Yoshino-chan. After all, it didn"t turn out that way, did it?"
Sachiko-sama and the other two took their cups off the tray.
"Yup, yup, it was just the Lillian Kawaraban running off with a story again."
"&h.e.l.lip; Oh, was that all?"
Of course, Rosa Gigantea en bouton, Shimako-san, sat there in the midst of them, so that was proof enough. The newspaper club apparently took a poll on who was likely to become Rosa Gigantea"s sister.
Yumi and Yoshino-san took their own cups and sat next to their respective onee-sama. The green color of the j.a.panese tea looked exceptionally bitter, so in Yumi"s case, she diluted it with water from the pot. The others, however, sipped it deliciously.
"She looked a bit like Shiori-san."
Everyone was quieted by Sachiko-sama"s sighing comment. Everyone knew about Rosa Gigantea and her heart-breaking split with her friend.
"Shiori-san aside, she stood out since middle school, so I actually even a.s.sumed she would be a Rose Mansion resident at some point."
Because she was a traditionally beautiful person, and there was no one that wouldn"t be intoxicated by her singing voice. -Rei-sama explained, about Kanina Shizuka-sama. However, the current Rosa Foetida"s preference was "rare goods," so the handsome youth who was invincible with a shinai, Rei-sama, ended up becoming her little sister.
"Had Shiori-san not been here, would Rosa Gigantea have asked Kanina Shizuka-sama to be her sister?"
When Yumi asked, Sachiko-sama pondered, "I wonder."
"Before she met Shiori-san, Rosa Gigantea didn"t make contact with other people. Plus, she became the Rosa Gigantea of now solely because she met Shiori-san."
"Ah&h.e.l.lip; I see."
Anyways, Rosa Canina, or Kanina Shizuka-sama had also come to the election management committee"s explanatory session.
The deadline for registering candidacy was some time later, but they explained the process leading up to the election today. Anyone could partic.i.p.ate. The school made numerous broadcasts for people intending to announce candidacy during cla.s.sroom breaks, so today was supposed to be the first time the candidates would see each other.
"There were a number of wisteria cla.s.s students following her around. Rosa Canina, Rosa Canina. It was not a pleasant sight to behold."
"But, she is alone."
Hearing Sachiko-sama, Shimako-san replied.
"I understand. But, it"s discomforting, that"s all."
She likes what she likes, she hates what she hates. -Very like Sachiko-sama.
But does that mean Kanina Shizuka-sama is fascinating enough to have her own contingency of supporters? Yumi still couldn"t consent to that knowledge. Maybe she was still dragging the concept of the "black rose" along.
(Discomforting.)
She poured hot water into a small teapot and added seconds to everyone"s cup as she thought. If Sachiko-sama was discomforted, then she was discomforted, too.
As Sachiko-sama"s sister, she couldn"t forgive anyone who would strain onee-sama"s beautiful face.