Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter1

The First Step

Part 1

Opening the calming sky-blue door, they found something that seemed completely out of place at a girls school and were enveloped in a strange atmosphere.

"Sorry for keeping you waiting."

Hearing the carefree voice of Rei, the advance guard, the guests' attention was drawn to the single entrance. Then they all seemed to recover at once and each one individually uttered a soft exclamation like, "Huh" or "Whoa." Well, that's just putting it into words for the sake of narrative, in truth the sounds they made couldn't accurately be captured in words.

But still, "Whoa." What was this, a safari?

No, this was Lillian's Girls Academy. No doubt about that.

But inside was the uncommon, no, the almost unheard of sight of male students in their long jackets with stand-up collars called "gakuran."

Still, those earlier sounds were not the cries of "Alright" or "Yeah" from their world. Their voices were in no way menacing.

However.

Someone who wasn't inured to the ways of men may not be able to make such a judgment.

"Onee-sama … "

Yumi gently reached out and held her onee-sama's hand before she could freeze in the doorway.

"I'm alright."

Sachiko-sama squeezed her hand tightly and smiled. The way she was forcing her cheeks to rise in a smile made it look like she had a cramp, but just like she said, she was managing somehow.

The atmosphere may not have been as familiar as that of the Rose Mansion but this was still a part of Lillian's Girls Academy. A wonderful location.

"It must be more stressful for them."

Sachiko-sama said, mostly for her own benefit, then followed Rei-sama inside.

"Welcome, gentlemen of the Hanadera Academy student council. Ah, please have a seat."

Filled with pride, in her usual regal demeanor, the princess that hated to lose stepped onto the battlefield to wipe away her previous disgrace.

Following on from Sachiko-sama was Shimako-san, then Yumi and Yoshino-san entered the council room together. Shimako-san was aware of Sachiko-sama's condition and had urged Yumi to go ahead of her, but the plan had been for the Roses to enter first, and Sachiko-sama wouldn't want to appear as though she was weak and unable to do anything without her petit soeur.

The truth was that Sachiko-sama would react negatively if she thought they were being too considerate of her, so she could be quite difficult to handle. And when she reacted negatively she wouldn't just pout like a child, instead she'd get angry, saying things like, "Are you looking down on me?"

Inside the room there were four folding tables pushed together in a 2x2 arrangement, with six chairs along each of the long edges for the Hanadera and Lillian's student council representatives.

Yumi thought it was somewhat reminiscent of a group meeting for arranged marriages. Come to think of it, she remembered something like this from an old TV show. From memory, the person in the last seat was the joker, or something like that.

With that in mind, Yumi examined Hanadera's tail-ender. And who should be sitting there but her younger brother, Yuuki. The seat opposite, on Lillian's side, was currently empty; the plan was for Noriko-chan to sit there, since she was the only first-year.

Yuuki versus Noriko-chan. Now then, who will be the better joker and draw the most laughs – wait, that's not right.

In other words, today was the do-over of the introductory meeting between the Hanadera and Lillian student council executives.

There had been talk of holding it at Hanadera Academy, but they agreed to come to Lillian's on account of Sachiko-sama's condition. Even so, there were still doubts about suddenly inviting them to the Rose Mansion, so in the end they got permission to use the meeting room on the second-floor of the library.

After Noriko-chan filled the paper cups with barley tea from a thermos and handed them out, and just as it was looking like it was about time to begin the mutual self-introductions, Sachiko-sama stood up and spoke.

"Before we begin, I'd like to thank you for coming all the way out here."

The gakuran brigade simultaneously bowed their heads, signaling that it was "No trouble at all."

"Before we do the self-introductions, I'd like to apologize. I'm deeply sorry that the previous introductory meeting had to be canceled on account of my poor health, even though it had been such a wonderful opportunity."

In truth, Sachiko-sama had received quite a shock when she saw the wide variety of people in the Hanadera Academy high-school student council but she didn't mention that, stubbornly sticking to the line about "poor health."

"I hope you're feeling better."

Yuuki's friend, Kobayashi-kun, spoke up. Just by changing his clothes, he'd upgraded his image from a delinquent to a maths geek, someone that anyone would feel comfortable talking to.

"Yes, thankfully I've fully recovered."

Sachiko-sama smiled weakly.

"It must have been heatstroke. Summers are tough for me."

Keep at it, keep at it. Sachiko-sama was still doing her best to act as though she was totally fine with men, but it was a big step to take.

The Hanadera students were encamped in their uniforms.

The young men facing them seemed more reserved than when they'd met in their street clothes, perhaps consciously trying not to be too showy.

Yumi thought that Sachiko-sama wouldn't have been so disturbed if they'd been like this for the first encounter. But today probably only came about because of that intense meeting during summer vacation.

"Well then, why don't we start the introductions with us from Hanadera. We can go by age, like we're seated … what do you say, Yukichi?"

Kobayashi-kun asked the last-placed Yuuki. Which meant there were no first-years on the Hanadera student council. Yuuki was born just before the school year cut-off on the first of April. That's why they were in the same grade despite Yumi being almost a year older than him. If he hadn't been born prematurely he would have comfortably made it into the subsequent year's intake. He'd had it tough even when he was being born.

"Alright, you can start, Nikkou-sempai."

Yuuki spoke to the guy seated first. Then, not only did he stand up, but so did the boy next to him.

"Hanadera Academy third-year, Yakushiji Akimitsu."

"Likewise, Yakushiji Tomomitsu."

(…)

All the Yamayurikai members gulped.

Standing up, they were big enough to be mistaken for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Tower. Well, that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but they definitely had the same intimidating atmosphere. They must have been 2 metres tall. Imposing enough to make Yumi's mind wander, with thoughts like, "School uniforms that big would have to be custom made."

"Um … are you twins?"

Yoshino-san inquired timidly.

"That's right."

"That's right."

The same voice came from two different directions, like a stereo broadcast.

"Seems so."

It wasn't just their size that was identical, although it would have been more surprising if they'd differed there.

Nikkou and Gakkou.

Yumi recalled that she'd met them briefly at the summer resort.

"Even though they're not twins, they are quite alike."

That's what they'd said upon seeing Yumi and Yuuki together. She hadn't thought about it too deeply at the time, but they'd probably only said that because they were twins.

The introductions continued while Yumi was reeling in this memory of events that took place about a month ago.

"Second-year, Takada Magane. My hobby's body building."

"B-body building … ?"

Sachiko-sama's face twitched slightly at this phrase that had probably never before been uttered on Lillian's grounds.

Not working out, body building. They were somewhat similar but had vastly different connotations. The nuances were kind of hard to explain, but the effect on the listener was completely different.

But Takada-kun couldn't read that mood.

"Right. My favorite foods are chicken breasts and protein."

Misinterpreting it as interest, he happily flexed his muscles.

He'd looked a bit solidly built when he was sitting down, but apparently he was quite muscly. Indeed, it had looked as though he had a couple of prize hams coming out of the sleeves of his shirts when they'd met at the end of summer. At any rate, his taut school uniform was straining to keep his body covered.

Still, it seemed unlikely that there were any men like this around Sachiko-sama. She was trying her best, but there were limits to how much Sachiko-sama could take when suddenly confronted by such an extreme "man."

"Next, Kobayashi, go."

Yuuki leaned over and spoke, having read the atmosphere.

"Ah, oh. Also second-year, Kobayashi Masamune. My best subject's math. My worst subjects are everything other than math."

"Hehe."

Sachiko-sama finally laughed. Alright, things were looking up. If the attack stays like this – . Just as Yumi was thinking this, next up was an incredibly timid boy.

"Ah, I'm Arisugawa. A second-year."

Thin with big, round eyes, he was the cute type that every boy-band had one of. Had he been there on the day of the canceled meeting? After thinking this, Yumi suddenly remembered.

Right, there. A girl in a frilly white camisole, wearing red pants and flats. Hanadera was a boys school so, umm, that meant …

"We also have traps."

Yumi recalled the words that Kobayashi-kun had said previously. So that was what he'd meant.

Whether she was aware of this or not, at present Sachiko-sama wasn't frozen in place, nor was her expression twitching. They may have been worried about it, but at the very least it looked as though things were going better with Arisugawa-kun than with Takada-kun. Sachiko-sama probably got along worse with "manly-men" after all. Thinking about it further, Yuuki mustn't smell too manly either, since he'd been accepted by Sachiko-sama.

"Also a second-year, Fukuzawa Yuuki. Thank-you for always looking after my sister."

Yuuki's self-introduction was the last from the Hanadera side.

"He really does seem similar to you, Yumi."

Yoshino-san whispered.

"Well, yeah."

Yumi said, her words intended to get Yoshino to drop the subject. Since everyone commented on the siblings being identical, their only possible response was, "Well, yeah." Besides, the self-introductions from Lillian's side were about to begin and she was completely focused on that.

It went without saying that first was – that's right, Yumi's onee-sama, Sachiko-sama.

"Lillian's High School division, third-year, Ogasawara Sachiko. My title in the Yamayurikai is Rosa Chinensis. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

They gazed spellbound on her beautiful figure and listened dreamily to her proud voice. Or so Yumi thought, but unfortunately there were those poor unfortunate souls who weren't as intoxicated by Sachiko-sama as she was.

"Yamayurikai, that's your student council, right? But that Rosa … something, that's a bit hard to remember."

Said Kobayashi-kun, whose worst subjects were everything other than math. Sadly, the only way to know the titles of the Yamayurikai members was through rote memorization.

"There's no need for you gentleman from Hanadera to go out of your way to use those titles. Feel free to refer to me by my first or last name."

"Ah, that'll make things easier."

Sachiko-sama granted them this liberty, but if they took advantage of that and called her "Sachiko-san" or "Sachiko-chan", then this older sister would never forgive them – While Yumi was beaming this threat at Kobayashi-kun and those around him, Rei-sama stood up to take over from Sachiko-sama.

"Same, Hasekura Rei, the Rosa Foetida."

"I've heard rumors about you."

Macho-man Takada-kun said.

"What sort of rumors?"

"That you're a skilled swords-woman. Even in the Hanadera kendo club, there are those who would like to cross swords with you. They say they want to experience the purity of your head strike with their own bodies."

"Why, thank-you."

Rei-sama looked conflicted as she cleared her throat, and Yoshino-san turned away with a displeased expression. From this, Yumi gathered that it was also news to Yoshino-san that there were boys who wanted to be struck by Rei-sama's kendo sword.

"Second-year, Toudou Shimako. The Rosa Gigantea."

"Ah, from Shouguu temple – "

Kobayashi-kun muttered.

"Huh?"

"The chief priest visited our school to give a lecture some time ago. It was a funny speech. Everyone in the gymnasium was roaring with laughter. I only recently found out that his daughter went to Lillian's, so I was looking forward to meeting the daughter of that chief priest."

"Why tha … I'm terribly sorry about my father."

Shimako-san went bright red as she made this cryptic remark. Still. What kind of person was Shimako-san's father, that her daughter would say this about him?

Shimako-san sat down and, for better or worse, it was Yumi's turn.

"Second-year, Fukuzawa Yumi."

Stress, stress.

"My role is Rosa Chinensis en bouton. Um."

She was wondering if she should leave it at that, but since her brother had mentioned it earlier, she turned to face the boys from Hanadera and added:

"Fukuzawa Yuuki over there's my brother … sort of."

"What do you mean, "sort of?""

Yuuki fired back from diagonally opposite. Laughter leaked out from both the Hanadera and Lillian's sides.

This wasn't good. If it kept up, it would turn into a brother and sister comedy routine.

"That's all."

She bowed and quickly sat down.

"Second-year, Rosa Foetida en bouton, Shimazu Yoshino. I'm the cousin of Hasekura Rei who introduced herself earlier."

After she'd said this, Yoshino-san glanced briefly at Yumi and grinned.

"But we're actual cousins."

Badum-tish. The room had been warmed up and then allowed to cool down for just the right amount of time so that everyone erupted in laughter.

Darn it. So then the brother/sister routine was just the warm-up act and Yoshino-san ran off with all the laughs. It wasn't as though she'd been trying for comedy, but it was a bit annoying that it looked as though she'd lost.

"First-year, Nijou Noriko. My hobby's viewing Buddhist statues."

"Buddhist statues? We have some of those at our school. You could have a look at them during our school festival."

Arisugawa-kun quietly interjected.

"We do?"

Kobayashi-kun blankly looked to Yuuki for confirmation.

"Surely you've seen them too. You know, the ones they have on stage during the Hana-matsuri celebrations."

"Ah, right, them."

Hana-matsuri was an event to celebrate Buddha's birthday, so it was similar to how Christians celebrated Christmas. Hanadera Academy was a Buddhist school, after all.

"The Budda at birth. In the Heavens and on Earth, only I am the Venerable One."

Noriko-chan posed with her right hand in the air.

"That's it!"

Takada-kun laughed.

"So you do do the rite of sprinkling the Buddha?"

"Although we use hydrangea tea rather than perfumed water. And splash it around."

What did they mean by sprinkling the Buddha with hydrangea tea? Lacking information, Yumi put her mind to work and with the phrase "splashing it around" ringing in her ears came up with a line of students passing along buckets filled with light-brown liquid (she didn't know what hydrangea tea was, so pictured it as a sort of sugary barley tea) to splash on a statue of Buddha about 160cm tall. Only later, when she got home and asked her brother for an explanation, did she learn that they actually used a ladle about 10cm long.

Apparently Hanadera Academy had more than just the Buddha at birth statues. Ones that were normally in storage, but brought out for special events. Noriko-chan became a bit interested when she heard they let outsiders view them if they followed certain procedures. She must really like those statues.

A surprisingly gentle mood had enveloped the room, due to the cheerful nature of the Hanadera gents, and the intelligence they had gathered on the Lillian's girls beforehand. Sachiko-sama had somehow managed to retain her presence of mind despite the initially off-putting smell of Takada-kun, thanks to the smooth follow-on from Yuuki and the others.

"Now then."

It was Kobayashi-kun that acted like a chairman and took control of the meeting.

"Regarding the assistance that the Lillian's ladies will provide, we'd like the three Roses to be judges and presenters for our event."

"Judges and presenters?"

Sachiko-sama looked at Rei-sama.

"The same as last year?"

The pair sought confirmation but Kobayashi-kun shook his head.

"No, this year will be different to last year's "Miss Hanadera Contest.""

Miss Hanadera Contest, he said. That was what they did last year, he said. Since she hadn't been to Hanadera Academy's school festival, Yumi turned this over in her mind. So, the previous Roses had given their all as judges of this.

– Despite being a boys school, it was "Miss Hanadera."

This part slipped through a gaping hole in Yumi's mind, but despite Lillian's being unmistakably an all-girls school, there was someone with the title of "Mister."

"How will it be different?"

Hasekura Rei-sama asked, sparkling with glory as the winner of last year's Mister Lillian competition. Kobayashi-kun pointed his finger at the ceiling and loudly announced:

"It's called, "The Hanadera War.""

"The Hanadera War?"

The Yamayurikai members, or all the females in the room, asked simultaneously.

"War … do you mean like the Genpei War?"

Rei-sama asked, as their representative.

"That's right. The students at Hanadera high-school are split between the Genji and the Heishi clans, basically the sports clubs and the cultural clubs, and battle it out with their brains and their brawn. Well, to put it simply, they play games. They get points from the various games and whichever side gets the most points wins."

It hadn't really sunk into Yumi's brain after hearing this explanation, but the other members seemed to be looking at each other and nodding. Based on that, it looked as though they mostly understood what was being proposed.

"So what would we be doing as judges?"

This time it was Yuuki that caught Sachiko-sama's question and responded with an explanation.

"In the middle of the game is a quiz for the competitors. You'll judge which answers are correct and which are incorrect in the quiz."

"And as presenters?"

"We'd like you to present prizes to clubs and individuals. We haven't yet settled on the details, but we're thinking MVP or outstanding effort awards."

"By prizes, you mean – "

"Entry tickets to next month's Lillian's Girls Academy school festival."

"Huh?"

Yumi unthinkingly cried out after hearing what came out of her brother's mouth. Then Sachiko-sama quietly informed her:

"Don't be so loud. It's an annual tradition."

"Ah, is that so?"

For a variety of reasons, all guests had to have a ticket to get in to Lillian's school festival. Current students could get tickets for their family and friends but the numbers were limited, and those with no connections couldn't get in, even if they were students at the neighboring school. As a result, the tradition was born of each Yamayurikai member taking ten tickets to the Hanadera school festival as gifts. This was probably influenced by the Hanadera school festival taking place a month before Lillian's.

"Do you understand what we're asking?"

"We agree with the general outline. Although we'll have to examine the finer details of the proposal in good time."

Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama, and Shimako-san accepted the Hanadera proposal. Naturally, since the three Roses had said "Yes", the boutons weren't about to disagree.

"Were there any questions?"

"Yes."

Noriko-chan slowly raised her hand.

"Is it alright if I ask about something unrelated to the school festival?"

"Of course."

"I'm sorry, it's just a minor thing. Arisugawa-san."

"Ah, yes."

Having been singled out by name, Arisugawa-kun's shoulders jumped slightly.

"I seem to have missed your first name."

"Uh."

"So I thought I'd confirm it from this document – "

Noriko-chan looked down at the piece of paper that had been handed out earlier with the attendees names on it and continued.

"But it's not there either. I thought I should ask in case we had to contact you."

Yumi checked her copy of the printout and, as Noriko-chan had said, it just had "Arisugawa" listed there.

But it didn't look as though his name was Ari Sugawa either. Because for Yuuki, there was a one character wide gap between the words Fukuzawa and Yuuki.

"My first name?"

Yuuki let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, apparently troubled, while Takada-kun crossed his boneless ham arms and looked down, and Kobayashi-kun took off his glasses and wiped the lenses. The Yakushiji brothers – didn't really do anything.

"… Noriko."

Probably sensing something from the mysterious actions of the Hanadera students, Shimako-san said her petit soeur's name as a rebuke.

"I'm terribly sorry. It seems I shouldn't have asked about this."

"No, it's alright."

Arisugawa-kun lifted his gaze from the table, having gathered his resolve.

"Alice."

Yuuki said, trying to restrain him. But Arisugawa-kun continued on, ignoring the interruption.

"M-my name is Arisugawa Kintarou."

"–"

Yumi, no not just Yumi, probably all six of the Yamayurikai representatives couldn't believe their ears.

Arisugawa Kintarou.

That was kind of –

"It seems kind of wrong, doesn't it? Everyone always laughs when I first introduce myself. So you see."

But after seeing Arisugawa-kun on the verge of tears, no-one felt like laughing.

"It's true."

Sachiko-sama silently stood up and walked around the table to Arisugawa-kun.

"… Alice."

"Huh?"

"Alice is your nickname, right? Kintarou's a fine name too, but the sound of Alice just fits you perfectly."

Then, from Arisugawa-kun:

"Sachiko-samaaa."

Of all things, he hugged Sachiko-sama and wept into her chest.

"I was born into a boy's body by mistake. I really should have been born a girl and gone to Lillian's. Then I could have been your petit soeur, and then."

"Hold on a minute!"

Yumi jumped in without thinking.

"That's just not happening. No way. Because I'm Sachiko-sama's soeur."

Even though she really did feel sorry for Arisugawa-kun's mind not matching his body. But this and that were two completely different things.

"… That's how it is. I'm sorry, Alice."

Sachiko-sama gently extricated herself from Arisugawa-kun's embrace.

"No, I should be the one apologizing."

She must have heard his voice, but Sachiko-sama remained coldly facing away from him, not turning to look back.

Or, rather, she wasn't able to turn and look back.

Sachiko-sama had completely tensed up.

She had been fine when compassion had taken her over to Arisugawa-kun's side, but then she'd been embraced in a surprise attack and now she was like an electrical appliance after the circuit breaker had cut in.

Even if she considered Arisugawa-kun's mind to be that of a girl's, his body was that of a boy's whether he liked it or not.

Still, it was impressive that Sachiko-sama had enough energy left over to separate herself from Arisugawa-kun.

Yumi took Sachiko-sama by the arm and helped her back to her seat. It probably looked as though Yumi was trying to monopolize her onee-sama, but that didn't matter. Her main priorities were protecting Sachiko-sama's pride and showing consideration for Arisugawa-kun.

"What a shame, Alice. Even if you'd gone to Lillian's, you wouldn't have been Sachiko-sama's soeur, but you might have become Yumi-chan's friend."

Kobayashi-kun patted Arisugawa-kun on the shoulder.

Feeling relieved at having returned Sachiko-sama safely to her seat, Yumi looked up when she heard this.

"My friend? If that's what you want, we could start now."

"… Mm."

"Of course, I'm not going to let you have my onee-sama."

She winked and smiled.

"I'm so happy."

Alice / Arisugawa-kun really did look happy as he clapped his hands together. And Yumi felt happy too for having brought him such joy. Like she was covering up for her onee-sama's dislike of men. Even though he was biologically male, Alice was actually a girl on the inside, so Yumi felt like she'd gained another girlfriend.

"Alice, we'd warmly welcome you as a friend too."

Rei-sama offered as well. But picturing them standing next to each other in normal clothes, it would be hard to tell who was the girl and who was the boy.

"Don't steal my Rei-chan, Alice."

Yoshino-san feigned a scowl and then smiled.

"Okay, Yoshino-san."

Alice seemed pleased, despite her angry look.

"Pleased to meet you, Alice-san."

"I know we'll get along well together, Alice."

Noriko-chan and Shimako-san also reached out to him.

"Th-thank-you, everyone."

Alice was moved to tears having been accepted by all of the Yamayurikai members. Even Sachiko-sama recovered from her shut-down enough to smile at Alice, as he was happily surrounded by everyone.

Sachiko-sama was gradually being forged through the accumulation of small shocks.

"Well, I suppose we can call the Alice matter resolved then?"

Yuuki sought confirmation, still a little bit confused. His expression saying that it just didn't make sense.

That was understandable. Since it had started with a question about Arisugawa-kun's name but had somehow ended with declarations of "Let's be friends."

"I don't mind. But doesn't it feel like Alice is getting a better deal than us somehow?"

Kobayashi-kun grumbled jealously, since his friend was the only one getting closer to the girls.

Then it was Yuuki, seated beside him, that spoke.

"Usually he gets a worse deal, so I'll let it slide."

"I guess."

"That's true."

Takada-kun also agreed. Alice could blend in very easily at an all-girls school, but he probably had trouble at an all-boys school. Even though they were all second-year high-school students, they all had their own problems.

"How about we wrap it up by saying that we're all better off getting along well with each other, regardless of what form it takes?"

At any rate, they had satisfactorily accomplished the goal for today's meeting, which was to meet face-to-face and strengthen the relationship between the two groups. The time they had available to use the library's conference room was almost up, so they decided to close the meeting with a toast of barley tea.

"Cheers."

At any rate, just as the first meeting between the representatives of Hanadera Academy and Lillian's Girls Academy was peacefully drawing to a close –

"Um."

Shimako-san spoke before she'd even put her paper cup down on the table.

"I've been considering this for a while now, but no matter how much I think about it I still can't figure it out."

The question Shimako-san had for the Hanadera students, who were just starting to get ready to leave, was simple and clear.

"Who is the Hanadera student council president?"

"Ah."

Now that it had been pointed out, Yumi suddenly realized that during the introductions they'd given their name and grade, but no-one had said anything about roles, like president, or vice-president, or secretary. Right, right, they even did the introductions in order of age. There were no descriptions in the print-out either.

Upon hearing this, Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama hastily took out the formal letter of request to assist at the Hanadera Academy school festival and looked over it.

But that only had the sender listed as "The Hanadera Academy Student Council," with no mention of the name of the student council president.

"Isn't Yakushiji-san the student council president … ?"

Sachiko-sama said.

They were seniors and powerfully built. However, supposing that was true, she wanted to ask Sachiko-sama, "Which one?" The Yakushiji brothers were nigh on identical, but they were still two people.

"I thought it was Kobayashi-kun since he talked the most."

Rei-sama muttered. Indeed, it had been Kobayashi-kun that had been leading the meeting a little while ago.

"Ah, I'm the treasurer."

Kobayashi-kun loved numbers. Such a fitting job for him.

"While I'm at it, Nikkou and Gakkou … ah, the Yakushiji brothers are more like consultants or overseers. Basically, they were on the previous student council but have since retired, so their position is that of an adviser."

Now that he mentioned it, despite their powerful builds, they hadn't really stated any opinions. That was exactly the sort of thing that advisers would do.

With that, there were three candidates remaining.

Thinking about the Hanadera student council president, the first thing to come to mind was the previous one, Kashiwagi-san. But none of the three remaining, or any of the six really, matched up with the image of Kashiwagi-san.

"Shall we do it as a quiz? Or take a survey of everyone? Which one seems the most presidential?"

"Idiot, Kobayashi. You're being rude."

Yuuki scolded his friend. Then he neatly moved his arms to his side and stood up straight.

"I apologize for my incompetence. I am the current president of the Hanadera Academy high-school student council. I look forward to working with you."

After that, he bowed his head deeply.

Huh, Yuuki's the student council president.

– Wait.

"What!?"

Yumi's loud cry echoed off the meeting room ceiling.

Because.

That was – that was something she hadn't heard about before.

Part 2

"It's like this," her brother said.

"At Hanadera high-school, the students are traditionally split into two camps."

"Two camps?"

"Right. The hard-liners and the slackers. The sports clubs and the athletics clubs. Genji and Heishi. Red and white. No matter what you call it, in general it comes down to the dumb jocks versus the weak nerds."

It was only after they left behind the JR lines at M station and got on board their bus at the south entrance that Yuuki finally started to explain the situation to his sister.

"But there's some people that are smart and good at sports too, right?"

They chatted quietly, sitting in the double-seater two rows from the back of the bus.

"I said in general, didn't I? Mostly it's based on what club activities you do."

In that case, choosing a club was an important decision that determined how their three years of high-school would play out. Something like that could easily keep a first-year awake at night worrying about it.

"What about you, Yuuki? You didn't join any clubs, did you?"

"I didn't. That was a mistake."

"Huh?"

"It means I'm neutral. One of the requirements of being the student council president."

The students were split right in two. So the student council had to avoid any bias towards one side or the other.

"Kashiwagi-san was – "

"He was the opposite of me. He joined a lot of clubs. Participating equally in both sports and cultural activities."

Now it made sense. Just from what Yumi knew, Kashiwagi-san did kendo and the tea ceremony, and he could even dance. But from what Yuuki said, it sounded like he was also involved in a number of other clubs. On top of that he was also smart enough to get an advance entry into Hanadera University, so he was the so-called "complete package." A super-man that could do anything.

"But there must be others besides you, right? Students not in a club, I mean."

Even if most of the students split into one of two groups, it seemed natural that some would choose neither.

"Only a few."

Yuuki's response indicated there were some.

"So it didn't absolutely have to be you then."

"Kashiwagi-sempai nominated me. A parting gift from him."

"It's decided by who the president nominates as their successor!?"

"Come off it. There's an election. It'd be the same with you, right Yumi?"

"Yeah, more or less."

In the case of Lillian's Girls Academy, the probability of the boutons being elevated to Roses was incredibly high. But even so, they still had the student council elections every year. That's right – this year they had someone other than the boutons nominate themselves, which caused quite an uproar.

"Although in my case, there were no other candidates."

Yuuki laughed self-deprecatingly.

The vice-president, Takada-kun, was with a sports club, the secretary, Alice, a cultural club, and the treasurer, Kobayashi-kun, was unaffiliated with any clubs just like Yuuki, which left the current student council in a pretty good state. They'd all probably been designated for those roles by the previous student council.

"Well, that's how it is, so we'll see how it goes."

As the bus reached their stop, Yuuki closed off their conversation and stood up.

"See how it goes, huh. Hold on a minute."

Yumi picked up her bag and followed her brother down the steps.

"Why did you hide this from me until now?"

She asked Yuuki's back once they were off the bus.

"I wasn't hiding it. I just didn't say anything."

Yuuki waited until Yumi caught up then resumed walking slowly. After they'd got off, the bus waited for some other passengers to get on before taking off and disappearing into the distance.

"It's the same thing. A while back, I asked you what sort of person the current Hanadera student president was. You dodged the question back then."

By saying something like, "You'll find out soon enough."

She'd been worried that the president might have been bullying Yuuki. Or making eyes at him.

When all the time, he'd been the student council president. Geez, what a fool she'd been.

"You couldn't tell your sister something that important? How pathetic am I? Do you even know what this feels like?"

Yuuki stopped when he heard Yumi's words.

"For that, I'm sorry. I knew it was wrong of me."

Like a wilting flower, Yuuki lowered his head. Yumi wouldn't criticize him any more, since she could tell he must have thought about it deeply.

"Why couldn't you just tell me from the start?"

"I couldn't tell you because you're my real sister. Because it's kind of pathetic, don't you think? I'm simply a figurehead, a president that's like a regular worker with no real power."

"Oh, really?"

"Does it look like I have any power?"

"It doesn't… you're right."

Yumi answered, after thinking back on the actions of the Hanadera members during their visit to Lillian's Girls Academy today.

"You didn't have to say it."

Yuuki smiled bitterly, then once again started to walk ahead of her.

As she watched her brother's back, Yumi thought, "But even so, if I was asked who other than Yuuki acted most presidential, there isn't a single person I would pick out as being the one."

"So tell me, Yuuki – "

"Mm?"

"Do you want to be like Kashiwagi-san?"

"Huh?"

Yuuki turned around and looked back at her with a deer in the headlights expression.

"You don't have to force it. What's wrong with being a student council president with no power? It doesn't really seem fitting for commoners like us to have power."

She didn't know under what circumstances Kashiwagi-san had nominated Yuuki, but she chose to interpret it as a vote of confidence in him. He should be proud of that.

The other students certainly wouldn't have wanted a copy of Kashiwagi Suguru. That's why they chose someone life-sized like Fukuzawa Yuuki.

Like with the play for last year's school festival, Yumi couldn't have played the same sort of Cinderella as Sachiko-sama. And Sachiko-sama couldn't play Yumi's Cinderella. It was probably something like that.

"… Really? You might be student council president some day too, Yumi."

"Maybe, but."

Before that, there was the election. Yumi didn't know whether or not she'd get the same vote of support as Yuuki.

There was no point in rushing that, it was still many months away. Either that, or she was determined to let nature take its course. Yumi herself didn't know. Maybe she'd be more excited when the time actually came.

They walked side-by-side in silence for a little while. Passing various houses on the left and right.

Old house, new house.

Big house, small house.

Weird house, house that looks like triplets.

Behind the hedges of one house, a fatherly looking man watered the garden plants with a hose. There was still the lingering scent of summer there.

Eventually their home appeared.

Their beloved home that their dad had designed. But despite this, someone else looking at it might see it as just another ordinary house.

"Yumi."

Yuuki said as they approached the entry together.

"Hm?"

What was he going to say?

"You've got strong."

But.

"Yeah right."

Yumi smiled, thinking it was some kind of joke, but Yuuki was completely serious as he continued.

"I feel kinda rushed."

Then he jogged off, through the front door and into the house, as though he didn't want to get left behind.

"What was that about?"

Why did he have to hurry?

Yuuki may not think it but she was his older sister, sort of. Yumi mumbled this to herself before the smell of dinner drew her into their home.

Translator's Notes

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