Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume13 Chapter2 3 (section)

=== <noinclude>Cunning Boy.</noinclude>Part 3. ===

"Come and visit again, Yukichi."

Kashiwagi-san grinned as he spoke, having faithfully led them back through the maze of hallways to the magnificent front gate. 

"I don't think I'll be back here again."

Yuuki muttered, scowling. Well, yeah. Since Kashiwagi-san had said he'd show him his bedroom next time, it was only natural that Yuuki would keep his distance, sensing the danger to his body. 

"So harsh."

Not having learned from this, Kashiwagi-san turned to face Yumi as he spoke.

"But in that case, I wonder if Yumi-chan will come and visit me by herself."

If you want to hit the general, aim for his horse first, huh?

"I too shall refrain."

It was kind of depressing that she was the horse her younger brother was riding.

"Hmm. But you two will be back some day."

"What on earth makes you think that?"

"Nothing. Just a premonition."

"You're sure it's not a curse?"

"Hahaha. Yes, it may well be."

Apparently satisfied by offering this ominous prediction, Kashiwagi-san waved them goodbye, saying, "Take care."

Somehow, they'd spent close to three hours at Kashiwagi-san's house. The time really did fly.

In the end, Touko-chan had remained with them the entire time, so they hadn't been able to discuss the meeting between the Hanadera and Lillian's school councils, dubbed the "Epic campaign to subjugate man-hatred," or, for short, "Operation OK (Tentative)."

It looked as though they wouldn't be able to use the idea of barging into Sachiko-sama's house, although they hadn't needed to talk to Kashiwagi-san to establish that. 

As for the interloper Touko-chan, she'd silently disappeared while Yumi and Yuuki were preparing to leave. Just what on earth had she been hoping to achieve anyway?

Fatigue swiftly descended on Yumi as she walked side-by-side with Yuuki to the bus stop.

All that effort gone to waste.

Why on earth had they come to visit Kashiwagi-san? And how could they fix their plans now?

"It was her? That caused your fight with Sachiko-san?"

Yuuki asked as they walked.

"Is that what I told you?"

During the rainy season, Yumi and Sachiko-sama hadn't been able to connect with each other. But she couldn't really remember talking about it at home.

"You never actually said it, but that was the feeling I got when I saw you together."

"Well, you know, I had no idea about the sort of things you suffer through at school. You never let on about those."

Yumi bit back and Yuuki smiled bitterly.

"The things I suffer through? That's horrible."

"But."

I'm worried about you. She couldn't get the words out of her mouth, but Yuuki seemed to understand all the same, responding with, "Don't worry, I'm fine."

When they arrived at the bus stop, Yuuki had a look at the schedule, then his watch, before informing her that they'd just missed a bus. Supporting that was the fact that they were the only two people in sight.

They idly watched the other cars driving past the bus stop. 

The area around them was brightly lit, with just the air telling them it was twilight. All the people in the cars seemed so eager to get home that they were probably pushing the speed limit.

Yumi casually muttered:

"I wonder if Touko-chan really won't say something to Sachiko-sama."

In response to that, Yuuki said:

"She won't."

"How do you know?"

"Just a feeling. She said she wouldn't, so I'll trust her."

"I suppose, she did say that."

Yumi nodded. Rather than trusting in Touko-chan, she trusted in her brother's trust of Touko-chan.

And then.

"She's kinda cute."

Yuuki said smoothly.

"Cute!?"

So that was his type? Yumi looked at her brother with surprise and a bit of recrimination.

"I don't mean the way she looks."

Yuuki calmly corrected himself. His response was completely different than when Kashiwagi-san had mocked him about Sachiko-sama.

"Then how?"

"Let's see."

Looking up and off to the side, Yuuki explained.

"When you see a kindergartener, you think, "How cute," right? It's something like that."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know."

"So basically, you're just saying that she's younger than you?"

"I don't think that's all it is … it's alright, you don't have to understand. I don't think I could really explain it to anyone myself."

"Hmm."

She sort of understood, but didn't really. But that was fine. Since Yuuki had said she didn't have to understand.

"Hey, Yuuki, what is your type?"

Yumi asked impulsively, suddenly wanting to know.

"My type … you mean my preference in girls?"

"Obviously."

Just for confirmation, for confirmation. To make sure he hadn't picked up any strange habits after going to an all-boys school for such a long time.

"Umm. Having your preferences heard and judged by your older sister is a bit embarrassing, don't you think?"

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Her brother really did seem quite delicate, the way he shyly turned away, but Yumi continued to badger him with questions.

"Well, specifically, what kind of figure do you like?"

"Their appearance doesn't really matter to me. Their personality's more important … gentle girls are nice."

[[Image:MM_v13_059.jpg|thumb]]

"Huh."

Then he's probably picturing someone a bit different to Yoshino-san or Touko-chan. Of the Yamayurikai members, Shimako-san was probably the closest.

"Someone who's lively and cheerful."

Lively ... lively? Then maybe he'd prefer someone like Rei-sama. But Yuuki and Rei-sama didn't seem like they would match each other at all. No matter how she pictured it, she couldn't see anything happening between the two of them.

"What about you?"

This time Yuuki went on the counterattack.

"Me?"

Damn. She'd never given any serious thought to how her ideal man should be.

But since she'd been the one to start this conversation, and she'd already heard what her brother had to say, there was no way she could stay silent now. Yumi worked out her type at super-express speeds.

"Well. Someone who's good looking, smart, and their personality seems twisted at first glance but they've actually got a kind heart, who's fastidious – "

Was where she got to when:

"That's enough, Yumi."

Yuuki stopped her as she was counting these out on her fingers.

"You're just describing Sachiko-san."

She really had been going to an all-girls school for a long time. – A sigh of exasperation escaped from her younger brother standing next to her.