Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume5 Chapter2 4 (section)

===<noinclude>A gift from a rare visitor. </noinclude>Part 4.===

"Wow, it's getting outrageous."

As they walked home along the gingko pathway, Yumi spoke to Yoshino-san.  The boutons were walking roughly three meters behind them, discussing the details of the fourteenth of February.  While the first-years were cleaning up after the meeting, Minako-sama had gone back to the newspaper club room, and the Roses, busy with exam preparations, quickly went home, so they were left to the usual members, but today they were walking in a cluster of three and two.

"I'll definitely find Rei-chan's card."

Yoshino-san raised her mitten-covered fist.  As always, she was optimistic and strong and confident.

"Don't worry, Yumi-san.  Sisters have their own advantages.  For sisters, it's not a one-in-a-hundred chance.  You know?"

"Uh, umm."

To be honest, she shook her head mostly because of Yoshino-san's intensity.  Because all of a sudden, Yoshino-san's head popped up right in front of her in the darkness.

"First, we know about their preferences."

Yoshino-san may have raised her index finger, but the mitten made it look like she raised four fingers, so it was hard to tell.  It just looked like its shape was being ever-so-slightly distorted.

"Why is it an advantage knowing their preferences?"

"Because it's a clue for where they hid their card."

"Oh, right."

For example, Sachiko-sama would never hide a card amongst the gingko pathway, because she hates them.  But that's such a rough conclusion.

"Also, they might accidentally let slip where they may have hidden it."

"No way."

That would never happen, Yumi thought.  At least with Sachiko-sama, that would be an unthinkable mistake.

"It's not impossible."

Yoshino-san was brimming with confidence.

"… I see."

You could never know with Rei-sama.  Of course, she wouldn't tell her deliberately, but if Yoshino-san grinded away at her, she might eventually accidentally let it slip.

"I can tell when she hid it by her behavior, too."

"---"

So, in the end.

The advantage wasn't for being a "sister" but rather because Yoshino-san was Yoshino-san.  And because she was confident, she backed off from her stubborn objection.  It all made sense now.

"I'm totally not confident."

The big, white puff that blew out of her mouth was a sigh.  And it felt like she could see just how unconfident she was.

"Gosh, a half-day date… lucky."

She was envious of that person in the future who would win a date with Sachiko-sama.  For Yoshino-san, who was always with Rei-sama, it was probably more a case of being unwilling to let her time with Rei-sama be intruded upon, so the date itself wasn't really much value.

"What do you mean, lucky?  Yumi-san, weren't you with Sachiko-sama for New Year's?"

"But we weren't alone."

Forget being alone together, she might have just been one of a crowd to Sachiko-sama.  Plus, an archenemy was among the crowd, too.

"I see.  If Yumi-san were to win, I was thinking of doing a double-date, but if that's the case…"

Fufufu, Yoshino-san giggled.  How dreadful, Yoshino-san was so sure she would find Rei-sama's card that she wasn't even thinking about it not happening.  If she were to be beaten, what would happen?  Because no matter how confident you are, it doesn't mean everything will work out.

"On a different note, I guess we'll end up like this a lot, until Valentine's Day?"

When they reached the school gate, Yoshino-san stopped and turned to the path they'd walked.  There, they saw their two onee-sama and their classmate.  The three people who would become the next Roses.

"… Yes."

As she nodded, Yumi absent-mindedly thought, "And maybe more."  That this sort of thing might happen even after Valentine's Day.

Once Sachiko-sama became Rosa Chinensis, it would be hard for her to keep looking after her younger sister.  A busy year as student council president awaited her, after all.

And then.

And then what was she supposed to do?

As she imagined her own future, all she could think of was to sit there and watch as her onee-sama kept growing.

"What's wrong?"

Sachiko-sama asked.

"Nothing."

Nothing's wrong, Yumi replied.  So that she wouldn't become baggage for onee-sama, so that she wouldn't trouble onee-sama so much, she had to grow, too.

"Did our bouton-only talk make you lonely?"

Sachiko-sama giggled, and then she continued, "Shall we go home?"

Rei-sama had run to Yoshino-san, and together they began walking home along the sidewalk next to the school walls.  As for Shimako-san, well at first Yumi was surprised to see Shimako-san run like that, but then Shimako-san was simply waving down a bus.

"Sachiko-sama, Yumi-san, hurry."

This bus route was taken mostly by Lillian students, and at this hour there weren't many Lillian students left, so if you missed one, you were in trouble, because the next bus wouldn't come for some time.  And so when she noticed the bus lights, Shimako-san had dashed to the bus stop.

"Oh, my."

Sachiko-sama gasped, and she grabbed Yumi's arm and ran.  Emulating Shimako-san, the two of them ran to the bus stop and jumped onto the bus.

The bus began moving.  When they tumbled into the rear seats of the empty bus, the three of them chuckled to each other, "That was close."

That's why.

Yumi forgot to tell Sachiko-sama.

That if she were lonely, it wasn't because of the darkness.  Yes, in truth, she was supposed to have told her that then.

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