Maria-sama ga Miteru

Chapter 173

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"Huuuuuuuuuh!?"

 

 

 

 

The silence in the Rose Mansion was shattered and the room was awash with shouting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The yellow card had been found!?

 

 

 

 

And it was in the hands of her sœur, Rosa Foetida!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The overexcited partic.i.p.ants would normally have spotted the slight problem with that right away, but in their current state they seemed to have completely missed it.

 

 

 

 

(Calm down, everyone.)

 

 

 

 

Yumi said inside her head.

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama wasn"t permitted to partic.i.p.ate directly today because she"d entered into the "second-chance draw."

 

 

 

 

From her seat, Yumi couldn"t see what Rei-sama had presented to Yoshino-san, so she couldn"t say for certain, but she thought it had to be something other than the real card.

 

 

 

 

Of course, she didn"t know what the misleading card was, or why Rei-sama would be carrying it.

 

 

 

 

(Wait, hold on a minute.)

 

 

 

 

She couldn"t completely rule out the possibility of it being the real thing. The "second-chance draw" entrants weren"t physically prevented from doing anything. One of the requirements was that they couldn"t partic.i.p.ate in the event, but that didn"t mean that such a thing was impossible.

 

 

 

 

The reality was that Rei-sama was here.

 

 

 

 

In the event that a card was found during the main event by someone entered into the second-chance draw, the result would be void.

 

 

 

 

(But.)

 

 

 

 

What if Rei-sama had forgotten about that?

 

 

 

 

Even if she remembered it, she may have wanted to be the one to find Yoshino-san"s card even though it meant her disqualification.

 

 

 

 

(It"s possible, especially for Rei-sama.)

 

 

 

 

She usually conducted herself with good sense, but when Yoshino-san was involved the blood went to her head and she couldn"t make rational decisions.

 

 

 

 

- This was the train of thought that flowed through Yumi"s brain in the five or six seconds until the truth was revealed.

 

 

 

 

". . . R-"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san"s voice brought Yumi back to the present.

 

 

 

 

(R?)

 

 

 

 

When Yoshino-san couldn"t get the words out, Yumi looked at her to see what was going on. Yoshino-san"s face was bright red and her body was rigid, but trembling slightly.

 

 

 

 

(Th-this is . . .)

 

 

 

 

Then, after reaching critical ma.s.s, Yoshino-san exploded in the usual manner.

 

 

 

 

"Rei-chan, you idiot!"

 

 

 

 

"Yo—"

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama had started to say "Yoshino," but sadly she wasn"t allowed to make it to the end.

 

 

 

 

"Idiot, idiot, idiot! What the heck were you thinking?"

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama was drowned out by Yoshino-san"s anger.

 

 

 

 

"Yoshino-san, you don"t have to keep saying "Idiot.""

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san tried to intervene, but her words weren"t enough to calm Yoshino-san. Yumi understood this, but decided to sit tight and watch how things proceeded due to the number of people surrounding the Yellow Rose sœurs.

 

 

 

 

(Ahh.)

 

 

 

 

Everyone else may have heard rumors about it, but it was obviously quite a shock for them to see Yoshino-san verbally abusing her Onee-sama first hand. Yoshino-san usually played nice, but when her anger reached its peak she completely and utterly forgot about the sœur system — and the onee-sama"s place within it.

 

 

 

 

Alas, the public image of last year"s "Best Sœur" award winners, the Yellow Rose sœurs, was crumbling. But, in truth, it looked like the fans of Rei-sama and Yoshino-san took more damage than the pair themselves.

 

 

 

 

After being around her for the last two years, Yumi knew that this was about the time when Yoshino-san would want to stop, but would still feel unsatisfied if she stopped now.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama also seemed to understand this, as she continued to watch from her seat. She was probably thinking that they weren"t finished just yet.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately for the White Rose sœurs, who were frantically trying to smooth things over, the Red Rose sœurs were united in not intervening — in word or deed.

 

 

 

 

(What"s wrong with that?)

 

 

 

 

One of Yoshino-san"s favorite sayings was that a fight between sœurs couldn"t harm a fly.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama flashed a smile when she noticed Yumi"s gaze. Yumi may have just been imagining things, but it felt like a grin. She was a bit sensitive to her Onee-sama"s expressions because of her earlier declaration about "waiting for Rosa Chinensis en bouton to reveal her faults." Simply put, Yumi was scared.

 

 

 

 

"What"s wrong with calling an idiot an idiot?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san continued with her rant about Rei-sama.

 

 

 

 

"Calm down, okay?"

 

 

 

 

Mami-san jumped in, desperately trying to resolve the situation.

 

 

 

 

"How could I calm down? What do you think this idiot just handed me?"

 

 

 

 

"What is it?"

 

 

 

 

From the bottom of her heart, Yumi wanted to know the answer to Mami-san"s question too. It almost certainly wasn"t the real yellow card, but — 

 

 

 

 

"Why don"t you let everyone see?"

 

 

 

 

At Yoshino-san"s urging, Rei-sama reluctantly handed the piece of paper to Mami-san. Even from Yumi"s position, she could tell it wasn"t the real yellow card. It had a bit more of a reddish tinge than the real card"s lemon yellow, making it more of a dandelion yellow or a bright golden-yellow. But more than that, the size was clearly wrong. It was about two-thirds the size of the actual card, just small enough to fit in a pocket.

 

 

 

 

"Pardon me."

 

 

 

 

Having been handed the piece of cardboard, Mami-san unfolded it and read out the words written there.

 

 

 

 

""Valentine"s Chocolate Request Form". . . ?"

 

 

 

 

Mami-san tried to sound detached as she read it, but by the time she got to "Form" her face and tone were clearly saying, "What the heck is this?"

 

 

 

 

Valentine"s Chocolate Request Form. Mami-san wasn"t the only one puzzled by that; everyone"s gaze shifted to Rei-sama, seeking an explanation.

 

 

 

 

"Well, you see, I"ve been so snowed under with entrance exams this year that I wasn"t able to bake her a cake."

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama hesitantly admitted. What happened to the spirit she"d shown when she came through the door?

 

 

 

 

"So I was thinking that I should make her something as soon as I was accepted into college, and—"

 

 

 

 

"And?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san forced a smile as she asked. Rei-sama seemed to regain her nerve as she spoke, apparently not noticing Yoshino-san"s expression and mistakenly thinking that she"d exhausted her anger with that barrage of "idiot."

 

 

 

 

"And since I"m doing this for her, I should ask her what she wants, and make something great. Since I"m making her wait, you know . . . I should make something incredible, right?"

 

 

 

 

That last word, "Right?" and the accompanying impish smile pressed down directly on Yoshino-san"s "anger" b.u.t.ton.

 

 

 

 

"I"ve told you, that"s not the sort of thing someone studying for college entrance exams should be thinking about!"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san slammed her left fist hard on the nearby tabletop.

 

 

 

 

"Uh."

 

 

 

 

Startled by the noise, Rei-sama jumped back.

 

 

 

 

"You"re taking entrance exams, so act like it, and focus on the tests. Don"t come to school on days when you have an exam. Don"t show up at these events. Go home and prepare for your next exam. Don"t worry about chocolate."

 

 

 

 

As she spoke, Yoshino-san raised her right index finger high in the air before lowering it to point at Rei-sama, who leaned back.

 

 

 

 

"Entrance exam students usually lose sight of their surroundings because their head is so full of test material. But what are you doing? Filling your mind with frivolities! You need to stop paying so much attention to what"s going on around you. Then you wouldn"t have bothered with this. Gah, I"m so angry right now!"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san stamped her foot, then crouched down and hung her head.

 

 

 

 

It looked like Yoshino-san"s anger at "Rei-chan" for getting carried away had mixed with some self-loathing at the way she"d flared up about it, and turned sour.

 

 

 

 

"I understand."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san made her way over to the pair and placed her hand on Yoshino-san"s shoulder.

 

 

 

 

"You wanted Rei-sama to say nothing because you were going to give her something, right Yoshino-san?"

 

 

 

 

"That"s right. But there"s no point in that now."

 

 

 

 

"Uh . . ."

 

 

 

 

Leaving behind a bewildered Rei-sama, Yoshino-san walked over to the corner of the room, picked up the large paper bag she"d left there earlier, and returned to her original position.

 

 

 

 

The bag had the label "Hasekura Rei" on it and was filled with numerous smaller bags and prettily wrapped boxes.

 

 

 

 

Yumi remembered seeing something like this before. Last year, a similar bag of presents addressed to Rei-sama had been given to her pet.i.te sœur, Yoshino-san.

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san placed the bag in front of Rei-sama.

 

 

 

 

"You know, I thought you"d be so busy studying that you"d forget about Valentine"s Day chocolates. So I thought it"d be a burden to you if I gave you chocolates."

 

 

 

 

". . . So you didn"t make any."

 

 

 

 

Shimako-san murmured, and Yoshino-san snarled at her friend.

 

 

 

 

"No."

 

 

 

 

Apparently, her deduction was mistaken this time.

 

 

 

 

"I hid it in this mountain of chocolate, so I wouldn"t have to hand it over directly. I was being meek."

 

 

 

 

Although a meek person wouldn"t show their hand so brazenly. If this were pointed out to Yoshino-san, she"d likely say, "Stop poking holes in everything," so Yumi remained silent and watched on.

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san stuck her hand into the bag and pulled out a single box. She held it out to Rei-sama and said:

 

 

 

 

"Here. There"s no point in hiding it now."

 

 

 

 

So rude.

 

 

 

 

Regardless of the circ.u.mstances, this was a pet.i.te sœur giving her Onee-sama chocolates. Even if she wasn"t willing to add any words of grat.i.tude, she could at least look affectionate as she handed them over, otherwise she"d just be inviting divine retribution.

 

 

 

 

However.

 

 

 

 

"Yoshino. . ."

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama was teary-eyed despite her shabby treatment.

 

 

 

 

It may have been Yoshino-san"s saying, but "Rei-chan" truly was an idiot. She seemed happy just to receive something from Yoshino-san, no matter what it was or the circ.u.mstances around it.

 

 

 

 

(Habits built up over decades weren"t so easy to change, huh.)

 

 

 

 

Part amazed and part deeply moved, Yumi watched the Yellow Rose sœurs.

 

 

 

 

"Do you know what"s inside?"

 

 

 

 

"Uwah!"

 

 

 

 

Hearing that voice right next to her, Yumi almost jumped out of her chair.

 

 

 

 

Most of the first-years had left their seats, drawn in by the confusion over the yellow card"s discovery, and at some point during all this Sachiko-sama had moved to the empty seat next to Yumi.

 

 

 

 

"What"s uwah?"

 

 

 

 

"Ah, pardon me, Onee-sama."

 

 

 

 

Being stared at from across the table was scary, but having her close like this was also nerve-wracking. Although it wasn"t like Sachiko-sama was going to order her, "Tell me where your card is hidden," so all she had to do was remain calm and not reveal her faults. But her opponent was her Onee-sama and, frankly, Yumi didn"t have much confidence that she"d be able to do that.

 

 

 

 

"I was asking about the type of chocolates that Yoshino-chan was giving Rei. Or had you not heard either?"

 

 

 

 

"Ah, I heard."

 

 

 

 

Because unlike Shimako-san, Yumi was in the same cla.s.s as Yoshino-san.

 

 

 

 

"She melted down store-bought chocolate and reset it in molds."

 

 

 

 

"Oh, is that all? She was acting so proud I imagined it was some laborious epic."

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama was a bit surprised.

 

 

 

 

"But according to Yoshino-san, this year"s is a special version."

 

 

 

 

In truth, Yoshino-san had also taken the easy path of making "reset chocolates" by melting down and resetting store-bought chocolate last year. But she"d been annoyed at doing the same thing again this year, since she thought it meant she"d made no progress.

 

 

 

 

"A special version. . . ?"

 

 

 

 

"The gimmick is that there"s five different flavors to enjoy, depending on where you bite."

 

 

 

 

"That"s incredible. How do you think she did it?"

 

 

 

 

Ah, Sachiko-sama"s interest had been piqued. But it didn"t seem like she was interested in making something like that herself, she was just curious about how the confectionery amateur Yoshino-san would make a special version of reset chocolates for the pro Rei-sama.

 

 

 

 

"She bought five different flavors of chocolate, then melted them down one at a time and poured each one as a layer into the mold so they wouldn"t mix."

 

 

 

 

Yumi was gesticulating as she talked, and made it this far into her explanation when Sachiko-sama exclaimed, "Ha!" It looked like she hadn"t meant to laugh that loudly, as she quickly covered her mouth with her hand — apparently embarra.s.sed by her unintentionally raucous laugh.

 

 

 

 

"That"s incredible. Just like Yoshino-chan."

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama whispered, paying attention to her surroundings.

 

 

 

 

"I know, right?"

 

 

 

 

But everyone"s attention was still focused on the Yellow Rose sœurs, so no one paid any mind to the Red Rose sœurs.

 

 

 

 

While one may have expected Rei-sama"s teary-eyed "Yoshino. . ." to gradually reduce Yoshino-san"s anger, reality was not that kind.

 

 

 

 

"And what were you thinking with that "request card"? You just had to make it out of yellow cardboard, didn"t you?"

 

 

 

 

Technically, it was a "Valentine"s Chocolate Request Form," but Rei-sama didn"t correct her. Smart move.

 

 

 

 

"Well, I mean, yellow"s sort of been our default color for the last two, three years. Birthday cards, handmade wrapping paper, even your new bike. You"re always saying that we"re the Yellow Roses, so it has to be yellow."

 

 

 

 

"You still have to consider the time and place. Of course it"s going to cause a commotion if you take out a yellow piece of paper that looks like the treasure hunt card in this situation."

 

 

 

 

It looked like she was being put on trial for intentionally misleading everyone and causing a panic. But Rei-sama quickly picked up on something Yoshino-san had said.

 

 

 

 

"Oh, but I did find the card."

 

 

 

 

"Huh?"

 

 

 

 

She said it so smoothly that it almost seemed like she"d said, "I didn"t," instead of, "I did."

 

 

 

 

"But as a non-partic.i.p.ant, I couldn"t very well pick it up. So I pretended not to see it."

 

 

 

 

So she hadn"t lost sight of the consequences of picking up the card, after all. Yumi mentally apologized to Rei-sama for doubting her earlier.

 

 

 

 

"It was so annoying to find it and not be able to pick it up. So I turned my energy to this "Valentine"s Chocolate Request Form." Even though I didn"t have the right to claim the card, I still had the right to bake you the cake you wanted."

 

 

 

 

Naturally, no one was listening to her words of devotion.

 

 

 

 

No matter what she said, it would have been lost in the face of the impact of finding out there was someone that had found a card standing right there. To top it off, Yoshino-san"s anger had flared again when she heard this news.

 

 

 

 

"What color was it?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san asked, quite deliberately.

 

 

 

 

"Yellow. It was your card, Yoshino."

 

 

 

 

Judging by her laugh, it looked like she was telling the truth. Rei-sama really had found the yellow card.

 

 

 

 

"Where? Where was it?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san"s fans recovered from their shock at seeing Yoshino-san"s true nature and questioned Rei-sama.

 

 

 

 

"You"ll have to find it yourself."

 

 

 

 

Just like Shimako-san earlier, she wasn"t going to answer their questions.

 

 

 

 

"At least give us a hint. Like, was it in a school building, or outside? You can do that, right, Rosa Foetida?"

 

 

 

 

"Heheheh."

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama laughed happily, buoyed by the sense of superiority that came from knowing where the yellow card was.

 

 

 

 

"Going by what she said, it must have been somewhere out in the open. Rei-sama came here from the front gate, so it must be somewhere along that path —"

 

 

 

 

Even if they stayed in the Rose Mansion, they weren"t likely to get any better information than that. The treasure hunt partic.i.p.ants that had been thronging around Rei-sama (primarily Yoshino-san"s fans), quickly turned around and scrambled for the exit.

 

 

 

 

"Too bad."

 

 

 

 

Standing there was a solitary second-year student.

 

 

 

 

"The yellow card is right here."

 

 

 

 

Tanuma Chisato-san said, holding the yellow card up next to her face, and looking eminently satisfied.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This card had the right color and size, and was undoubtedly the real one.

 

 

 

 

The definitive proof was the slightly larger plastic bag — with loose strips of tape still attached — that she was also holding aloft.

 

 

 

 

The card had been placed in a plastic covering, otherwise it may have been damaged when it was ripped off the wall.

 

 

 

 

So, all the promoters understood that Chisato-san had taken the plastic bag and card from the external wall of the staff room.

 

 

 

 

"Pardon me."

 

 

 

 

Even so, Mami-san took the card to confirm this, as a formality. She looked at the front, turned it over and looked at the back, then unfolded it and looked inside. Then she made a gesture as though she were adjusting a pair of gla.s.ses, even though she wasn"t wearing any.

 

 

 

 

"This card is genuine."

 

 

 

 

She handed down her judgment.

 

 

 

 

The girls that had been watching on with bated breath let out a collective, "Oooh." For some reason, the voices seemed more happy than disappointed when compared to last time, perhaps because the earlier feint had drawn some of that away.

 

 

 

 

"Please state your grade, cla.s.s, and name," Mami-san asked, even though she knew all that without having to ask. She was just doing it for form"s sake.

 

 

 

 

"Second-year Chrysanthemum cla.s.s, Tanuma Chisato."

 

 

 

 

Chisato-san presented her student ID card to Mami-san, who compared it to the entry slip signed by "Tanuma Chisato" that Noriko-chan handed to her, and then nodded her head.

 

 

 

 

"Tanuma Chisato-san. I acknowledge that you were the finder of the yellow card. Congratulations."

 

 

 

 

Mami-san held out her hand. Chisato-san gave her a firm handshake and said, "Thank you."

 

 

 

 

And then.

 

 

 

 

"I knew it. You found it, huh?" Rei-sama said, watching the proceedings with a conflicted expression.

 

 

 

 

"Oh, thanks for before."

 

 

 

 

Noticing Rei-sama"s gaze, Chisato-san greeted her with a smile. It looked as though they"d run into each other somewhere earlier today.

 

 

 

 

"I wasn"t sure if it was going to be found, but if it was, you were the only that could have done it, Chisato-chan."

 

 

 

 

"After you walked off, I looked to my right and there it was."

 

 

 

 

"Well, not much I could have done about that then."

 

 

 

 

"But I"d say about half of it was thanks to you, Rei-sama."

 

 

 

 

"Really?"

 

 

 

 

"Yeah."

 

 

 

 

Rei-sama and Chisato-san got swept up in their own private conversation.

 

 

 

 

"Say, what"s all this about?" Sachiko-sama asked. Unlike Yumi, who knew the card"s hiding spot, she couldn"t really understand how their meeting was related to the location of the card, or the significance of Chisato-san looking to her right. To the regular partic.i.p.ants, it would all sound like gibberish.

 

 

 

 

"Chisato-san, we"re going announce it at the post-event a.s.sembly, but if you don"t mind, could you give everyone here a sneak peak? Where was the yellow card hidden?"

 

 

 

 

Mami-san proposed and Chisato-san happily agreed.

 

 

 

 

"Ah, sure. The card was. . . ."

 

 

 

 

Everyone"s attention was centered on Chisato-san. Overwhelmed by the atmosphere, Yumi heard an imaginary drum-roll echoing in her head, despite knowing the answer already.

 

 

 

 

"Stuck to the staff room wall."

 

 

 

 

Hearing this, the students that had been waiting for the answer all exclaimed, "Wha~!?" The students that had been partaking in the Rose Mansion tea-party for the duration of the event pulled out their maps to check, while those that had spent some time outside searching didn"t need to look at their maps.

 

 

 

 

"But the staff room is out of bounds!"

 

 

 

 

Scattered booing erupted around the room, since they weren"t supposed to go searching in that place.

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san had been silent for a while, but then she softly muttered, "The inside was."

 

 

 

 

At some point she"d sat down in an empty chair, and was looking at the commotion about the yellow card"s discovery as though it was someone else"s business, even though this sort of "foul-play" reaction was the only realistic outcome. But the way she was resting her chin in her hands and looking off into the distance seemed to indicate she wasn"t in a particularly good mood. Presumably, she wasn"t overjoyed about having her card found.

 

 

 

 

"The inside?"

 

 

 

 

"All she said was the staff room wall, that could mean a couple of things," Mami-san added, in place of Yoshino-san, who"d lapsed back into silence as though she were sulking.

 

 

 

 

She then continued her explanation over an unfolded map, by comparing rooms to boxes and saying that if the inside was out-of-bounds, the outside was in-bounds.

 

 

 

 

"So that means. . . ?"

 

 

 

 

"My apologies. To be more precise, it was on the staff room"s external wall."

 

 

 

 

Chisato-san amended her statement.

 

 

 

 

"Wha~t!"

 

 

 

 

People tended to think of things at eye-height, so when they"d been told it was on the staff room wall their first impression was that it was on an internal wall, but when they heard that was wrong they seemed to a.s.sume it was on the wall facing the hallway.

 

 

 

 

The staff room was on the second floor. It would be hard to see for someone that wasn"t four or five meters tall. It would probably be easier to spot at a distance from the school building, but, unfortunately, the narrow path to the adjacent library pa.s.sed beneath the staff room window. So it would be hard to spot unless someone intentionally stopped in the middle of that path and looked up.

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san had taken advantage of that blind-spot. She"d chosen that location because she wanted the partic.i.p.ants to be annoyed, thinking, "But I pa.s.sed under that so many times," and because she wanted to say, "The inside was," to those that objected by saying the staff room was out-of-bounds.

 

 

 

 

But Chisato-san had found it. And Rei-sama had let it go because she didn"t have the right to pick it up.

 

 

 

 

The partic.i.p.ants that had been booing had no choice but to accept Mami-san"s explanation.

 

 

 

 

Now that the commotion had died down, the still sulking Yoshino-san stood up from her seat. With a sour look showing her obvious displeasure, she strode forwards. Instinctively, the other partic.i.p.ants made a path in front of her. Finally, she came to a stop in front of the winner, Tanuma Chisato-san.

 

 

 

 

"Congratulations, Chisato-san."

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san forced a smile.

 

 

 

 

"Two years in a row is quite impressive."

 

 

 

 

Holding that forced smile all the way to the end, her thoughts were probably along the lines of, "How could someone like you find it?" But she didn"t say them out loud. Remarkably mature.

 

 

 

 

"Thank you. The hiding place was brilliant, and very fitting for you, Yoshino-san."

 

 

 

 

Chisato-san smiled. Unlike Yoshino-san, her smile was genuine.

 

 

 

 

"What do you mean by that?"

 

 

 

 

One of Yoshino-san"s eyebrows twitched upwards.

 

 

 

 

"I said it was brilliant, and that"s a compliment. Better off leaving it at that, don"t you think?"

 

 

 

 

Chisato-san wasn"t afraid of Yoshino-san. Instead, she seemed to relish provoking her and watching the reaction.

 

 

 

 

"You wanna fight?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san didn"t say this out loud, but Yumi didn"t overlook her mouthing it. On second-thought, she decided to overlook it. To maintain the dignity of Lillian"s students.

 

 

 

 

"By the way."

 

 

 

 

After taking a deep breath and recovering some of her composure, Yoshino-san put her fake smile back on and questioned Chisato-san.

 

 

 

 

"Are you aware that the bonus prize is a ticket for a half-day date with me?"

 

 

 

 

"Yeah."

 

 

 

 

Of course she"d be aware, she"d exercised that right last year.

 

 

 

 

"Then what do you think about going on a date with me?"

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san dropped her fake smile and stared at Chisato-san. Apparently she thought that Chisato-san wouldn"t have considered this, even though she was holding the winning card.

 

 

 

 

"Obviously," Chisato-san announced loudly. "I"m really looking forward to it."

 

 

 

 

She was even more of a warrior than anyone had expected.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

". . . Um, Rosa Chinensis?"

 

 

 

 

Haltingly, a group of first-years approached her.

 

 

 

 

"You still haven"t moved yet?"

 

 

 

 

The time had just pa.s.sed 4:30 p.m., but Rosa Chinensis still hadn"t left the Rose Mansion. There were only ten minutes left in the game.

 

 

 

 

"Yes."

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama smiled, then sipped on her third cup of tea. Then she repeated the sentence she"d said countless times before.

 

 

 

 

"But you don"t have to worry about me. You can go off and search on your own if you want."

 

 

 

 

There had been a bit of a commotion when Yoshino-san"s card was found, but things had mostly settled down since then. Partic.i.p.ants were still coming and going from the Rose Mansion, but the number of people present had definitely risen. The five first-years that had been stuck to Sachiko-sama like suckerfish since the beginning of the event were all still there, but they seemed to be holding their breath as they tried to sound out Rosa Chinensis.

 

 

 

 

Since the yellow card had already been found, Yoshino-san"s fans had no reason to go outside and search, but the last few hectic minutes with the one-sided quarrel between the Yellow Rose sœurs and the announcement of the discovery of the yellow card had left them exhausted. Perhaps that was the reason why it was so quiet.

 

 

 

 

Eventually they ran out of teacups, and newly arrived guests were now being served tea in disposable cups. There weren"t enough chairs to go around either, so they were standing like at a c.o.c.ktail party.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama drank the last of her tea then slowly stood up. The first-years surrounding her hurriedly stood up too since it looked like she was finally making her move. Except . . .

 

 

 

 

"You girls can have these seats if you"d like."

 

 

 

 

She didn"t leave the room. She instead called out to a group of girls over by the window and offered them the seats. The six seats around Yumi that had been vacated were now filled with a new cast of characters.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-sama, do you think your red card will be found?"

 

 

 

 

Yumi smiled as she answered that question.

 

 

 

 

"Well, I"m not sure."

 

 

 

 

She"d been asked the same question numerous times since the treasure hunt started. But to everyone that asked, it was their first time asking.

 

 

 

 

"But you must be hoping that your onee-sama, Rosa Chinensis, finds it, right?"

 

 

 

 

"Not at all, I"m just waiting in antic.i.p.ation to see if anyone finds it."

 

 

 

 

As she spoke, Yumi glanced at her onee-sama. Sachiko-sama was standing not that far away from Yumi, still surrounded by those first-years. If things kept going like this, they"d reach the time limit without her going out searching. Feeling conflicted, Yumi looked at her and Sachiko-sama met her gaze.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama grinned. Yumi quickly looked away.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama probably wouldn"t be able to read anything from her eyes . . . but just in case. The eyes couldn"t say as much as the mouth, but in Yumi"s case, even if she didn"t say anything aloud it was possible her eye movements or comically expressive face could let a hint or two slip.

 

 

 

 

"What? Is that really true?"

 

 

 

 

The first-years around Sachiko-sama were raising their voices in excitement. All the girls within about 1.5 meters of her were expressing their disbelief.

 

 

 

 

"It"s true. I haven"t pinpointed it precisely, but I know the general area where the card is hidden."

 

 

 

 

Yumi caught the key words, "I know . . . where . . . card is hidden," and her heart pounded in her chest.

 

 

 

 

(Calm down, calm down.)

 

 

 

 

While taking care not to let her agitation show, Yumi peeked over at Sachiko-sama. It was possible she was looking to see how Yumi reacted to that statement. If she hadn"t thought of a location with only ten minutes left, then it was entirely possible that she"d adopt a strategy of doing whatever it took.

 

 

 

 

"How could you know where it is when you haven"t gone anywhere?"

 

 

 

 

The obvious question was thrown at Sachiko-sama.

 

 

 

 

"Hints."

 

 

 

 

"Hints?"

 

 

 

 

(Huh?)

 

 

 

 

Yumi had the same look of confusion as the first-years a short distance away.

 

 

 

 

"You didn"t have to go out and search. Just by being in this room the hints came to you, right?"

 

 

 

 

After listening to this much of the conversation, Yumi realized that she had been mistaken.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama must have said that she knew where Shimako-san"s card was.

 

 

 

 

"By hints, you mean those cards with "Ku" and "No" written on them?"

 

 

 

 

"Exactly."

 

 

 

 

"Although it wasn"t just letters, there was also the drawing of a rabbit."

 

 

 

 

Then Sachiko-sama smiled and said, "See? You were able to gain information even though you didn"t leave the room." It looked as though Sachiko-sama had managed to infer the location of the white card by piecing together the words from the hints.

 

 

 

 

"Still, it"s amazing that you could memorize all those hints in amongst all this noise and confusion."

 

 

 

 

"Not at all," Sachiko-sama opened up her student notebook. "I wrote them down. There"s only been six so far, but I think I"ve probably got it figured out."

 

 

 

 

"Huh, so, where is it?"

 

 

 

 

Naturally, even the girl that asked the question wasn"t expecting it to be answered — it was just for form"s sake.

 

 

 

 

"Sachiko-sama"s incredible."

 

 

 

 

Yoshino-san had made her way over to Yumi"s side and whispered this in her ear.

 

 

 

 

"I was watching her from behind and when she said, "I think I"ve figured it out," she was tapping her pen on a spot on the map. That spot was, you know —"

 

 

 

 

"The hiding place?" Yumi asked for confirmation and Yoshino-san nodded.

 

 

 

 

"Near there. I don"t think she would have been tapping on that spot just by chance, or as a guess."

 

 

 

 

Near there was good enough. If she knew the approximate location, then it wouldn"t take her long to find it if she actually went out there.

 

 

 

 

"Then shouldn"t you hurry? There"s not much time left."

 

 

 

 

The first-years surrounding Sachiko-sama tried to lead her over to the door like ushers. With the time limit approaching, the entire mood of the room had shifted to impatience. These girls were getting excited; if they couldn"t find a card, then they at least wanted to be present when one was found.

 

 

 

 

"I suppose I could, but. . . ."

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama didn"t end up moving after all.

 

 

 

 

"It"s not the red card?" Shimako-san smiled.

 

 

 

 

"Right. No offense to you, Shimako, but I"ve been aiming for Yumi"s card from the beginning. If I went out and got your card now, the game would be over for me when I returned."

 

 

 

 

If she did this she"d have to give up on Yumi"s card. Sachiko-sama was saying that even though there was only a little time remaining, she wanted to spend that on the red card.

 

 

 

 

"Onee-sama . . ."

 

 

 

 

It was a killer line and a clarion call. Yumi felt compelled to run over to Sachiko-sama and embrace her tightly, but forced herself to refrain. Sachiko-sama gazed intently at her. It may have been Yumi"s imagination, but she looked slightly confused.

 

 

 

 

(Don"t tell me she suspects. . . ?)

 

 

 

 

It would all be over if she dove into her onee-sama"s chest. She had to ensure she didn"t undo all the meticulous care she"d taken up until this point.

 

 

 

 

"But you still don"t know where the red card is, right?"

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama shifted her gaze away from Yumi when a first-year asked her this.

 

 

 

 

"Or do you already know where it is and you"re planning on making a mad dash for it right at the end?"

 

 

 

 

As she listened, Yumi thought, "There"s no way that"s true." But even so, Sachiko-sama"s reaction was unexpected.

 

 

 

 

"Hehehe."

 

 

 

 

("Hehehe"?)

 

 

 

 

Why had she laughed so knowingly? Yumi instinctively made eye contact with Mami-san. There"s no way. There"s no way — 

 

 

 

 

"Ohh, I see. So you know where the red card is too?"

 

 

 

 

The first-years were getting excited. In contrast, Sachiko-sama smiled serenely, like a calm ocean. "More or less. I have an idea of the general location of it."

 

 

 

 

"No way . . ." Yumi blurted out without thinking, although she didn"t think her onee-sama was just making it all up. But she couldn"t see what mistake she"d made. She hadn"t let any hints slip from her mouth, nor had she looked in the direction of the card"s hiding place. But for her onee-sama"s expression to be so full of confidence. . . . 

 

 

 

 

"I said it before, didn"t I? By watching what happens around her, eventually Rosa Chinensis en bouton would reveal her faults." If this were a manga, the word "Foresight" would be written in the background behind Sachiko-sama in bold letters. "Staying here was the right decision."

 

 

 

 

Now the background had changed to "Sticking to her Principles." It would then undoubtedly shift to "Following Through on her Word," or "Majestic," before eventually ending at "Outstanding Beauty." Basically, Yumi was fl.u.s.tered and seeking refuge in these illusions.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama probably did know where the card was. In that case, it wouldn"t be long before the red card ended up in her hand.

 

 

 

 

"So why aren"t you going to get the card?"

 

 

 

 

That was the obvious next question after hearing that she knew where the card was hidden.

 

 

 

 

"I"ve decided that, as a handicap, I won"t make my move until the last five minutes."

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama looked at the clock. Everyone instinctively followed her gaze. The last five minutes was only three minutes away.

 

 

 

 

"Umm, why. . . ?"

 

 

 

 

"Because being Yumi"s onee-sama gives me numerous advantages over everyone else."

 

 

 

 

That"s why she imposed this handicap of waiting until the last five minutes on herself. Even though she"d already seen out the handicap of starting five minutes later than everyone else.

 

 

 

 

"But what if someone finds it before then. . . ?"

 

 

 

 

"Naturally, I"ll graciously concede defeat."

 

 

 

 

"Really?"

 

 

 

 

On hearing that, Sachiko-sama"s retinue were split into two different groups.

 

 

 

 

"Okay, so the hiding place must be within a five-minute round trip from here."

 

 

 

 

One group came to the conclusion that even though they didn"t know where it was, it must be close, so they started looking. Some flew out of the room while others stayed and looked around inside — under the table, inside the containers by the sink, and so on.

 

 

 

 

As for the other group, "The last five minutes. . . ."

 

 

 

 

Those that didn"t care about leftovers and just wanted to see that moment come quickly gathered closer around Sachiko-sama. For now, the partic.i.p.ants that weren"t aiming for the red card watched the hands on the clock move. Only two minutes until 4:35 p.m. What would be the state of play in two minutes" time? Would someone find the card in those two minutes, beating out Sachiko-sama? Or would Sachiko-sama swing into action because n.o.body had found the card? Yumi wasn"t sure if she could actually hear it or not, but she sensed the soft ticking of the second hand as it moved around the clock.

 

 

 

 

She tried to recall how fast a second was. It felt like it should have been a bit faster, but on the other hand she wasn"t sure that it should be that fast either. She hadn"t had much experience of waiting like this, where she was conscious of every second ticking down.

 

 

 

 

It was so quiet that she could hear the sound of someone gulping. Even the girls that had been searching around the room had stopped with about a minute to go, and instead were looking back and forth between Sachiko-sama and a clock. Those that didn"t wear a watch, and those that habitually had their watch set a few minutes fast, were looking at the watches of their neighbors. The Rose Mansion had a wall-mounted clock, but for some reason everyone wanted to check the time on the nearest device.

 

 

 

 

"There"s five minutes remaining," Mami-san quietly informed Sachiko-sama.

 

 

 

 

The start and end time for today"s event was based solely on Mami-san"s watch. Because of this, she had called the official time service and set her watch to the correct time, down to the second, this morning. So when Mami-san"s watch read five minutes to go, it meant there was only five minutes left in the event.

 

 

 

 

"I see," Sachiko-sama nodded.

 

 

 

 

Everyone watched on, wondering what she was going to do. Most of the partic.i.p.ants were looking somewhere between Sachiko-sama and the door. But Yumi knew that Sachiko-sama would absolutely not be walking in that direction.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi."

 

 

 

 

Her name was called.

 

 

 

 

"Ah, yes?"

 

 

 

 

Was this the feeling of a frog being watched by a snake? At any rate, while she did manage to respond, her body had stiffened and she couldn"t move at all.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama slowly walked towards her.

 

 

 

 

Yumi"s stiffness had faded, but now she was trembling. Her arms and legs were shivering, and her heart was pounding, causing the blood to race around her body. What was with this reaction?

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama drew closer, cutting through the murmuring onlookers. She was full of intensity, to the point of being overbearing. The first-years that had been seated on either side of Yumi left their seats, probably scared off.

 

 

 

 

But Yumi couldn"t run away. She had to stay put and judge Sachiko-sama"s guess on the card"s whereabouts.

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama finally arrived right beside Yumi and grinned. It was the smile of someone who"d already won.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi," Sachiko-sama called her name once more before issuing the following order.

 

 

 

 

"Stand up."

 

 

 

 

". . . Huh?"

 

 

 

 

"Come on, stand up, off your seat."

 

 

 

 

There was nothing more she could do. Game, set, match. Still seated, Yumi moved her chair back from the table.

 

 

 

 

But then, right at that moment, sound and vibrations flooded into the room from outside. It wasn"t a cute little clattering or creaking, but a loud thumping.

 

 

 

 

"What"s going on?"

 

 

 

 

Sachiko-sama turned towards the door. It was obvious someone was pounding up the old stairs.

 

 

 

 

But what was with that sound? Their visitor was either in a real hurry, or panicked.

 

 

 

 

"Don"t tell me the white card"s been found. . . ?"

 

 

 

 

All the people that had been watching the Red Rose sœurs turned their gaze to the door. Yumi"s rear had been hovering over the chair, but she sat back down.

 

 

 

 

Bang!

 

 

 

 

The door was flung open with the same force that the stairs had been climbed.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-sama!"

 

 

 

 

Someone completely unexpected had appeared.

 

 

 

 

– Matsudaira Touko.

 

 

 

 

"Touko-cha—"

 

 

 

 

Touko-chan"s breathing was ragged, like she"d just killed a bear or some other large animal, and she looked at Yumi with something akin to a scowl. Her trademark ringlets were a shadow of their usual glory. It may have been Yumi"s eyes playing tricks on her, but in this cold February weather, it looked like there was steam rising from Touko-chan"s uniform.

 

 

 

 

If Sachiko-sama had been as scary as a snake earlier, then Touko-chan was a demon.

 

 

 

 

Touko-chan seemed to be ignoring everyone else in the room besides Yumi. She looked straight ahead as she strode forwards. The floor wasn"t as worn out as the staircase, but the wooden boards still made a decent sound.

 

 

 

 

Clomp, clomp.

 

 

 

 

(Didn"t she pride herself on her ability to walk silently?)

 

 

 

 

It was strange how Yumi thought of something so trivial at that moment. The typical thoughts of, "Why is Touko-chan here?" or, "Why does she look so angry?" didn"t cross her mind at all.

 

 

 

 

Clomp, clomp.

 

 

 

 

(That"s an incredible sound for someone so light.)

 

 

 

 

Under Touko-chan"s ferocious advance, Sachiko-sama took a step back from her position beside Yumi. Touko-chan came to a stop in that opening and quickly bowed.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-sama. Please forgive my rudeness up to now."

 

 

 

 

"Huh!?"

 

 

 

 

Hang on, what was happening here? There had been some thumping and then some clomping. But how was that related to asking for forgiveness?

 

 

 

 

"In addition . . ." Touko-chan temporarily raised her head from her deep bow.

 

 

 

 

"Yumi-sama, won"t you take me as your pet.i.te sœur?"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Yumi had absolutely no idea what was going on.

 

 

 

 

". . . Huh?"

 

 

 

 

But she had had been so surprised that she"d instinctively stood up.

 

 

 

 

"Ah!"

 

 

 

 

Where had that last exclamation come from?

 

 

 

 

Just as the red card made its appearance atop the chair cushion that Yumi had been sitting on, the alarm on Mami-san"s watch went off, informing everyone that the game had ended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
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