"Like - I - said."

Yoshino-san said, with a bit of bite.

"Even if you were spacing out during the information session, it's all written on the printout. You'd know if you read the series of events for the election. If you read it. Here!"

Lunch time in the Rose Mansion. Tapping on the document she held in her hand.

"Election Announcement, Candidate Registration "

Feeling a bit like she was being pushed, Yumi read aloud the section indicated. She was better off going with the flow here.

" Candidate Speeches, Election Day that's all."

There was a reason that Yoshino-san's attack was focussed on Yumi alone. Shimako-san had answered Yoshino-san's questions properly, plus Yoshino-san already understood exactly what would be happening next. Even Noriko-chan, who wasn't directly involved in the election, seemed to know. Yumi was a potential candidate, so why was she so inattentive?

"Right. And today's the first day of candidate registration. So, let's go."

Yoshino-san had been on her feet the moment she put her lunch box back in the carry bag that Rei-sama had made for her.

"Go? Where?"

"What are you asking? To the Electoral Committee Office. Now you're going to ask me where that is, aren't you?"

" It's next to the staff room."

"Wonderful. And what are we going to do there?"

" Register as candidates?"

"Why was there a question mark at the end of that sentence? It's a statement about yourself. Yumi-san, you need to be more self-aware."

The printout was brought down on her head a couple of times. Yumi thought that in the past Yoshino-san would have held back more, but recently she'd been showing no restraint, like when she faced off against Rei-sama. But it was 3 pieces of A4 paper so it didn't hurt.

"But, you know."

Yumi said, fending off the printout.

"We don't have to register on the first day."

"Wha~t."

Yoshino-san opened her eyes wide with feigned surprise.

"Well, like, last year, Shimako-san cut it really really close, leaving it to the last hour."

Their gaze turned to Shimako-san, who smiled and said, "That's also an option." But she didn't seem to be doing that this year. She was getting ready to stand up and go with Yoshino-san to the Electoral Committee's office.

"Back then, Shimako-san hesitated because she had all sorts of doubts. So then, if I have some doubts - "

Shimako-san's doubts were due to her being a first-year, and wondering whether the second-year Rosa Canina would be more fitting, and other such internal conflicts. At the time, she was also keeping secret the fact that her family ran a temple.

"Well then, Yumi-san, can you tell us these doubts of yours that rival Shimako-san's?"

Yoshino-san pressed her for an answer, saying, "Come on, come on."

"Uh."

"Is the current Rosa Chinensis en bouton and second-year Yumi-san less fitting as a Rose than the mere first-year Touko-chan?"

"That's not what I said."

"Are you nervous because you're going to be leaving Lillian's in the near future?"

"No, that's not it either."

Yumi recoiled as she answered, then Yoshino-san grinned like she was pulling out her trump card.

"In the past you told me, Yumi-san, that we should be Roses. Have you forgotten that promise?"

"Huh? Wasn't it that we should be good friends, like the Roses?"

"Same thing."

Yumi thought that there was a little, no, a huge difference between being a Rose, and being a good friend like the Roses.

"Speaking of which, didn't you say that we'd be friends regardless of my title, Yoshino-san?"

"Did I say that?"

She had. It was during the rainy season, when Yumi's relationship with Sachiko-sama was strained and she was keeping her distance from the Rose Mansion.

But Yoshino-san was playing dumb because it was inconvenient to her. In truth, she should remember it.

"So, what? You're saying you're not interested in being a Rose, Yumi-san?"

Before Yumi could respond to this direct question, an answer came from the side.

"That's not true, Yoshino-san."

Shimako-san said decisively, having remained silent until now.

"Some time ago, Yumi-san told me that she wanted to lead the Yamayurikai with me as a third-year, and that she wanted to be a Rose."

The sole statement of a taciturn person held more persuasive power than the words of a chatterbox.

"Right?"

Yumi nodded without thinking, and when she said, "Let's go then," Yumi allowed her hand to be taken and to be led out.

Was "bewildering" the right word to use to describe this situation? Watching them leave from the doorway, Noriko-chan mumbled, "Incredible, Shimako-san."

"What's weighing you down like that?"

During cleaning, as she was wiping the blackboard with a cloth, Tsutako-san called out to her from behind.

"You can tell?"

"I can. I've been watching you since first-year, Yumi-san. Do you really think you can fool my eyes?"

They were in the same cleaning group and Tsutako-san had come over to help - apparently finished moving the desks and chairs back to their original position from where they'd been stacked off to the side. That said, Yumi was pretty much finished too.

"I was told off by Yoshino-san."

Yumi rinsed her cleaning cloth in the bucket and wrung it tightly. A quick check of the other cleaning cloths showed they had all been rinsed, so she picked up the bucket of dirty water.

"Oh, why was that?"

Tsutako-san walked with her. It would have been dangerous to have two people carry a bucket full of water, so she'd declined Tsutako-san's offer of help, but Tsutako-san followed her anyway. Perhaps at a loose end, Tsutako-san pulled a miniature camera out of her pocket and held it in one hand, occasionally pointing it at Yumi.

"At lunch time, we went to register as candidates in the election, but we were a bit slow to get going and Touko-chan got in first."

"I see."

"She said it was my fault we got a late start."

And looked incredibly angry when she said it too.

"My goodness. But the order in which you register doesn't determine the order you finish in the election."

Tsutako-san cackled.

"That's what Shimako-san said too."

For the record, Shimako-san was second, Yoshino-san third, and Yumi fourth to register.

"Hmm. I wonder if Yoshino-san is a bit flustered."

"Flustered?"

"Most students fully expect the three second-years to be elected. But you can't say for certain. There could be an upset, with Touko-chan elected. In that case, one of you three would lose, right?"

"And that's Yoshino-san?"

"She might think so, don't you think? It goes without saying that Shimako-san's an incumbent, and you're popular with the first-years, right?"

"That's not going to happen."

Having arrived at the drain, she tipped the bucket over and poured the water out.

"Yeah, it's not going to happen, but she might still be worried about it."

The silver faucet was shining. The students responsible for cleaning this area had done a good job.

"But, well, it's Yoshino-san, so she'll get over it soon enough. Something else will catch her attention and she'll forget something as trivial as this."

Tsutako-san said.

"I suppose."

Yumi picked up the bucket and walked back the way they'd come.

They walked in silence for a while and when they arrived at the classroom entrance Tsutako-san mumbled under her breath.

"So then it isn't about Yoshino-san."

"Huh?"

They'd already concluded that Yoshino-san's anger would sort itself out. But despite that, Yumi was still weighed down.

"Is Touko-chan the cause of it?"

"Uh."

Tsutako-san laughed, before Yumi could even ask, "How did you know?"

"Well, that much seemed obvious."

Tsutako-san had attended last year's Christmas party in the Rose Mansion. She wasn't a member of a Rose family, but she obviously knew the details about what happened between Yumi and Touko-chan.

"I don't understand Touko-chan at all."

Yumi spoke frankly as she put the bucket away with the rest of the cleaning equipment.

She'd been thinking about it constantly. Where had it gone wrong?

If there was something wrong with the proposal, was it the wording, or the timing, or the situation, or was it a problem with Touko-chan? If some of these changed, would she get another chance to ask, or not?

"You say you don't understand Touko-chan. Naturally, since she's her own person."

Tsutako-san said, as though it were obvious.

"But you understand all sort of things, Tsutako-san. Like how Yoshino-san's anger will pass quickly, or that I'm feeling down because of Touko-chan."

For a while now, Yumi had thought that Tsutako-san was an adult. She knew all sorts of information and could understand why things happened. Like some kind of superwoman, who could answer any question she was asked.

"Well, that's because Yoshino-san's behavioral pattern is easy to understand, and all your thoughts show clearly on your face, right?"

Tsutako-san walked around, checking that the windows were locked. It sounded like Tsutako-san wasn't able to figure out what everyone was thinking, it's just that her targets were easy to figure out.

"Then what about Touko-chan?"

"I don't really know about her. Because most of the time it feels like she's wearing a mask, don't you think?"

"A mask "

"You've never got that impression?"

"I have."

Quite strongly.

Touko-chan was an actress, right to her core. But, sometimes, even when she wasn't standing on a stage it felt like she was playing some other character.

"As for me, I think one of your good points is the way you're always showing your open and honest feelings, Yumi-san. Forcing yourself to smile when you feel like crying, even if you think you're doing a good job, just makes you look even more pitiful to me. I hate to say it, but you're not a good actor."

Even so, it felt better to hear her say this directly, rather than beating around the bush. Although if she'd said it a bit earlier, say before the school festival, Yumi may not have accepted the lead role in the Yamayurikai play.

"But I like that. So I think you look great when you're not acting. But when an amateur gets on the same stage as a professional actress, do you think she can win?"

"So, you're saying that even if I understand Touko-chan, it's impossible?"

"For how things are now. She's just too far ahead of you."

Tsutako-san finished her check of the windows, and gave the "OK" signal to their classmate at the podium, writing in the cleaning log. To show her understanding, that girl made the "OK" sign back.

"Your opponent's wearing a mask, but you're going at her with your honest feelings. There's no way you can win. Ah, I'm not talking about the election here."

"Yeah."

Yumi nodded. It was about whether she could do something for Touko-chan, and what she should do. Yumi decided to think about it some more.

"Thanks for the advice."

Yumi thought that Tsutako-san was definitely an adult. Even though she said she didn't know anything, she was still able to say something pertinent. A hint. But Yumi had to come up with the answer herself.

"I'll take your smiling face over words of thanks."

Just as Tsutako-san was steadying her camera, Yoshino-san raced into the classroom, back from where her group had been cleaning.

"Yumi-san, Yumi-san."

Yoshino-san grabbed her by the arm. Just as the light from the flash and the sound of the shutter went off, so it must have ended up as a weird photo of the two of them.

"Come with me."

Yumi and Tsutako-san exchanged glances and smiled.

"Come on."

Yoshino-san's mood had changed quickly, like the weather.

Yoshino-san dragged Yumi to a rather delicate position - the hallway next to the first-year camellia classroom.

"Got it? We'll walk past slowly, having a friendly chat, so get a good look at what's going on inside that classroom."

"Um."

Slowly, friendly, good. Overly complicated orders would just result in confusion. So if she dropped the adverbs and just focused on the verbs, then, basically, they were going to walk and chat and look in to that classroom. "That classroom" was obviously the first-year camellia classroom.

"Because of what's going on, you haven't had a chance to check it out, have you Yumi-san?"

"No, not really."

Yumi didn't know how she'd react if she saw Touko-chan. So for the last couple of days she'd been avoiding the first-year classrooms as much as she could. The hallway alongside Touko-chan's classroom was right in the danger zone.

"I figured as much. So I thought we should do this."

But even so, Yoshino-san herself had obviously checked things out. Like last year, when she started investigating Rosa Canina as soon as she heard about the new contender.

"At any rate, take a look. We'll talk about it after."

Yoshino-san grabbed Yumi by the arm and started walking off.

Walking slowly and having a friendly chat by itself wasn't that bad, but adding on "getting a good look at what's going on in the classroom" made it a bit more difficult.

Because, wouldn't it look unnatural if she was walking along, apparently engrossed in conversation, but staring into the classroom instead of looking at who she was talking to?

Luckily, the first-year camellia class looked like they were still in the middle of cleaning, with the front and back doors wide open despite it being the middle of winter, allowing for a good view into the room. But on the flip side, it allowed those inside to get a good view of them too, so they may have looked like a rather suspicious duo. To the trained eye, they may have looked like they were scoping out the enemy's positions.

"Well?"

Yoshino-san said, after they'd hidden themselves around a corner - since it would have looked strange if they stopped walking just past the first-year camellia classroom.

"Nothing much. What was strange about it?"

Yumi tilted her head to the side in confusion. Wondering if she'd overlooked something.

Yumi expected Yoshino-san to get angry, saying, "Have a better look," but instead she cracked her knuckles and said, "That's it."

"What's it?"

"It's normal. Nothing's changed in first-year camellia class. Don't you think that's odd?"

Nothing had changed in first-year camellia class.

"It's odd that it hasn't changed?"

"Think back to last year, and second-year wisteria class."

" Ah."

With that, Yumi suddenly understood too.

"Right?"

Last year, Kanina Shizuka-sama, Rosa Canina, was in second-year wisteria class. In a sense, she had been in the same position that Touko-chan was in now, despite their difference in grades.

"That is indeed strange."

Last year's second-year wisteria class and this year's first-year camellia class were noticeably different.

"We should ask Noriko-chan."

Yumi turned back. She was probably in the classroom. Either that or she'd gone to the Rose Mansion. Either way, she wouldn't be where they were.

Then a voice called out to her from behind.

"Ask me what?"

Yumi turned around and there she was.

"N-Noriko-chan!"

"Gokigenyou Oh, what's the matter?"

Noriko-chan was on outdoor cleaning duty this week, and had been returning to her classroom when she spotted the two boutons from behind.

Noriko-chan wanted to return to her classroom and get her belongings before heading to the Rose Mansion, so they accompanied her back through the hallway. This time they had a proper conversation, unlike before, so there was no need to worry about appearing unnatural, and there were no orders to get a good look at the classroom either, which made it a lot easier.

"Our class is normal?"

Noriko-chan asked. Apparently not immediately understanding what they were saying. The class was normal. Indeed, there was nothing unusual about that by itself.

"Well, one of your classmates is running in the election, right? And she's taking on the favorites - the current council and their successors. So why is your class acting like it's business as usual? Shouldn't they be getting all fired up?"

Yoshino-san went on and on. Caught on the back foot a bit, Noriko-chan instead posed a question.

"So, you're saying the second-year pine class is - "

"We're about as fired up as normal."

Like many other classes, they had a handmade board showing "X days until the election." They also had a "Certain Victory" prayer doll, although it was made of drawing paper, not a proper one. On the back blackboard there were messages of support - "Good Luck Yumi-san, Good Luck Yoshino-san," and they had light pink and cream (presumably meant to be red and yellow) origami flowers adorning their lockers. There were rules against doing anything in the hallway or other places, but their classmates were still getting into the spirit and showing their support by decorating their classroom.

That's the level of support there was for the favorites (to borrow Yoshino-san's phrase). The show of support for their classmate Touko-chan should have been relatively larger, to make up for her lack of name recognition.

"Even if you say that."

Noriko-chan muttered.

"There's not a lot of support for Touko."

Noriko-chan had only entered into Lillian's at the start of high-school, so, naturally enough, she didn't know anything about Rosa Canina. Consequently, she may have been under the impression that it was like this every year.

"But Touko's at fault here too. In the beginning, our classmates would ask her questions about the election, but she ignored them or ran away. It's hard to support someone that acts like that."

They'd just arrived at the first-year camellia classroom and Noriko-chan looked at the door and let out a sigh.

Was Touko-chan feeling isolated inside her classroom?

"I wonder if she's okay."

Yumi said, also staring at the closed door.

She knew there was nothing she could do to help in that class, no matter what she wanted.

- I wonder if she's okay.

Yumi-sama's words rang in her ears.

So when she took another look at her class, a couple of things caught her attention.

Touko ate her lunch alone.

She was alone during breaks too.

After school, when she didn't have club activities, she'd sit in her seat and work on her poster, but not a single classmate approached her. Even if they didn't help, they could at least have taken a look.

Touko was isolated.

Like a single drop of oil in water. She didn't mix with anyone in class.

"Ah, I asked her if she wanted any help once, but she turned me down."

Kanako-san said. Noriko had called out to her during a break and they were talking in the hallway.

As for why she was talking to Kanako-san, that was because she alone possessed an aura that was different to everyone else.

"You called out to her?"

Kanako-san immediately answered, "Pretty much."

"But it was only once. I'm not a fan of high-pressure sales tactics, where you keep going after you've been turned down. Plus I've been busy with my club activities. Of course, I'd still help out if she asked me to."

"Thank-you."

This elicited a smile from Kanako-san.

"I haven't done anything to earn your thanks, Noriko-san."

Still, thank-you. Noriko bowed her head in Touko's stead. In her position, she couldn't help Touko even if she wanted to, which made her all the more grateful.

"And I told you she turned down my offer besides."

Kanako-san had a somewhat serious expression.

"What?"

"I don't think she'll ask for help."

"Yeah."

Noriko felt she might be right too.

"Hey."

Suddenly, Noriko wanted to hear Kanako-san's opinion.

"Why do you think Touko's acting like that?"

"I'm not sure but faith? That's not quite right. But I get a vague feeling it's something like that."

Vague though it may be, Noriko thought Kanako-san's reasoning was on the right track.

"She doesn't want to be a bother to anyone, wouldn't you say? That's why I decided to leave her be."

Indeed. Maybe that was all she could do for now.

The strained relationship between Touko and her classmates was brought into the open through a trivial incident one day during recess.

"Does Touko-san really hate Yumi-sama that much?"

Touko had continued to pointedly ignore the election chatter, but this new approach caused her to unthinkingly raise her head.

"Now, I'll admit that Yumi-sama doesn't have the sort of good looks that make Ogasawara Sachiko-sama so hard to approach, nor does she exude intelligence or dignity. We probably shouldn't expect her to gain these any time soon either. But she more than makes up for that with her likeability and warmth. I'd like that kind of Rose. I think the future Roses should look for more people like that too."

This girl was a fan of Yumi-sama's.

"You can't accept Yumi-sama so you're pulling this crazy stunt of running in the election. Do you think you're any better?"

As a passionate fan, with her blood rushing to her head, she could only see what was on the surface.

What did she think she was going to achieve by telling Touko about Yumi-sama's appeal at this point. It had already progressed well past the stage for such an elementary argument. Touko wasn't that simple.

"Say something."

Yumi-sama's fan was getting more and more enraged as Touko sat there staring at her and not saying a thing.

The way Touko hadn't talked to her classmates, or offered any excuses, or done anything except sit alone and silently work on her campaign materials had obviously stuck in this girl's craw, leading to her current explosion.

She couldn't tolerate that Yumi-sama's rival was one of her classmates. Her friends tried to get her to stop but she shook them off and kept going.

"You were the one responsible for the temporary falling out between Rosa Chinensis and Yumi-sama at the start of summer, weren't you, Touko-san? But despite that, you pretended not to know and acted in the Yamayurikai's play for the school festival. You cozied up to Yumi-sama because you wanted to be a Rose, but now you're turning your knife against her?"

Ah, so that was it. Noriko understood now. She was envious. Of the deep connection Touko had to the Red Rose family. This impromptu protest was because she didn't know how to handle the envy she felt for the way Touko flitted about inside the Yamayurikai at will (or appeared to).

Did she understand her classmate's feelings or not? Either way, Touko laughed scornfully and spat out a single sentence.

"So, what?"

This antagonized not only the classmate that had been complaining to Touko, but also the other students around her.

Noriko watched all this unfold from a distance, judging that the situation would only deteriorate further if she tried to intervene, but even she could see that Touko was acting like a fool.

- I wonder if she's okay.

Yumi-sama's words echoed in her ears once more.

Monday of the last week of January, two days out from the candidates' speeches.

At lunch, before heading to the Rose Mansion, Yumi timidly approached the library.

For no real reason. Maybe she was reminded of what happened last year. Looking behind the counter for Shizuka-sama, who obviously wasn't there.

If Shizuka-sama was still enrolled at Lillian's, Yumi would have been able to ask her all about what transpired back then. Maybe it would have explained some things about Touko-chan, who was, in a way, in the same position.

(That's probably it.)

She didn't even consider discussing it with her soon-to-be-graduated onee-sama. Since it had to do with Yumi's relationship to Touko-chan, she had to somehow stumble upon a solution herself, even if she didn't know what it was just now.

Why was Touko-chan running in the election? Was it because she wanted to be a Rose?

If Yumi continued on and graduated without a petit soeur, then the seat of Rosa Chinensis would automatically open up. At that point there would be no problem with her running in the election.

Why couldn't she wait a year?

Or did she want to beat Shimako-san and the two boutons in order to become a Rose?

Maybe she was dissatisfied with the current student council? But then, two of the three were changing, so it was bound to change too.

So then, was the problem the boutons? Yumi, or Yoshino-san. Had she nominated herself to show that she wouldn't recognize one of them as a student council leader?

"A fresh breeze for the Yamayurikai."

That slogan was written on Touko-chan's poster.

If Touko-chan thought she wanted to be a student council president for all the right reasons, shouldn't Yumi admire that determination?

(Even though in the one-in-a-million chance that Touko-chan wins, one of us will lose.)

Yoshino-san's scary face stole into her mind.

Following in the footsteps of her onee-sama.

Continuing to do her best to support the Yamayurikai with her friends, like she had up to now.

How was that for a motive?

(While that may be true, what can you do, Yumi-san?)

This time the gentle face of Shimako-san floated by. Yumi was one person, she didn't have hundreds of ballots to cast.

That was exactly right. Even if Yumi voted for Touko-chan, it was very rare that an election was decided by just one ballot. But, even if that one vote was the difference between victory and defeat, they wouldn't know who it was that lost and was left behind until the votes were tallied. Speculate however she may.

(Hold on, Yumi-san. What are you thinking?)

The phantoms of her two dear friends seemed to overlap each other.

(If you do that, I'll never forgive you.)

But there was still time, even now.

The deadline for candidate registration had already passed. There were four candidates. If one dropped out, that would leave the requisite three. Those three would become the next Roses through a vote of confidence.

She could continue to fight Touko-chan, or she could withdraw her candidacy and cede the position of Rosa Chinensis.

She'd gone over this countless times in her mind.

"Haa .. "

In the end, she couldn't come up with an answer just by changing her location. Yumi sat in the reading room for about ten minutes before leaving the library. The number of students who'd come to the library during lunch to study or research something had increased. If she was just going to sit around sighing, she didn't have to do it there.

As she was walking back towards the school building, she noticed a middle-aged lady walking back and forth in front of the visitor's entrance.

"Um ?"

Upon hearing her voice, the lady's shoulders jumped in surprise and she turned around.

"My apologies. I could guide you to your destination, if you'd like."

"Oh my."

She was probably a student's mother, or maybe an alumni. She was a little bit plump, wearing a fine looking tailored coat, and smiled elegantly.

"Thank-you, that would be a great help. I brought something my daughter left at home, but I wasn't sure how best to go about it. I set out when I noticed she'd left it behind, so I haven't been in touch with her. To be honest, I was thinking about just going home. I've been here for school festivals and sports festivals, but it's somehow hard to approach the school building on a regular day, don't you think?"

"I see. Ah, here, use these."

Yumi led the lady to the entrance and laid out a pair of blue slippers for her.

"Thank-you."

After putting on the slippers, the lady unbuttoned her coat. After sliding her coat back past her collar, she stood there for a little while. Yumi looked at her, unsure what she was doing, and eventually the lady blushed and said, "Ah."

"Oh no. Silly me."

It looked as though typically someone else would remove her coat for her. As befitting the daughter, no, wife of a high-class family.

"Which class is your daughter in?"

Yumi asked, pulling herself together.

"First-year - no, could you perhaps guide me to the high-school staff room?"

"Okay?"

Yumi asked, and the lady said:

"I don't think you'd like it if your mother brought something you'd forgotten to your classroom, right?"

In front of her friends.

"That might be true."

Yumi tried replacing the lady in front of her eyes with her own mother.

(Thank-you for always looking after Yumi. I've brought something she left at home today. Ah, Yumi-chan, look, here. You left it in the entrance. Honestly, you're so absent-minded.)

Imagining it, it was indeed painful.

"I don't want to embarrass my daughter, so it would be better to leave it with her homeroom teacher. Don't you think so?"

In addition to her handbag, the lady held a simple brown paper bag, which probably contained the thing her daughter had left behind - so it didn't look like it required any special care.

"I understand completely."

In full agreement, Yumi obediently headed towards the staff room. She tried to imagine what the forgotten item could be. Typically, it'd be something like a forgotten lunchbox. In that case, the sooner it was delivered the better. Even though Yumi's lunch still sat untouched in her bag.

The lady looked around restlessly as she walked, apparently finding the school on a weekday an unusual sight.

"Student council election ah."

The lady said, reading from a poster in the hallway.

"You've heard about it?"

It wasn't a candidate's poster, just an informational one about the election. Stating when the candidates' speeches would be held, as well as the election day and other such things.

"Yes, my daughter told me all about it. She said that, this year, the current Rosa Gigantea, Rosa Chinensis en bouton and Rosa Foetida en bouton were running. It sounds like my daughter's supporting them all too. She said they're all lovely onee-samas, so they'll surely be elected. Isn't that wonderful?"

She probably couldn't imagine that the girl in front of her was Rosa Chinensis en bouton. And since the praise had been made unknowingly, it wouldn't be appropriate for Yumi to respond humbly with, "Oh, you're too kind." That said, they weren't close enough that she'd introduce herself formally either, so Yumi simply smiled vaguely as they arrived at the staff room.

"Thank-you very much. You've been a great help."

The lady said, implying that she'd be able to handle it from here, having seen the teacher's seating chart posted near the doorway.

"I'm sorry for prying, but you still have your lunch left in your bag, don't you? I'd feel terrible if lunch ended before you finished eating, so don't worry about me."

So that meant it probably wasn't her daughter's lunch in the bag. Yumi excused herself, and thought she'd head to the Rose Mansion to eat. As she was leaving, the lady said:

"Say, have we met somewhere before?"

"No?"

Yumi looked uncertain, having no memory of any such meeting. Even if they had met, it hadn't been anything monumental enough for her to remember.

"I see. Maybe all the young ladies in the same school uniform look similar but I don't think you were wearing your school uniform."

"The sports uniform, maybe?"

Yumi said, remembering the lady's earlier comment about the sports festival.

"Ah, maybe that was it. Or at one of the stalls at the cultural festival."

"I wore a happi coat at one of the food stalls."

She may have been one of the customers, but Yumi couldn't remember. Or maybe they'd just passed each other in the street.

"Ah, I've detained you again. Please, go ahead."

"Okay. I'll leave you here then."

"Gokigenyou."

She was probably a graduate of Lillian's. The farewell, "Gokigenyou," had flowed naturally from her mouth.

At the same time.

Having already finished eating her lunch, Noriko realized she had to do something and stood up.

"Pardon me. I have to head out for a little while."

For now, everything that needed cleaning had been cleaned, so she picked up her empty lunch box and left the room. Rosa Chinensis, Shimako-san and Yoshino-sama were all on the second-floor of the Rose Mansion, but they simply said, "Take care," and didn't question her as to where she was going or what she was going to do. Although Noriko had bolted out of there, so they didn't get much of a chance to ask.

At the entrance to the Rose Mansion she ran into Yumi-sama, who had arrived later than usual.

"I went to the library for a little bit. Then something else came up, which kept me until now. How about you, Noriko-chan?"

"I'm off to my classroom for a little bit no, maybe Milk Hall. I'm not sure if I'll be back."

Noriko glanced back at the second-floor room as she said this, which prompted Yumi-sama to say:

"You can take your time. There's nothing more to assist Shimako-san with."

She'd already done everything she had to - made a "candidate" sash, designed her poster, and written her speech.

But even so, Noriko wanted to be at Shimako-san's side whenever she had the time. Even if she couldn't do anything, she wanted to be close. As her soeur, wasn't it only natural she felt that way?

Even Rosa Chinensis, who seemed cold at first glance, surely felt the same way. That was why she was showing up at the Rose Mansion so frequently, even though she'd never offered to assist her petit soeur with her election preparation. Rosa Foetida was studying for exams so she hadn't been to the Rose Mansion that much, but those soeurs lived next door to each other, and were cousins, so she was probably supporting Yoshino-sama outside of school.

"Take care."

Seen off by Yumi-sama, Noriko returned to the school building. She wasn't quite sure where to go, so decided to start with the closest location. Which was the first-year camellia class.

Inside the classroom, lunch time was pretty much over, with students either playing cards over some desks that had been drawn together, or had put their desks back in their original positions and were getting ready for the next class.

"Not here."

She went over to where Touko usually ate alone, but there was no-one there. She tried touching the cushion and felt a faint warmth. After doing so, she realized this was the sort of thing they did on police dramas, and felt a bit embarrassed.

Maybe she'd gone to the toilet.

Noriko left her lunchbox at her own desk. Anyway, if they were going to talk, it would be better to do it away from the classroom. She decided to head out in search of Touko.

"Ah, Noriko-san."

As she was leaving the classroom, one of her classmates called out to her.

"Are you perhaps looking for Touko-san?"

"Huh? Yeah."

Well, if she'd been seen going to Touko's desk and touching her chair, that seemed like a reasonable deduction.

"Do you know where she is?"

Noriko asked, thinking her classmate might know since she called out to her, but the response was, "No, I don't."

"If you see Touko-san, can you tell her to go to the staff room? I was walking in the hallway when our teacher asked me to relay that message to Touko-san, but I haven't seen her. If you find her, can you tell her?"

She must have thought it was a safer option to wait in the classroom until Touko returned, but then Noriko had shown up and was apparently looking for Touko, so she took the opportunity to ask. Her face clearly showed that she didn't want to head out into the cold to find a classmate that she wasn't too friendly with..

"Alright. The staff room. If I see her, I'll tell her."

Noriko said and left the classroom. Not without due consideration. She'd come to the conclusion that it probably wouldn't matter if she didn't find Touko, since if it had been urgent they would have used the school-wide PA system.

She started walking in the direction of the toilet and, sure enough, ran into Touko coming the other way.

" Touko?"

Noriko waved and rushed over, but something about Touko felt out of place today.

"Have you got a moment?"

"What could this be about?"

As they walked together, Noriko's uneasiness steadily increased.

Something about Touko's stride felt unnatural. Clop clop, clop clop. When she walked, it made a strange sound. Noriko looked at Touko's feet. And then she called out:

"What happened there?"

Touko was wearing visitor's slippers. Ivory and blue, although closer to ivory. In other words, the color was close enough to the white indoor shoes that it didn't stand out that much. But even so, slippers were slippers. That's why her appearance had seemed strange - she wasn't wearing her indoor shoes.

Since this was the first time Noriko had noticed, it probably meant she hadn't seen Touko walking around today before now. After sitting down, she wouldn't have noticed her shoes.

" Did somebody hide yours?"

That thought instantly crossed Noriko's mind. She didn't want to think it was the case, but the hypothesis that Touko was being harassed by her classmates wasn't one that she could dismiss out of hand, although nor was it a foregone conclusion.

"Not at all. I left my indoor shoes at home."

Touko smiled.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

She answered directly, looking straight into Noriko's eyes. So she probably did leave them at home. But even if she accepted that, it just gave birth to another question.

"So, why did you take them home?"

Normally, she wouldn't take them home during the term, right? It had only been about a month since the start of the third term. Or maybe Touko took them home to wash every weekend, and Noriko simply hadn't noticed.

"That's Noriko-san for you."

Touko said, lowering her voice a little.

"It's true that I left them at home. The reason I took them home was because they got so dirty they had to be cleaned."

"What happened?"

"It's no big deal. It was kind of noticeable, but it came out easily in water. I could have washed them at school, but it'd take a while for them to dry in this weather. And I didn't want to leave a wet pair of indoor shoes in my shoe locker. But after going to the effort of cleaning them, I blew it all by leaving them at home."

"Who did it?"

"Who knows?"

She said that her shoes were on the ground and looked like they'd been crudely trampled on when she returned from PE class on Saturday.

If the culprit was one of their classmates, they either left after Touko did or returned before she did, but who could remember that sort of thing? Plus there was no reason to limit it to just their classmates. At the very least, Noriko hadn't seen anything.

"That's horrible."

Even so, someone had definitely done it. There was no reason why her shoes would fall out of her shoe locker of their own accord.

"But, I've done that sort of thing in the past."

"Huh?"

Noriko asked in surprise, to which Touko said:

"Did you forget? I did it to you. The method they chose, it's somewhat like divine retribution, don't you think?"

It was kind of the same, but also kind of different. But enough of that. It was true that Noriko had received a similar method of harassment prior to the new students' welcome party.

"Putting a hair-clip in your shoes, hiding your shoes, writing graffiti on your desk, taking the juzu from your bag."

Touko counted off the items on her fingers, one by one.

Noriko couldn't stand it and told her to stop.

"Why are you smiling?"

"I'm not smiling."

"You are. It's like you're enjoying this."

"How could I possibly be enjoying it? You're reading too much into it, Noriko-san."

In truth, Touko's mouth wasn't smiling. But Noriko wasn't fooled by what she saw in front of her eyes. Touko was acting as a "person that isn't smiling."

"Well, whatever."

Noriko looked at her watch. There was about five minutes until the end of lunch.

"Let's go to the staff room. I'll come with you."

"The staff room? Why? To tell the teacher what happened to my indoor shoes?"

Touko looked confused.

"Not that. Our teacher called for you."

"For me?"

Touko changed course, saying that in that case she had no choice but to go. Noriko walked with her, since she hadn't been told not to come.

Clop clop, clop clop. The slippers echoed each step Touko took.

"I wonder if I've rubbed them the wrong way."

Clop clop, clop clop.

" Who knows."

That was something Noriko didn't know.

Naturally, the summons had nothing to do with payback from their teacher or anything of the sort.

"Here."

At the staff room, their homeroom teacher handed Touko a brown paper bag.

"Your mother brought it for you."

"My mom did?"

Touko took the bag and looked inside. What she saw was a pair of clean indoor shoes.

"Ah."

Noriko too called out without thinking.

"She said you left them in the entrance and she spotted them just before noon."

Their homeroom teacher smiled fondly.

"She seems like a nice mother."

"Yes."

Touko agreed, hugging the paper bag and shoes tightly.

"She really is."

That was the only time when Touko wasn't acting.

At least, that's how it looked to Noriko.