What the heck is this? - I, Mizuno Youko, thought, my eyes and mouth wide open. It took a while before I could comprehend the situation.

Yoshino-chan was doing magic.

Behind her, Shimako was playing "El Bimbo" on a pianica.

An incredibly strange spectacle. Something from a dream, and seeing it outside of one was shocking. At any rate, an atmosphere completely different to the usual tea party had, for now, filled the entirety of the Rose Mansion's second-floor room.

"Ta-dah."

In time with her voice, a stuffed toy made from towels rose from the empty box. Given the current situation, it was probably supposed to be a dove, but it looked more like a rat with wings. I've known this for a while now, but despite being Rei's cousin, Yoshino-chan really didn't have any talent for handicrafts.

But she was quite proficient at sleight of hand tricks. Pulling a 500-yen coin she'd gripped in her right hand from the breast pocket of Eriko's uniform.

"I'm not your audience plant."

Despite her frequent heckling, Eriko seemed to be enjoying herself.

This was probably part of the "entertainment."

Sei had asked her, "Yoshino-chan, what are you doing?" and then the first-years had taken the initiative to line up some chairs, creating improvised guest seating. At first, I'd been flustered, not knowing what was going on.

"This is your doing, isn't it, Rosa Gigantea."

Sachiko muttered, not taking her eyes off the stage.

"Ta-dah."

Yoshino-chan whipped her hat off. And there, on her head, was a flower made of feathers.

"What ever do you mean?"

Sei played dumb, but she obviously knew something. I listened in on their conversation.

"Ta-dah."

At some point, Yoshino-chan's head-flower had turned into a rope.

"You spouted some nonsense to Yumi. About party performances and the like."

"Ah, you found out?"

It had only taken a bit of light prodding from Sachiko for Sei to quickly confess.

"I told her it was an annual custom and she believed me. But it's fine. This party's supposed to be for our enjoyment, right?"

Such an egocentric way of thinking. Not even considering the trouble she was causing for others.

"But the reason Yumi collapsed was because she wasn't getting enough sleep."

"Oh, really? Sorry about that. An energy drink should make up for it."

I didn't really understand what she meant by that last remark, but it looked like Sei had tricked the first-years into putting on this show.

However, the usual tradition was to have a tea party where everyone sat around chatting. Everyone would reminisce about the good times and the bad, and not want to leave. At least, that's how the two farewell parties I'd been involved with had gone.

"Thank-you all very much."

Yoshino-chan and Shimako bowed quickly. It looked like the magic show was over. I'd been deep in thought, so I hadn't caught much of it.

(However.)

Rei was applauding so wildly it was embarrassing to watch. The complete fool of an older sister. But then again, that was one of her good points.

Following on from that, Shimako unfurled a folding fan. Then, without a moment's delay, Yoshino-chan switched the cassette deck on. Oh, she's about to start a traditional Japanese dance. Shimako's an accredited master of some dancing style whose name I can't remember.

But the intro was unmistakeably "Maria-sama's Soul."

(No way. She's not going to dance to this )

The unthinkable became reality.

Shimako slumped down, obviously not intentionally. The song was a complete mismatch for traditional Japanese dance. It looked like she hadn't been informed of the chosen song beforehand, for whatever reason.

While the song may have been a mismatch for the style of dancing, it fit perfectly with her Lillian's uniform. On top of that, the folding fan was the same one that Yoshino-chan had been using early for her sleigh of hand tricks.

When opened, it showed the word "Bravo!" written in red ink, and bit by bit this started to draw the laughter out of me.

I focused my strength on my stomach muscles and clamped down on it. No dancer wants to be laughed at.

If I laugh, I lose, pff-ff-ff. It was a bit like a stare-down.

Even so, Shimako had the spirit of a master and danced gracefully. She seemed to be improvising the choreography and changing her moves to fit the lyrics. As you'd expect from a master.

Sei was cheering her on loudly.

Eriko was clapping to the beat too.

(Ahh, I see. It's okay to laugh.)

The way I was analyzing things was pretty pathetic and at that point I realized that further reflection would be even more absurd, so I decided to just sit back and enjoy it.

"Maria-sama's soul, it is a - "

I joined in singing at the third verse. I hadn't been at Lillian's since kindergarten, but I knew the song well. I'd been taught it by my adorable petit soeur, Sachiko.

Shimako danced brilliantly as everyone else sang in the choir.

Now then.

Yumi-chan was last up.

Yoshino-chan switched the tape and pressed play.

I waited in anticipation for what she was going to do, then Yumi-chan appeared on stage with a spotted bandana and basket covering her face. It oddly matched her tracksuit pants and sweatshirt.

This is - it took my breath away. That figure - no way, there's no way it could be that.

But what I thought it couldn't be was, in fact, the reality. The music flowing from the tape was the Shimane prefecture specialty, the "Yasuki Bushi." But normally it was a male dance.

I had to hand it to Yumi-chan, she lived up to expectations. The folk song, also called "Loach Scooping," was absurdly funny.

When she lowered the basket, revealing her face, I couldn't help but laugh out loud. A five-yen coin, held in place by string threaded through the hole in the coin and fastened around her ears, pressed down on her nose, making for a funny face. That she'd go so far was magnificent.

My laugh seemed to tip everyone else over the edge, and the room was suddenly filled with a roar of laughter.

As for Yumi-chan.

She dug at the mud with her feet, putting a loach in to the basket.

The loach escaped, then she had to catch the slippery thing.

Her movements and facial expression - for a party trick it was a splendid performance. I laughed so much my stomach was in knots.

As I laughed, I caught sight of Sachiko from the corner of my eyes, and again I was surprised.

( Right.)

Sachiko, not usually one to smile, was laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her face.

This would have been unthinkable to the old, inflexible Sachiko. Back then, she would have angrily dragged her petit soeur down from the stage, to stop her acting so foolishly.

Sachiko was slowly but surely changing.

With that, I thought that I had no regrets left at Lillian's.

I could graduate with peace of mind.

Yumi-chan's dance reached its finale.

If there was one thing I was disappointed about, it was that I wouldn't be alongside them when the current first-years became Roses.

That unorthodox school council would definitely be something to look forward to.