Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter5

The Hanadera War

Part 1

She didn't know if this was the case everywhere, but:

Based on the Hanadera and Lillian's school festivals, the school festival at an all-boys school seemed louder but more tasteless than the one at an all-girls school.

First of all, take the school gate.

The letters on the sign that announced the school festival jutted out over the signboard, reaching over the wall it rested against.

Once inside the grounds, there were signposts that could be called either art or scribblings, and while the trees weren't painted, they were covered with all kinds of ornaments like it was Christmas or Tanabata. But a lot of the things just left her perplexed, wondering, "Why is that there?" Vinyl records, real leather boots, swimming floats, saucepans, hats, dog leashes, etc. All sorts of things up in the trees.

There seemed to be something like a sign-in area near the entrance but everyone was just walking in unchallenged. Inside they saw some middle-aged ladies carrying shopping bags, obviously using the school grounds as a shortcut home from the shops. That sort of openness was something you'd never see at Lillian's Girls Academy.

– So with that, the six members of the Yamayurikai were met at the entrance by Yuuki, Alice and Takada-kun, and escorted into the Hanadera Academy high-school grounds.

But, really, where on earth was this place?

Ninjas handing out fliers, Tarzan running around with a signboard on his back making his trademark roar, some popular anime characters singing a parody of their show's opening theme.

This should definitely be Hanadera Academy, but it felt like they'd slipped into an alternate universe.

All the Hanadera students made an "ohh" sound when they saw the Lillian's Girls Academy uniforms. Applause sprang up from out of nowhere.

"Don't worry. Everyone's been warned not to be impolite to you ladies from Lillian's."

Yuuki explained to Sachiko-sama, who was starting to seize up. He said that if something happened, the student could be suspended or expelled, as well as punishment being levied against the club they belonged to.

Clubs at Hanadera Academy emphasized tradition, with the strong bonds forged between club members lasting beyond graduation, so any student who caused the abolition of a club would be so dishonored that they would never again be able to cross the threshold of Hanadera Academy. Anyone who caused a club to be shutdown would be so ashamed they'd naturally have to drop out of school.

After walking for a little while they came to a fork in the path. Naturally, however, there was no statue of Maria-sama standing there – in front there was a thick grove and a smallish mountain.

"Now then, Yukichi, which way should we take the ladies from Lillian's?"

Takada-kun said loudly, out of the blue.

"Let's see. How about we take the right-hand path going there, and the left-hand path coming back."

Yuuki responded levelly, but his voice was raised too.

"Sounds good, let's go with that."

Even the usually soft voice of Alice joined in.

But why did they have to speak so loudly when they were right next to each other? And in a monotone to boot.

"I get it. You want everyone to hear, right? So neither the Genji or Heishi sides can complain."

Yoshino-san said quietly.

"Ding ding. You're sharp, Yoshino-san."

Alice made a sound like an intercom and pointed his index finger in the air. Apparently even the path that students took to school at Hanadera was split between two factions.

The right-hand path they'd take going there was quite steep. It was built close to the central mountain and undulated, giving it the feel of a mountain trail. A dynamic path with trees close to the edge.

"This would make for great exercise."

Rei-sama said, stepping around a tree stump and climbing the log staircase.

"Is everyone alright? It's like this going there, but the path back is paved and smoother."

When Yuuki said this, all the Yamayurikai members raised their hands in the air and said, "Hooray." However, since the both paths were part of the Hanadera grounds they chose to restrain from more boisterous celebrations like high-fives.

They were right not to be overjoyed.

"But it takes a big detour around the mountain, so it's longer."

"… Oh."

The maidens' smiles disappeared when that statement was added.

Incidentally, the short and tough path was Genji, the long and level path was Heishi. Without walking both of them it was hard to tell which one was easier.

"Which way do you usually go, Yuuki-san?"

Shimako-san asked. As expected from the daughter of a mountain temple, she wasn't even slightly short of breath.

"I do the same thing we're all doing today. Go there one way and back the other."

Yuuki was neither Genji nor Heishi. The boy that valued neutrality became the student council president.

"On that note, I take the left-hand path."

Alice said.

"I take the right."

Takada-kun added. Very much like the two of them.

Yumi pondered which route she would take if she went to Hanadera Academy and decided that she'd probably be like Yuuki, taking one path there and the other back. Not because she was imitating her brother. The Fukuzawa siblings were both equally indecisive.

After following the hiking course a little further they finally arrived at the point where it met up with the longer but flatter Heishi path and were once again greeted with the sight of students putting on various performances.

There were students handing out discount tickets to food stalls, handing out packs of tissues with filers for music acts and plays – all the usual means of attracting customers.

A student in a panda costume was handing out lollipops to little children. When they walked past, he offered one to Yumi, even though she wasn't a kid. The plastic wrapping had indecipherable pink and yellow lettering on it.

"Th-thank-you."

The panda patted her on the head like she was a good girl then went back to the group of kids.

"Even though no-one else is approaching us because of Yuuki-kun's watchful gaze … such incredible bravery."

Rei-sama spoke with admiration, looking back at the panda.

"Perhaps he was emboldened because we couldn't see his face."

Something well worth considering.

"Even so, why did he only give me one … ?"

Yumi took a good look at the candy she'd just received. Yuuki laughed and offered his opinion.

"Cos you look the most like a child here, Yumi."

"Wha … "

Even though Noriko-chan was the youngest. And while she was at it, since she was born in April it made her older than Yoshino-san and Shimako-san, although only by a little.

"It's not so bad. You like sweets, right Yumi? The panda must have realized that."

Sachiko-sama consoled her, but didn't provide much by way of support. Since liking sweets fitted the image of a little child.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it, Yumi."

"No. Because he gave it to me."

Yumi quickly hid it behind her back.

"See."

Sachiko-sama happily said, "You're glad you got it after all, aren't you?" Darn it, she'd been completely played.

Still, since Sachiko-sama was feeling well enough to tease her soeur, it probably meant she was getting somewhat accustomed to the atmosphere. At the very least, it was a good sign.

"Don't eat it while we're walking."

"Oka~y."

Yumi opened her handbag to put the lollipop inside. But just at that moment, she caught sight of a word written on the wrapper.

(Huh.)

Surprised, another word jumped out at her. The yellow characters from the indecipherable text all formed words.

"Mystery Novel Appreciation Society … ?"

Yumi tilted her head in confusion as she read the words. How on earth were a panda and lollipops related to mystery novels? That was the real mystery.

Be that as it may, she felt like she'd heard something about a mystery novel club somewhere before...

"Yumi."

Her onee-sama called out to her because she had lagged behind, so Yumi quickly stuffed the lollipop in her pocket and ran to catch up.

Part 2

The Hanadera Academy's high-school student council room was inside a school building.

It was situated alongside the classrooms, but the entrance was between the toilet block and a staircase, so it was recessed a bit.

The inside was completely different to the meeting room on the second floor of the Rose Mansion that was used by the Lillian's Girls Academy student council.

How best to describe it … right, everything about it gave the impression of a second-hand store. Basically, there were all sorts of non-student-council items scattered everywhere, with some old wooden desks lined up in the middle of the room.

Even at a casual glance, she was able to confirm the presence of washboards, geta sandals, empty goldfish bowls and broken clocks, amongst other things. It was impossible for an outsider to understand why all those things had been left in this room.

In any case, Kobayashi-kun had been waiting in the student council room, so it wasn't long after their 1:30pm arrival that they started the day's planning meeting between the Yamayurikai and the four Hanadera student council members.

"– So, each of the Roses will be on top of a different tower, and when a challenger reaches the top of the tower you'll ask them a quiz question. If they get the question right you'll attach a sticker to their question sheet. This will run for an hour and a half, from 2 to 3:30. Each of the Roses will have a Hanadera student council member at her side. We'll deal with any problems related to the game, so don't worry about that … umm, were there any questions?"

Kobyashi-kun asked, surveying the female camp. He was a strange one, his position was that of treasurer, but he kept putting himself forwards so now he'd become something of a chairman.

"No. We'll leave everything up to you Hanadera gents."

The Lillian's side had heard most of this before and nothing stuck out as needing more attention. All three of the Roses seemed a bit relieved when they heard they'd each have their own bodyguard(?).

"Well then, we'll step outside for now, to let the boutons get changed."

After saying this, the boys proceeded out of the room. Alice was last out, after setting out the things for them to change into, but he was still a boy after all so he reluctantly left the room too.

"Would it be better if we left too?"

Shimako-san asked out of courtesy.

"Ah, no."

A petit soeur getting changed in front of her onee-sama. There was no point being embarrassed about it now. Or rather, it was more embarrassing to be embarrassed about it. Although it might be different for Shimako-san and Noriko-chan, who had only been soeurs for three months.

"I'd rather you helped out."

Yoshino-san said, having torn open the dry-cleaning bag and holding out the safety pins contained within for Rei-sama.

"Alright. Is that … Alice's?"

"Yeah. It's a bit big, isn't it?"

Yoshino-san muttered, holding the trousers up against her Lillian's uniform.

"Hmm. You're not that different in height, but he's a boy. Long legs. Hey, Sachiko, did you bring any safety pins?"

"I did."

Sachiko-sama took two safety pins from her sewing kit and handed them to Rei-sama. Yoshino-san started changing immediately and finally her trouser cuffs were fixed with four safety pins in total – one from Yoshino-san, one from Rei-sama and two from Sachiko-sama.

In other words, the clothes they were getting changed into were Hanadera Academy school uniforms.

The three Roses were guests from the neighboring school, so it was imperative that they wear their school uniform. The three boutons, however, were their assistants. They'd be looking after their onee-samas, who had to stay atop the towers for an hour and a half, but the contestants might get confused if there were girls in Lillian's uniforms walking around at the bottom of the towers. To prevent that, the compromise they reached was that everyone other than the Roses would be wearing Hanadera Academy uniforms while the game was going on.

The uniforms for the boutons were all spares that the three shorter Hanadera student council members had brought from home (obviously after getting them cleaned). Yoshino-san had Alice's uniform, Noriko-chan had Kobyashi-kun's and naturally enough Yumi had been given her younger brother Yuuki's uniform.

Still, "shorter" was a relative term and it was only in comparison to Takada-kun and the Yakushiji brothers. While Alice did present a slender image, Yuuki and Kobayashi-kun were about average height for male high-school students. In contrast, the three boutons were not particularly tall. They could fit into the borrowed uniforms easily enough, but both the shirt sleeves and trouser legs were too long.

"Even if they just roll up their sleeves, it's still four safety-pins each for the trouser cuffs, are we going to have enough?"

They needed a total of 12 since there were three people needing their trouser legs taken up, which meant eight more. Unfortunately it didn't seem like Yumi, Shimako-san and Noriko-chan had eight safety pins between them.

Inside the pocket-sized sewing kits that the girls brought with them was one safety-pin. They'd expected two. Regrettably, they could only scrape together three safety pins, which wasn't even enough for one person.

"I wonder if we could borrow some from somewhere."

Rei-sama murmured, as Noriko-chan finished changing, quickly folding up the cuffs of her trousers and saying, "I'm fine like this."

Yumi tried to copy her. However.

"It's fine for one person, but having two people next to each other with their trousers rolled up is a bit – "

"Yeah … "

Going by the reaction of the Roses, they looked quite foolish. If it was simply a matter of looking foolish she would have just endured it. But it would ruin the whole point of wearing the uniforms if they stood out conspicuously.

Reluctantly, Yumi unrolled her trouser legs.

"That damn Yuuki."

At that moment she resented her lanky younger brother who had outgrown her at some point in the past.

"I wonder if I should just sew them up."

It was her brother's uniform, so as long as she undid it afterward it should be fine. The sewing kit contained a needle, thread and scissors.

"But we don't have time for that."

Yoshino-san said, looking at the clock.

"It could have been done in the time it took you to say that."

Rei-sama, the home economics maestro, snapped open her own sewing kit.

"You can't do it while she's still wearing it. Yumi-san would have to get changed again. You have to include that in the time it takes."

"Ah, right. But still."

The Yellow Rose soeurs ignored Yumi as they launched into an argument about, "There's no time," "Yes there is."

"This wouldn't be a problem if you were wearing high heels. But they probably don't have those in a boys school … "

Sachiko-sama said to herself, perhaps as a joke, as she inspected the excess trouser length.

"High heels?"

Yumi had a flash of inspiration when she heard her onee-sama's words, and raced over to a pile of odds and ends.

"Here. I'll borrow these."

What she'd retrieved was a completely ordinary pair of men's geta sandals.

Having found something suitable, she promptly took off her socks and tried them on. There was no problem height-wise. They made a clip-clop sound as she walked but apart from that they were fine. And her sudden growth gave her a new perspective which put her in high spirits.

While all this was going on, Yoshino-san had coiled up her long braids into buns. They weren't trying to disguise themselves as Hanadera students, but just having her long hair moving about might be distracting.

"Noriko-chan should be fine as she is … what about you, Yumi? Do you want to wear your hair down?"

"I suppose I should."

Her ribbons might attract attention too, which was no good. So with that, she untied her trademark twin ribbons. But her hair already had weird kinks in it, since it had been tied up all morning. They were stubborn enough that they'd have to be brushed out.

"Do you want to wet it?"

"But they don't have a hairdryer, right?"

"… Doesn't look like it."

Even though they had a washboard, mortar and pestle, a bonsai pine tree, a mask from some Asian country and a teddy bear, they didn't have what she needed right then – a hairdryer.

"Oh, that's right. You brought a hand towel, didn't you, Yumi?"

"Uh, yeah."

Her onee-sama asked her to hand it over, which she did. Then Sachiko-sama spread the towel over Yumi's head.

"A turban? Or a headscarf?"

Either one would be bad enough to make her run away; and before she could do anything, the sides of the hand-towel had been pulled around from the front and tied tightly behind her neck.

"Ah, that looks good."

"It matches the geta sandals."

At the unexpectedly positive response, Yumi took out her hand mirror and had a look. Which led to:

"Th-this … "

Was some kind of pseudo-pirate. Well, it most resembled the style adopted by her father whenever they did a spring clean of the Fukuzawa house. But that wasn't a particularly well known example, and the only one that would have understood it was her brother, who was on the opposite side of the door.

But this was probably a pretty good idea. With the hand towel covering everything, none of her crinkly hair was visible. – So with that, Yumi decided to go with it. As a result, all three boutons had completed their metamorphosis.

"Whoa. Yumi-san, you look just like Yukichi."

Kobayashi-kun pointed and laughed upon his return, having been informed that they had finished changing.

"What? Don't say that."

The Fukuzawa siblings objected in unison.

"Just bear with it for an hour and a half."

She didn't have particularly good hearing but she still managed to hear someone say, "Not just their looks but what they say too," so it looked like they'd become a laughing stock.

"Anyway, how did you get all these scratches on your uniform?"

Yumi conducted a closer inspection of her brother's uniform as she put the lollipop she'd received from the panda into a pocket.

Alice's uniform, which was probably about the same age, was impeccably clean. Kobayashi-kun's wasn't as good as Alice's, but it wasn't as bad as Yuuki's.

"Stow it. It's better than this one."

Yuuki held out his left arm, showing a rip about a third of the way up the sleeve that dangled open like a gaping mouth.

"Wh-what happened?"

"Being student council president's a test of strength. Now, it's about time we headed out to the oval."

Her brother checked his watch and quickly turned around. Yumi was a bit concerned for him, but then Alice tapped her on the shoulder.

"It's because Yukichi's energetic, unlike me."

"Energetic?"

"Yeah. He's always running around the school. Because he's the student council president, and because he's not the type to worry about being overly dignified, he's always on the go. There's all sorts of tight corners and he's always watching out for others first. And although it's not often, there probably are times when he has to get physical to make some students listen to him. So his uniform gets tattered quickly."

"Hmm."

She felt like she'd got a glimpse at a side of her brother that she didn't see at home. It seemed unbelievable that he'd get physical with anyone. But apparently Yuuki put up a strong front away from home.

"Hey, who left this box in the doorway?"

The tough guy shouted when he opened the door.

"Oh, when did that happen? It wasn't there a moment ago."

Yumi and the rest of the Yamayurikai followed the Hanadera student council members out into the hallway. When they did, they saw a huge cardboard box had been left near the club room entrance. It was a cube about 70cm along each side. Neatly painted in light brown. They surely would have noticed it earlier if it had been there for a while.

"It could be a prop for a play, or part of some display, I guess. Something might have happened while they were carrying it, so they left it here."

Takada-kun said as he moved it aside. They were next to a staircase, so people probably did leave things there for a little while from time to time.

"Still, putting it right in front of the student council room's door? Even if you were coming right back, you wouldn't put it there."

"And it'd have some kind of label on it if they were delivering it to the student council."

"I don't remember ordering any empty boxes."

"Empty?"

"Yeah, empty."

"… It could have been intentionally abandoned."

"I guess there are some idiots who'd make that gamble."

"Of course there are. But if they were looking to pick a fight, a single box is a bit weak."

The boys crowded around the box and voiced their opinions. But since the people who left it there weren't present, all they could do was speculate.

"Still, just dumping it here is outrageous. I'll put up a warning saying that there will be consequences if it's not moved in 30 minutes."

Yuuki pulled some paper and a thick marker from somewhere, quickly wrote out some sentences and taped it in a prominent position.

Warning!

This box will be disposed of if it's not removed within thirty minutes.

If it happens again, the owner should be prepared for an appropriate punishment.

1:45pm, Hanadera Academy student council president, Fukuzawa Yuuki.

"There, that'll do. Alright, let's go."

He started walking, as though nothing had happened. Having watched the series of events unfold, the Yamayurikai members silently exchanged glances.

– Boys were, in some ways, incredible.

Part 3

In the middle of the oval there were three towers, one red, one white and one yellow. Surrounding them was a great crowd of participants, all apparently male students, impatiently waiting for the start. Some were in school uniforms, some in gym clothes, some in their club uniforms, some wearing cosplay – it wasn't just the towers that were colorful but also the people surrounding them.

When they saw the Lillian's school uniforms, the boys quickly stepped aside; clearing a path and adhering to the warnings about being polite.

The towers looked more like playground slides than towers. Each one had a side that angled down from the peak to the ground. A ladder was attached to a corner on the opposite side.

"Don't tell me we have to climb those ladders … !?"

It wasn't just Sachiko-sama that was taken aback by the sight of the towers, but also Shimako-san.

The tall platforms constructed from timber were as high as the roof of a one-story building, although they looked a little bit lower to Yumi. But despite being a bit lower than she'd expected, they were still over two meters tall. Just getting up there would be a challenge for someone not used to climbing ladders.

"Don't worry, we'll use the ladders but we've prepared a staircase for you ladies to use. Although there's only one, so you'll have to take it in turns going up."

At Yuuki's signal, some students that were apparently helping with the event brought out a staircase attached to a cart. It was similar to the stair cars they had at airports; although the staircase had evidently come from the library archive where it was used to reach books that were up high.

"I'll go first then. Excuse me, can you push that up against the yellow tower?"

Rei-sama wouldn't have had a problem with the ladder, but being cognizant of her skirt, she decided to use the mobile staircase. She quickly climbed up it and stood atop the yellow tower.

The staircase was moved from the yellow tower to the white one. Shimako-san was very ladylike as she carefully trod up the stairs.

Last place was Sachiko-sama, but she still looked a bit uncertain – even when the staircase was wheeled before her, she just stood stock-still in front of the red tower.

"Onee-sama, I'll – "

"Yumi. I told you already, I'm fine."

Sachiko-sama glared at her, even though she hadn't yet said, "go up there in your place."

"Yes. No, I just wanted to go up there and have a little look. Is that okay?"

"On top of the tower?"

"Yes. I want to see what it feels like."

"… I suppose I can't stop you."

"But I'm a bit scared, so can you go up there with me, onee-sama?"

Yumi took Sachiko-sama's hand and guided her over to the staircase. Sachiko-sama didn't show any sign of fear; whether it was because she was relieved someone else was going with her, or because she didn't want to appear weak in front of her petit soeur, but before long she was standing on top of the tower.

The tower was about three tatami mats in size (1.8m x 2.7m) and the view was amazing. They could see the gymnasium next to the oval and all the way over to the school buildings.

The wind was incredibly soothing. She thought of taking to the wind in flight, like a bird or an insect.

"Ah, this must be your seat over here, onee-sama."

There was a single chair on top of the tower, facing towards the slide section.

"It's sturdy, so it should be fine."

Yumi sat on it first, to make sure it was safe for her onee-sama. The chair was fastened to the tower. As long as the tower didn't collapse, she wouldn't have to worry about falling if she was seated there.

"I suppose."

Sachiko-sama switched places with Yumi and sat down on the chair. By slightly lowering her line of sight, she couldn't see the ground directly and her stiff facial expression softened somewhat.

"Hey, Yumi."

Yuuki arrived atop the tower, having climbed the ladder.

"Are you going to stay up here forever? I want to move the staircase out of the way."

"I guess it is a bit small for three people up here."

In truth, she wanted to stay by Sachiko-sama's side the entire time. It wasn't that she doubted Yuuki's ability as a bodyguard, but Yumi held the conceit that, "If I'm here, onee-sama will have 100 times more courage."

"It's not so bad with three people, but when the game starts there'll be another one too."

Yuuki said, scratching his head.

"The challengers will climb this slide and when they arrive they'll stand there and be asked a quiz question."

The spot he indicated was right where Yumi was currently standing, in a 30cm x 30cm square marked off with red tape.

"Sachiko-san will sit there, so what about you and me, Yumi? It's not a huge space for the three of us but, well, it'll be fine."

Yuuki had given her permission but Yumi thought there was bound to be a lot of action once the game started, so it seemed like a waste of space to have her there just as a companion. But she couldn't bring herself to abandon Sachiko-sama here, either.

"I'll just watch the start. I'll climb down once I see how it is."

When she'd determined that Sachiko-sama was accustomed to both the height and the game.

"The staircase would just get in the way once the event starts, so it's going to be moved away."

"That's alright, I'll climb down the ladder."

"You'll climb down the ladder!?"

Yuuki and Sachiko-sama both asked simultaneously.

"Don't worry, I'm not wearing a skirt."

"That was the only problem for you, Yumi?"

"Mmm."

Yumi replayed what she'd said in her mind and still thought she wouldn't want to climb down the ladder in a skirt because someone might look up it.

"You're incredible. I couldn't climb down a ladder from this height no matter what."

Sachiko-sama spoke from the bottom of her heart. So that's it, it had been a problem with the height.

"Well, if you say you can, Yumi, I'm sure you can."

Yuuki gave a signal to below and the staircase was separated from the tower. Surveying the scene, at some point Takada-kun had made it to the top of the white tower and Kobayashi-kun the yellow tower.

"We're about to start, Sachiko-san."

Yuuki checked his watch then exchanged glances with his comrades atop the white and yellow towers. Seeing them nod back, Yuuki cupped his hands around his mouth and loudly proclaimed:

"Let the Hanadera war's second stage, the battle for Lillian, begin."

Since he'd said the "second stage," that must have meant that the first battle had already taken place. Yumi idly wondered if there were also third and fourth stages too.

Out of nowhere came the sound of someone blowing on a conch shell, and with that as the signal the participants rushed over to the slide.

(Oowah.)

Sachiko-sama probably couldn't see the situation from where she was sitting, but if she stood up and looked at the ground she'd instinctively want to run away from the unfolding spectacle. Like the great migration of wildebeest, or a massive crowd of ants swarming around sugar. At any rate, it was a messy turmoil.

"Yu-yumi."

Sachiko-sama called out for her help, frightened by the roar that seemed to come from the depths of the earth. The combination of war-cries with various other noises mixed in closely resembled the sound from the battle scenes she'd seen on the TV show Big River Drama.

"It's alright, onee-sama."

Yumi knelt beside the chair and grasped Sachiko-sama's hands. The Roses' real job started when the first animal, uh, human, arrived atop the tower. But no challenger had yet made it to the top of either the red, white or yellow towers.

That was probably because the three slides were not ordinary slides.

The yellow slide was smeared in a syrup that looked like mustard, making it hard to climb because the boys kept losing their footing.

The white slide was only covered in flour, so it looked to be easier to climb, but there was an obstacle before the slide. They had to fish a toffee out of a container covered in flour using their mouth before they could climb the tower.

Finally, the red tower that they were on was built with the slide a bit steeper than the others and a single straw rope dangling from the top of the tower. Initially Yumi had wondered why their tower was the only one not coated in something of the respective color, but she understood after seeing the first challengers. The palms of their hands where they were grasping the straw rope were turning bright red. On top of that, blood was running from a cut on the face of the frontrunner, probably suffered in the melee for the rope.

"Ah, you've made it to the top, Ishiguro-kun from the gymnastics club. Which quiz question do you want, from 1 to 100?"

Yuuki asked the out of breath challenger, pointing at a cookie tin. The tin contained 100 numbered cards with the quiz questions written on them.

"Number one!"

Ishiguro-kun of the gymnastics club screamed with all his might.

"Number one … sorry, that's a miss. Come back and try again. Exit's over there."

Card number one, with the word "Miss!" written on it in large lettering, was unceremoniously tossed in the bin.

"God damn it!"

The poor lad who'd drawn a miss despite being the first person to arrive slid down the narrow section of slide with "exit" written on it. She watched him leave out of the corner of her eye as the second challenger hauled themselves up the straw rope and onto the platform.

"Well then, next challenger. Which number do you want?"

"Lucky number seven."

"Number seven. Look at that, it really is lucky. There's a question. Here I go. Which element has atomic number seven?"

"Um … I'll be back."

The second challenger then launched himself down the exit slide. Apparently his specialty was humanities rather than science.

It soon became apparent that the questions were divided into a number of categories, like, "What's the title of the monk Shinran's most renowned piece?" or, "What are the five fundamental seasonings used in Japanese cooking?" or, "What's the name of the classical literature teacher Mr Suzuki's wife?" or, "What's 9 x 7?"

About two or three of every 10 contestants would draw a card that matched their field of expertise and get the right answer. There were plenty of miss cards mixed in there too.

Before long, they'd had about thirty participants climb up the slide, nominate a number, then either answer the question or leave without responding. By this time, Sachiko-sama had become pretty much accustomed to it; smoothly congratulating the successful challengers and adding a sticker to their question sheets, and commiserating with the unsuccessful ones.

When there was a little break in the line of challengers, Sachiko-sama opened the small bag she'd brought with her and stuck her hand inside, feeling around.

"What are you looking for?"

Yumi asked.

"My moist towel … but it's okay. It must be in my school bag in the student council room."

"Then I'll go get it."

Sachiko-sama had a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead and the nape of her neck.

"Ah, Yumi. You don't have to go. I've got a handkerchief."

"Just wait a little while. I'll be right back."

Sachiko-sama grabbed her arm to stop her but Yumi gently freed herself from Sachiko-sama's hand. The game had been going for about half an hour. Yumi had been thinking it was about time she withdrew anyway.

"Yumi. Put your sandals into this bucket and go down barefoot, it'll be safer."

"Ah, right."

Following Yuuki's directions, Yumi took off her geta sandals and tossed them in the indicated bucket. The bucket was attached to a piece of rope that was as tall as the tower and tied around the top rung of the ladder, making it a mechanism for transferring small items to or from the tower.

"Then you can put Sachiko-san's stuff in there and give me a yell and I'll pull it up."

"Got it."

She descended the ladder barefoot, then as she was putting on the sandals that had arrived ahead of her she saw Yoshino-san walking past the red tower.

"Yoshino-san?"

"Ah, Yumi-san. I got a message in the bucket saying Rei-chan was thirsty, so I've just got back from buying her some juice."

Yoshino-san smiled, carrying three cool drinks – a sports drink, an orange juice and a can of coffee.

"So where are you off to, Yumi-san?"

"I'm making a dash to the student council room to get Sachiko-sama's moist towel."

"We've both got it tough. Later."

Yoshino-san ran off towards the yellow tower, muttering, "Hurry, hurry."

Yumi turned and watched her for a little while, as Yoshino-san put the juice into the bucket which was pulled up by Kobayashi-kun.

Yumi turned her gaze to the white tower, wondering what was happening there, and saw Noriko-chan at the base of the tower worriedly looking up at the top. Shimako-san looked to be so busy she didn't have time to think about requesting something from her petit soeur.

It was tough being told to do something, and tough having nothing to do.

The bouton's task was quite a burden indeed.

The brown cardboard box they'd seen on their way out was still in front of the door. The time limit was already up but Yuuki and the other student council members hadn't returned yet, so it hadn't been disposed of.

"A~lice."

She called out in a sing-song voice as she entered the room, and Alice lifted his gaze from the desk and the paperwork he'd been doing.

"Yumi-san. Oh, what's the matter?"

"Forgot something. Where's Sachiko-sama's bag … ah, here it is."

The fastidious Sachiko-sama's bag was as organized as ever, so it didn't take long to find what she was after: a moist towel the size of a handkerchief inside a plastic bag. During summer, her onee-sama would often carry this to cool herself down. Although it was autumn according to the calendar, there were still plenty of hot days, so she'd be making use of it for a little while longer.

"How's the game going?"

Alice asked.

"It's really pumping."

Yumi gave him a thumbs-up.

"Really? That's good. I've been really busy here too. Even though missing children, broadcasting and lost property are all handled in other places, it all seems to flow here for some reason. It's finally calmed down a bit now, but the student council room's advertised as the emergency contact point so someone has to stay here and man it. And when there's a crowd, people will stop in for a look. Who wants to look at a rundown store?"

Alice laughed. Yumi wasn't sure whether his analogy was correct or not, but thought that, strangely enough, it might be.

"There's only fifty minutes left. Tell Sachiko-sama to give it her best."

"Yep. You keep up the good work here too, Alice."

They waved farewell and Yumi departed. Sachiko-sama was waiting for her, so she didn't have time to have a leisurely chat with Alice. Straight there and straight back.

As she was walking out of the student council room and about to descend the stairs, Yumi's eye suddenly stopped on a faucet near the toilet block.

"Ah, it'd probably be better if I wet it again."

The towelette had turned lukewarm while it was sitting inside Sachiko-sama's bag.

She wanted to make her onee-sama feel just that little bit more comfortable. Such was the spirit of the petit soeur. So with that, she turned back, took the towel out of the plastic bag and rinsed it beneath the faucet.

The water from the tap was cooler and more refreshing than she'd expected. After washing and gently wringing the hand towel, Yumi put it back into its plastic bag and just as she was about to leave, someone called out to her from behind.

"Hey, Fukuzawa."

"Huh?"

When she turned around, there were four unknown high-school boys standing there blocking her path.

They weren't making a good impression on Yumi with the way they were acting. She tried to head back to the student council room but two of them quickly blocked the doorway, and just like that, they'd encircled her front and back.

When she went right, they went right. When she went left, they went left. They followed her movements exactly, like this was a basketball match and she was being marked by the opposite team.

"H-"

She wanted to yell, "Help," but her voice failed her. The ring encircling Yumi slowly constricted.

Yumi tried to bulldoze her way through, because she'd be caught if this kept up. Aiming between the two in front of her, Yumi dashed past them.

"Oh, hold on now."

Just as she thought she'd slipped through, her wrist was grasped tightly.

"Gag 'im."

Three of them held her arms and legs as her mouth was gagged with duct tape. She struggled but it was four on one. Moreover, the four were all boys.

(Cowards.)

Her eyes were covered with an eye mask and her arms and legs were bound with something like rope, then she felt herself being lifted up and dumped into a confined space.

(Box?)

Just as she realized it was the brown box, she heard them say, "One, two," and felt herself being lifted up.

(W-where are they taking me!?)

She tried slamming her body against the box, but it was sealed tightly and didn't open.

"Don't struggle."

The box was thumped from the outside, and little by little the terror grew within Yumi.

(That place is dangerous.)

She heard Kanako-chan's voice in her memory.

(You're unguarded, Yumi-sama. Boys are so dangerous that you always, always, have to be on guard.)

She now understood that completely, so no need to blame her any further, Kanako-chan. But it was far too late to reflect on that now, so she'd be better off thinking up a counter-plan.

(He said Fukuzawa, didn't he?)

It seemed as though the boys were acting this recklessly because they knew her. But this was the first time Yumi had ever seen them, and she had absolutely no idea what she could have done to deserve such appalling treatment.

(So maybe.)

Even if they had nothing against Yumi as an individual, they might be carrying this out as an attack against Lillian's Girls Academy –

(Yuuki, you idiot.)

He'd been pressuring everyone not to be rude to the Lillian's girls and this was the backlash.

Since their behavior was nothing if not rude.

(Brilliant leadership from the Hanadera Academy high school student council president. Moron!)

* * *

Switching locations to that Yuuki.

He felt a tingle in his spine and looked around. But it wasn't the feeling of a sudden gust of wind.

That said, it wasn't the sensation of being watched, like Alice and Kobayashi, either.

His best guess was it felt like someone was insulting him behind his back. No, it was as though someone was badmouthing him terribly.

But in that case, there were far too many candidates for him to have a clue about who it was. Fukuzawa Yuuki had a lot of enemies.

"Has Yumi returned, by any chance?"

Sachiko-san asked quietly, at his side.

"No. The bucket's empty."

Yuuki answered, reeling in the cord attached to the bucket. Yumi was supposed to put Sachiko-san's stuff into the bucket when she returned from the student council room, then he'd pull it up.

"Don't you think she's taking too long?"

"I suppose – "

Yuuki checked his watch. Yumi had climbed down from the tower 15 minutes ago. Estimating about five minutes one-way for the trip, she should at least be somewhere in view by now.

They'd already been through a couple of rounds of the game, and the repeat contestants were losing some of their initial enthusiasm. As evidence of that, there was a growing pile of bodies on the mat below belonging to challengers that won the struggle for the rope but fell off while climbing up – unable to put any strength into their raw and injured hands.

From time to time, some participants who'd arrived late, or taken a bit of a breather, would climb up the slide but business was currently slow on top of the tower.

There was a bit of a lull in the game. Not just atop the red tower, the white and yellow towers were pretty much the same.

"She might be deep in conversation with Alice."

Yuuki said. As a response to the earlier comment about Yumi taking too long.

"Yumi's not the sort of girl to do that, since she went there on an errand for me."

Sachiko-san seemed to be massively over-estimating Yumi. Either that, or Yumi turned into an incredibly good girl when she was in front of Sachiko-san.

"Then I guess she might have got lost. She can be a bit scatterbrained sometimes."

"But that's terrible!"

On top of which, she's overly protective? There was a lot about Sachiko-san's life that Yuuki didn't know, but there was a lot that was interesting in how she was behaving.

"But as long as she's somewhere in the area, she'd only have to ask one of our students where the oval was and she'd get here soon enough … "

He'd intended to convey that there was no need to worry, but instead it seemed to deepen Sachiko-san's uneasiness. She raised her eyes.

"And yet she's not here, so what's going on!?"

"Calm down, Sachiko-san."

"Don't tell me … she's had an accident."

"An accident at school? Like a chemistry class experiment gone wrong?"

He said, as a joke.

"Exactly!? Where's the science lab? Is it in the same building as the student council room?"

Sachiko-san erupted from her chair. But then she became aware of the height of the tower, which she'd completely forgotten about, and shakily sat back down in the chair again.

"You were the one that said something about an accident, Sachiko-san. Not me."

Yuuki said, squatting down beside her chair. Sachiko-san bit-down on her white handkerchief and responded with:

"Go and look for her, Yuuki-san."

"Huh!?"

"I'll manage up here by myself. It's just reading out the question and giving a sticker to those who answer correctly, right? … Yes, I can do that."

"No way. I can't leave you up here by yourself, Sachiko-san. For one thing, we don't even know if Yumi's been in an accident."

"You're her brother, aren't you? Don't you cherish her?"

"Sachiko-san, you're talking nonsense."

"Listen, you have to go and search for her. Can't you hear what I'm saying?"

It was like she was a different person saying this, with a self-assurance that showed she was undoubtedly "Sachiko-sama." Hearing this authoritative tone of voice, anyone would just instinctively answer, "Yes," as though by magic.

" – I guess I don't have a choice. Okay, just wait a moment."

Yuuki had a look down from the tower, searching for someone suitable. Luckily, his eyes were drawn to a giant standing beside the white tower, so he waved and called out:

"Nikkou-senpai!"

"Oh, Yukichi."

"Can you come here for a minute?"

There had only been one of them when he'd called out but the other appeared from somewhere and they both lumbered over to the red tower. The two seniors, Nikkou and Gakkou, Yakushiji Akimitu and Tomomitsu – twins.

"If you're alright with that, we'll swap places. It's the only way I'll be able to go."

Yuuki pointed at the ground.

"… Fine."

Sachiko-san rose slightly from her chair to see what "that" was and reluctantly agreed.

Yumi was bound to show up at some point, saying, "Sorry I'm late," but it was good that Sachiko-san could get so worried about her.

"What is it, Yukichi?"

"Anything you want us to do?"

After the two seniors had climbed the tower, Yuuki briefly explained the situation to them and asked them to take his place, which they quickly agreed to.

At any rate, with the addition of those two large bodies, the top of the tower suddenly felt rather cramped. Oppressive even. Even Sachiko-san seemed a bit nervous.

"Read out the question for the number they ask."

"If they get it right, attach a sticker to the card."

The two seniors seemed to be enjoying themselves, running their hands through the box containing the numbered cards and checking out the stack of stickers.

"Rosa Chinensis will attach the stickers, so you don't have to, senpai."

"What, we don't have to attach the stickers?"

"Right."

Yuuki still had a few misgivings, but this was a student council event, so he couldn't leave it up to an outsider, and these two were perfect as bodyguards. But above all, it was vital that it was someone that Sachiko-san already knew.

"Yukichi's going to the toilet."

"Something big, huh."

Nikkou and Gakkou came up with their own interpretation. They usually didn't listen properly to what other people were saying.

"… Look, think whatever you want."

He didn't have time to correct their mistake. Yuuki put his foot on the ladder and started climbing down.

As he was leaving, someone made it up to the top of the red tower for the first time in a while. The sound of someone shouting out "Number 18" echoed overhead.

"Question. The top is a wood processing area, the bottom is a dump site. What is it?"

"Uh. No way. Why'd I have to get such a tough question?"

(Tough question? It's a pretty simple riddle.)

While this was going on, Yuuki kept moving one foot after the other and eventually made it to the ground.

– Incidentally, the answer was "a pencil sharpener."

Part 4

Yuuki made it to the student council room in three minutes, running all the way.

The school grounds were lively, just like a regular festival. Students, teachers, parents, and other visitors with no connection to Hanadera were all going a little bit wild, enjoying themselves and making noise.

The gymnasium and auditorium were used for the big events but each classroom also held something, like a haunted house, a mini-theater, cafe or refreshment booth, or some kind of display.

He'd taken the shortest path between the oval and the student council room and no classroom had stood out as being too overcrowded, nor had there been any large gatherings in the hallway. But despite this, he hadn't spotted Yumi on the way over. Although there were a number of staircases, and the emergency exits were open today too, so she may have taken a different path.

"Wh-what's the matter, Yukichi? The event hasn't finished yet, right?"

Yuuki opened the door and went into the student council room. Alice looked surprised by the sight and rushed over.

"Sachiko-san's worried about Yumi. She told me I had to look for her, so I got Nikkou and Gakkou to cover for me and came over. Has Yumi stopped by yet?"

"Yumi-san? Yeah – "

Alice frowned as he muttered this.

"But that was a fair while ago now. She isn't back yet?"

"How long ago?"

"Well, she would have left here about 2:40. I'm pretty sure of that because I called out something like, "Fifty minutes left, good luck.""

"What?"

Yuuki checked his watch. 3pm.

He'd climbed down from the tower at about 2:55, so from those numbers Yumi had been unable to make a five minute one-way trip in fifteen minutes.

"I guess she must have got lost after all. I'll try taking a different path back to the oval. We may have just missed each other. Alice, continue to stay on alert in here. If Yumi comes back, keep her here … Alice?"

"Ah, right."

Alice agreed, a bit absentmindedly. Yuuki may have just been imagining it, but it seemed as though Alice's face had grown progressively paler.

"Do you remember something?"

"Nuh-uh."

Despite initially denying it, it seemed as though Alice couldn't lay his suspicions entirely to rest as he said, "But there was that one thing."

"What thing?"

Yuuki grabbed Alice's shoulders and shook him.

"Ah, well. A little while after Yumi-san left, there was a commotion out in the hallway so I stuck my head out the door to take a look. When I did, I saw some guys carrying away that box from before … that's all it was."

"The box!?"

Yuuki dashed out of the student council room.

Indeed, the cardboard box that had been in the doorway was no longer there.

"… The box, huh."

But still, there was no grounds to suggest that the removal of the box was somehow related to Yumi's disappearance. It seemed more likely that the owner of the box had seen the note about the penalty, got scared, and quickly removed it.

Yuuki crouched down and examined the spot where the box had been. It looked as though that patch of floor was the only one where the thin layer of dust had been violently disturbed. But he may have just been seeing that because of what he was thinking. It could have been traces from when the box was moved.

"Alice, earlier you said there was a commotion so you poked your head out the door. Were they making a fuss even though they were moving the box?"

Yuuki asked, increasingly concerned about what happened at that time.

"Initially I thought there was a fight, because I heard what sounded like some thumps. Then I heard, "One, two," which would have been them readying to lift the box."

"Readying to lift the box? How many people were carrying it?"

"Three … no, four … ?"

"For an empty box?"

Cardboard boxes were sturdy, but they were still just made of paper. There was no way they would have needed four people to carry it. Unless there was something inside.

Something inside – ?

"They couldn't have … "

Alice gasped, covering his mouth with his hand.

"They may very well have done just that."

Yuuki muttered in despair, picking up something that had tumbled to the edge of the hallway.

"There's no way Yumi would carelessly drop something that was too precious to give to Sachiko-san … It must have fallen from her pocket when she defended herself."

Yuuki gripped it tightly. It was the lollipop that the panda had given to Yumi.

* * *

"You thought I was Yuuki!?"

These were the first words out of Yumi's mouth after the adhesive tape had been removed and she was free to talk.

"I'm so sorry. Truly, I can't say how sorry I am."

The four students all stood in a row and bowed simultaneously. When they'd crowded around her outside of the student council room, she thought they'd looked scary, but seeing them like this they just looked timid and thoughtless, like normal boys.

"Well, you've got Fukuzawa-kun's … trademark uniform on."

(You can call it tattered.)

"And you're about the same height."

(Because the geta sandals add some height. If you looked, you would have noticed.)

"And your face is exactly the same."

(Because we've got the same parents.)

"Plus your brother often wraps a hand towel around his head like that."

(Now that I did not know.)

Despite the apology, they listlessly offered up their explanations, with Yumi making a mental retort against each of them.

"– Even so."

"I know. Even with all this, it's not something that can easily be forgiven."

Basically, it was like this:

The hunters had turned pale the moment they inspected their prey after bringing it back to their nest. Because what they'd expected to be an ordinary raccoon turned out to be an endangered red panda. – That's pretty much what happened. Figuratively speaking.

They were in the nest, or, rather, the mystery novel appreciation society's display space. Yumi wasn't sure how far away from the student council room it was, since she'd been carried here in a cardboard box, but it was obviously a part of the school building. The two rooms may not have even been all that far apart. Although it had taken them a fair while to get here, since they'd been carrying a heavy cargo (Yumi).

"Didn't you know that Yuuki would be at the event, not in the student council room?"

"We knew. That's why we were confused at first. But it was a rare opportunity. So we hurriedly changed our plans."

"You changed your plans?"

"Yeah."

He said that their initial plan was to target Alice, who was staying behind. But like Alice had said, there had been a steady stream of visitors going into the student council room so they couldn't find a time when he was alone. But then Yuuki appeared and they decided that the student council president would have more of an impact than the secretary. – That's more or less a summary of what he said.

"But, why? Why did the mystery novel club have to kidnap someone from the student council?"

Yumi asked, sitting down on the seat she was offered. The two floor pillows were like a complete 180 from when she'd been in the cardboard box.

"There's a deep and meaningless reason for that."

"Not "meaningful?""

Not only was it for a meaningless reason but they'd got the wrong person. – As she listened to them talk, Yumi gradually started to pity them.

Besides, hadn't the mystery novel society been the one that gave her that lollipop? Or were the panda and the candy somehow related to this kidnapping too? Geeze, stop ruining little children's dreams already.

"It's to do with our mystery novel appreciation society. It used to be a fully-fledged club. But due to declining youth literacy and other such things, the number of members has dropped remarkably, to the point where there's only eight club members at present … ah, since we're a society, I probably shouldn't say club members."

The boy in glasses, who looked to be the leader, laughed self-deprecatingly. Since they were a society, he should probably be called the society president instead of club president.

"But there's only four of you here? Where are the others? Handing out candy?"

"No. The other four are also members of other clubs. They're basically only members on paper, lending us their names. One of our graduated seniors volunteered to hand out candy."

That kindhearted graduate was probably still out there in the panda suit handing out lollies, unaware of the mess his juniors had made. – Poor guy.

"This year, the animation appreciation society was promoted to "club" status, our clubroom was snatched from us, and we didn't receive any budget from the school. The space we were allocated was half a classroom. Half."

They seemed to want someone to listen to their complaints even if there was nothing they could do about them. So they told them to Yumi.

"Half a classroom, huh."

Certainly, the place was pretty small for a classroom. From looking up at the ceiling, she could see that the room had been divided in half by the lockers.

That said, the size didn't seem completely inappropriate. It seemed a good amount of space for the number of items they had on display and the number of visitors they had. And yet, they were insisting that this wasn't the case. So the main problem was one of pride.

"So, what, you thought you'd kidnap someone from the student council because you were annoyed at how small the room is?"

"Not at all!"

A partitioning screen split off the inner third of that small space, and it was there that Yumi and the club members were currently. They'd probably done that as a precaution to keep the kidnapped Alice or Yuuki out of view of the general public, but since they had hardly any visitors to their display it didn't look like it would have made a difference if they hadn't had the partitioning screen.

The items they were displaying – a timeline of when detective novels were written, a map on imitation vellum showing how a detective solved an example case, and others – were of questionable interest. They probably wouldn't be of interest to someone that wasn't already familiar with the genre, and didn't seem to have anything that a huge fan of detective novels wouldn't already know.

Yumi didn't know if her reasoning was correct or not but when visitors did come into the classroom they didn't stay for long. A deserted display seemed to have an invisible sign out front saying, "Boring," which meant fewer people even approached it, leading to a vicious circle.

People would gather at places where there were already people. Alice had said something similar.

"It's like this."

The president said.

"The student council promised that they'd all join the mystery novel society if we held an event that left them speechless. Naturally, we'd also be promoted to full club status."

"I don't know that the kidnapped person would be speechless, though."

"They would. Because, look."

He held out a copy of a book.

"This is a magazine we published ourselves. In it, we set out the plan we enacted today."

""Sherlock and Kogorou?" Is that the magazine's name?"

What an incredible naming sense. It was immediately obvious it was related to detective novels.

"Here, look at this part please. The cover story. The title is, "The mystery of the disappearing student council president." What do you think, isn't it exciting?"

"Um."

Yumi was stuck for words.

Putting it bluntly, it was too straight-forward, with no twist. Hearing the title, her immediate response hadn't been, "What sort of story is that? I want to read it." It left no question about whether or not the student council president would disappear. Sorry, but it felt stale and cliched, even for high school students.

"Since copies of each edition of "Sherlock and Kogorou" are presented to all student council members, if an incident took place that followed the plot of this story, then the magazine would become a gigantic warning notice. And where would that leave the student council who could have stopped it if only they'd read the magazine they'd been given? … They'd be speechless."

Judging by the title they'd initially been aiming for Yuuki, but while the plan was in motion they'd obviously decided that was impossible and switched over to Alice. But then their initial target had appeared, alone and defenseless, so they switched targets again at the last minute. But, who would believe it, they got the wrong person.

When Yumi pointed this out, they curled in on themselves, saying, "Exactly, it's so embarrassing."

"Then in that case, your plan's failed. Hurry up and let me go."

"I'd really like to do that, but if we let you go it's the end for us."

Obviously, he must have been speaking metaphorically, but his expression was deadly serious. Mistaking one person for another was one thing, but if their group was stuck with the label of, "Insulted the ladies from Lillian's Girls Academy," then Yuuki and the rest of the student council really might disband their society. Instead of being elevated to a proper club, they were facing a complete reversal with the prospect of having their club, err, society, abolished.

"I'm starting to understand why kidnappers kill their hostages."

One of them whispered furtively.

"I know, right. She's seen our faces too."

"It's kinda like, since we've failed already everything from here on is going to be even more of a hassle, so I'd rather just make a run for it."

"We can't run with a hostage."

Hold on a minute. No plotting amongst yourselves, mystery novel club.

"The arrest rate for kidnappers is high!"

Yumi shouted. This seemed to bring the boys back to their senses and they were more reserved in their words.

"– That's just something they say on TV, right?"

"No, it's true. You should know that."

Crackly laughter echoed around the room. Was it really okay for a kidnapping group to get carried away like this?

"I won't say anything. Promise."

Most of all, she just wanted to get out of there quickly.

"Even if you don't say anything, it'll be obvious that we're the kidnappers if we escort you back, right?"

"Then just tell me how to get to the oval. I'll go on my own."

"No way. Even if you're not in your Lillian's uniform, it's obvious you're a girl to anyone that looks closely."

"What are you saying? – You didn't notice."

"That's because it was dark outside the student council room. Besides, you're way more conspicuous since you look like Fukuzawa Yuuki at first glance. If any Hanadera students see you coming out of this room of course they're going to be suspicious."

The leader walked to the other side of the partitioning screen, slid the door open and looked outside. When he came back, he stated definitively, "There's still a lot of people coming and going."

"I know, why don't I get back in the box and you carry me? If you leave me in front of the student council room, I can get out and make my own way back."

Yumi thought she'd had a brilliant idea but the boys frowned and shook their heads.

"I'm sure we'd be apprehended while carrying the box. If Fukuzawa-kun notices his sister's gone missing, he's bound to suspect the box. Even if he didn't, Arisugawa Kintarou saw us carrying it away."

As expected of the mystery novel appreciation society, they were instantly able to see the ramifications of those actions. Although, in reality, over-thinking things made it harder to make a move.

"Well, you're the mystery novel society, aren't you? Surely you can do better."

Yumi swung the plastic bag containing Sachiko-sama's moist towel around. What would her onee-sama be thinking about her slow to return petit soeur? Hopefully she was so busy with the game that she hadn't noticed.

"What happened at the end of your story? Where did the missing student council president wind up?"

She flicked through the pages of the magazine, looking for a hint. The resolution was usually at the end. However.

"I'm not going to die!"

Yumi flopped down over the table.

The student council president was killed, stuffed in the brown box, and left in a corner of the gymnasium storeroom –

"Ah, we weren't really planning on killing your brother."

The leader hastily followed-up.

"Damn straight!"

"We were just going to leave him confined and when the school festival ended we'd nonchalantly lead the other student council members over to the gym storeroom."

"When the school festival ended? The storeroom? Hold on a minute. Sorry, but I can't fill in for my brother like that. The longer this goes on, the worse the situation will get. Um, you remember the "Hanadera War second stage, battle for Lillian?" If I'm not back before that ends, this'll turn into a major scandal."

The student council members tied up with the event and the Yamayurikai members would move as one. When that happened, there would naturally be an uproar even among the general student population.

"Wh-wh-wh what do we do?"

The boys all looked flustered, a bit late now though.

"I don't know why you're asking me. You got yourselves into this, you've got to take responsibility for it. Geeze, how pathetic."

It really was pathetic how far they'd fallen. It made her look like a complete idiot, for being kidnapped by them so easily.

"Ooh, I'm getting annoyed. I wonder if my blood sugar level's dropping."

She said quietly while looking straight at them.

"My apologies. All we've got is candy, but have as much as you like."

Thud, thud, thud. A mountain of lollipops were pulled from somewhere and piled on the table in front of Yumi.

"What, only candy again – "

The moment she picked one up, Yumi was struck by a flash of inspiration.

"Ah! I see, so that was … Alright!"

"Wh-what?"

Yumi may have been talking to herself a bit too loudly, because the four members of the mystery novel society looked frightened as they asked her this.

"I just had a brilliant idea. Somebody get Kashiwagi-san and bring him here."

"Kashiwagi-san … um, you mean Kashiwagi-sempai?"

"Right. Kashiwagi Suguru-san. You know him, right?"

"O-of course. But, um, why – "

"Hurry up. I'll explain later. Just maybe, no, it'll definitely work out fine. Trust me."

She gave the timid boys a boot up the backside. Of course, that was a figure of speech, she didn't literally kick them in the butt.

"Go! Quickly!"

"O-okay."

The president tumbled out of the room.

"What a pain, honestly."

Somehow, it had turned into something she never would have imagined when she first arrived.

Yumi, the supposed captive, was ordering around her captors.

She'd said, "Trust me."

Even though she'd been the one to say it, Yumi didn't fully realize its significance.

Part 5

"What have you lot – "

When Kashiwagi-san entered the (half) classroom and grasped the situation, he glared demonically at his juniors. Hmm, so the usually smiling, self-assured Kashiwagi-san could get angry like this too. It was quite moving, in a way. However.

"You assholes."

Kashiwagi-san balled his left hand into a fist and he grabbed at one of the boys, so Yumi quickly jumped in between them.

"Calm down, Kashiwagi-san. I'm fine."

"… Yumi-chan."

After resorting to violence, Kashiwagi-san seemed to return to his senses when he saw Yumi, and then in the blink of an eye he was kneeling on the ground.

"I'm sorry. For the rude behavior of my ill-mannered juniors. Really, truly, I don't know how to make this up to you – "

Kneeling down, he brought both hands to the ground. He was, unmistakeably, prostrating himself.

"This is all because of my negligence with regards to supervision. Take all your anger and rage out on me."

"Kashiwagi-san … "

The proud prince of Hanadera lay prostrate and looked up, begging for forgiveness. His juniors had probably never seen him like this before and, after their initial shock, they quickly followed suit.

"Stop that. I didn't call you hear to listen to your apology or to yell at you, Kashiwagi-san."

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Yumi took Kashiwagi-san by the hand and helped him to his feet. In the period drama Mito Koumon, the villain would usually laugh loudly when someone lay prostrate before them, but that didn't really seem like it would make her feel better.

"More importantly, I need your cooperation. As much as possible, I'd like to keep this from going public."

"Huh, but."

Having been brought in this late in the game, Kashiwagi-san was surprised that it was the victim, Yumi, proposing this.

"Kashiwagi-san, you told me that you'd always listen if I ever asked something of you."

"Yumi-chan, I meant that I'd be overjoyed if I could provide assistance to you. I didn't say that so you could protect these idiotic boys."

"Quit your complaining. Do what I say and get undressed."

"Wha!?"

"Don't argue!"

Yumi caught Kashiwagi-san before he could flee, grabbed hold of the zipper and yanked it down with all her might.

"A-alright. I'll take it off. If I take it off, will you let go of me? I don't mind stripping down, but I don't like being stripped."

As he slowly took his arms out of the sleeves, Kashiwagi-san muttered, "Maybe that's it." Somehow, he seemed to understand what Yumi intended to do. But the others didn't seem to get it, as they kept kneeling and averting their gaze after Kashiwagi-san had stripped down to this T-shirt and shorts.

"Making Yumi-chan go this far – "

Kashiwagi-san looked conflicted as he held out what he had been wearing.

"I should just borrow one thing at a time."

Yumi joked as she took off her geta sandals and put on her other plunder. Perhaps relieved by these words, Kashiwagi-san's usual smile finally returned to his face.

"I see. Thank-you. But, I'm not going to let you bear all the responsibility for this, Yumi-chan."

Kashiwagi-san turned to his four juniors and in a serious voice informed them:

"You lot, line up over there and grit your teeth."

It looked to be quite painful indeed for a man to "take responsibility."

* * *

It was five minutes later that Yuuki stepped into the mystery novel society's display area, following the clue from the eyewitness report.

"Yo, Yukichi."

The classroom was absolutely deserted, but on the other side of the partition screen the four members of the mystery novel society and one former member sat facing each other around a couple of desks, playing cards.

"Kashiwagi-sem … why are you … "

Obviously, Yuuki was asking why he was there. But there were plenty of other pointed questions he could ask Kashiwagi-sempai, like why was he playing cards, or why was he dressed more or less in his underwear.

"I know, just handing out candy isn't enough to bring in the visitors. As you can tell by our current open but empty state. Why don't you have a seat and play some poker too?"

"Now's not the time."

He declined the offer and slowly scanned the classroom. There was no sign of Yumi.

"What's up?"

Kashiwagi-sempai asked. Since he'd graduated, he wouldn't officially be a member of the mystery novel appreciation society, but he stilled acted like he was in charge.

In contrast, the four official members kept playing cards, with their heads down, as though they'd been told, "No talking." Their behavior was far too stiff.

"I'm looking for Yumi."

Yuuki said.

"Yumi-chan? She's not here."

Again, it was Kashiwagi-sempai that answered.

"Really?"

"Take a look around if you don't believe me."

"Alright."

Since he'd been given permission, Yuuki immediately started a search of the classroom. Beneath the tables, out on the verandah, in the broom closet. He also checked each of the lockers, but naturally they were all locked and none of them opened. On second thought, she wouldn't be able to fit in such a small place anyway … No, maybe she'd just barely fit.

"Yukichi. Found Yumi-chan?"

While Yuuki was turning the classroom upside down, the five of them continued playing cards.

(Five people, including Kashiwagi-sempai.)

All four proper members of the mystery novel society were present. Assuming an accomplice of theirs had taken Yumi away, he couldn't think of anywhere else they would have taken her.

(A box with someone in it would be pretty heavy to carry. So they must have carried her to somewhere close by.)

Since the student festival was so packed with people, they wouldn't have left something as dangerous as that lying around without someone watching it. But the four of them were here.

(So that means.)

Even though he had come here based on an eyewitness report, he may have been mistaken about their participation in this. Just as Yuuki started to think this, he noticed what Kashiwagi-sempai was using in place of a chair.

"That's."

The distinctive brown cardboard box.

Kashiwagi-sempai moved aside and Yuuki was able to confirm that there were still traces of cellophane tape from when they'd removed the warning notice he'd stuck to it.

Yuuki opened the box. But Yumi wasn't in there. Just an old pair of geta sandals.

"Yukichi."

Kashiwagi-sempai said, continuing to play cards while standing.

"I think the mystery novel society is deserving of whatever punishment you give them, so I'm not going to defend them … but, in deference to Yumi-chan, forgive them, just this time. These idiots are reflecting on their actions too."

"Yumi!?"

Yuuki latched on to that name.

"You said Yumi!?"

"Yeah. She really is a good girl."

So she really was here then. At the very least, there was no doubt that Kashiwagi-sempai had been in contact with Yumi at some point that day.

Yuuki had another look at the four "idiots." They continued playing cards as though nothing had happened, but there was a red mark on each of their right cheeks, as though they'd been struck with an open hand. Based on that, he could figure out more or less what had happened.

Kashiwagi-sempai snapped his fingers and the four stood up as one and bowed deeply, saying, "We're very sorry."

Having admitted their crime, Yuuki instinctively balled his right hand into a fist and was about to draw back and strike when he remembered the words, "In deference to Yumi-chan," and managed to keep himself in check.

"At any rate, she was just like you'd expect from the student council president's older sister. She really was a wonderful person."

Said the president of the mystery novel society.

"Wonderful?"

Yuuki asked. What on earth had Yumi done to these guys?

"She was kind, but tough when she had to be. And that's not all."

(Yumi was?)

"She said I should cool down and let me borrow her precious hand towel."

(Hang on. That was Sachiko-san's.)

"And she has a cute face."

(Hey, watch what you're saying. Yumi and I have the same face.)

"At any rate, we've all been enchanted by her."

The four of them clapped their hands together, as though they were praying to the cross.

"If you lot say one more word I'll redden your left cheeks too."

Unable to listen to them compliment his sister any longer, Yuuki finally drew his fist back, ready to strike. Then Kashiwagi-sempai defused the situation by saying, "Now, now."

"Enchanted by your sister? Isn't that wonderful, Yukichi? If you're going to get that jealous, I'll have to call you a sis-con."

A sis-con? Yuuki shook off the hand that Kashiwagi-sempai had placed over his fist and looked away.

"So where is Yumi now then?"

"Oh? You should have passed each other at some point."

Kashiwagi-sempai smiled knowingly as he laid his cards down on the table.

"Passed each other? No, we didn't."

"Ah, so you didn't notice her then. Such a shame."

"What do you mean?"

What on earth was he saying? There was no way Yuuki wouldn't have noticed the person he was desperately searching for, if they'd passed each other.

"Just before you arrived, Yumi walked out of this classroom on her own two feet."

"What!?"

Yuuki dashed out of the room upon hearing Kashiwagi-sempai's words. However.

"Hey, Yukichi."

He was held back by that quiet voice.

"I'm sure you're busy, but you should try reading the complimentary copy some time."

Yuuki immediately came to a halt and slowly turned around.

""Sherlock and Kogorou?" I'm in the middle of it right now. "Detective Panda and the Case of the Lollipop Murders" is pretty interesting."

"That so?"

Kashiwagi-san flashed a smile.

"Since you're such a good kid, Yukichi, I'll give you a hint. Yumi-chan wouldn't have looked like Yumi-chan."

"Huh … ?"

He'd said that Yumi had walked out of there, but the geta sandals were still here. So that meant –

"Don't tell me … it was that?"

"It would most likely be what you're thinking."

Yuuki remembered that they had actually passed each other. While he was on the way here. It wasn't Yumi, but it had definitely left a memorable impression on him.

"Catch you later, sempai."

Yuuki hurriedly left the classroom.

He rushed down the corridor, grumbling at his sister.

– How the heck was he supposed to recognize her looking like that?

Part 6

It was hot.

Yumi took a deep breath.

That was understandable, since she was wearing another layer – a fur coat – on top of the boy's school uniform. Furthermore, it was September. It was a heat endurance test.

Sweat was pouring out of her body. But there was no way for her to wipe it off. She'd put it on without a second thought, but it was pretty tough to wear.

What time was it now?

She looked at her left wrist, for what she expected to be there. But, naturally, her watch wasn't there. She was still wearing it but it was hidden at the moment.

(A clock, a clock … )

There should be clocks everywhere throughout the school building, but now that she was searching for one they were hard to find. She thought that if she got out of the school building she should be able to see a large clock in a prominent position somewhere but since she was unfamiliar with this school she had no idea which door would lead her where.

Thinking that she had to make it back to the oval, she'd descended to the ground floor, but from there it was hard to tell where to go. The boys had politely informed her of how to get back, but it was hard to picture the route since she'd been blindfolded and carried in a box on the way there.

At any rate, it looked like she was lost.

If she'd known it would turn out like this, she would have called out to Yuuki when they passed each other.

But there hadn't been much of an opportunity for her to call out before her brother ran past looking preoccupied. She could have chased after him, but she really didn't feel like explaining those missing minutes or her current appearance in the crowded hallway if she drew his attention. Apart from that, her head was filled with thoughts of getting back to her onee-sama as soon as possible, since her onee-sama must be worried about her. Thinking about it now, Yuuki may have been running around looking for his missing and unaccounted for sister. It would be bad if that was the case.

"Excuse me, how do I get to the oval?"

Yumi called out to a student with an armband, that looked to be some sort of official.

"The oval? Haha, the oval. Um, there's a shortcut out that emergency exit."

"Much obliged."

She tried to bow her head but lost her balanced and stumbled a little bit. Not only was she getting hot flushes but her head was heavy.

"Are you alright?"

"Ah, sorry about that."

Thanks to the support of the boy with the armband, Yumi somehow managed to avoid falling down.

"No problem. By the way, you're going to take part in the battle for Lillian's, right? You should get a hurry on because the time's almost up."

"Um, what time is it now?"

She thought she'd ask, since she had the chance.

"3:25."

He chuckled when he checked his watch.

"Thanks. Really. Well then."

She didn't bow this time around, but walked off in the direction of the shortcut he'd indicated.

"Hey, dude. Watch your head on the door."

The kind boy said, laughing all the while. Well, that was pretty much unavoidable. Everyone was pointing and laughing at Yumi.

When she went out the door, she momentarily forgot his advice and, misjudging the door frame, she bumped her head. But apart from that, she managed to get outside smoothly. So she thought.

She spotted the oval after walking a short distance.

The white, yellow and red towers were all standing proudly, like impregnable fortresses.

There were no longer any brave heroes climbing the slides. There was just the scattered corpses (not really) of the valiant warriors strewn everywhere.

Without any hesitation, Yumi walked towards the red tower.

Her onee-sama was at its summit. Thinking that, she quickly felt better.

A hundred meters to go.

She staggered on, along the unfamiliar path in her unsteady outfit.

Seventy meters to go.

Yumi's field of vision wasn't that great just now, but she could still clearly see Sachiko-sama atop the tower. The two big guys beside her were probably the Yakushiji brothers.

With fifty meters to go, the sound of someone blowing on a conch shell rang out, informing everyone that the game was over. The "Hanadera war's second stage, the battle for Lillian" had just finished.

In the end, she hadn't been able to make it back before the game was over. But Yumi's "Hanadera war" hadn't ended just yet.

Out of compassion, she'd left the moist towel with the boys of the mystery novel club. Not only was she late returning, but she hadn't brought what she set out to get either. Plus, she'd loaned Sachiko-sama's personal belongings to other people – what an outrageous soeur.

To make matters worse, this outfit – . How would her onee-sama react if she knew this was Yumi?

Even so, Yumi kept walking. She'd been in too much of a hurry to get changed. She wanted to see her onee-sama as soon as possible.

At that moment.

As Sachiko-sama sat atop the tower, it looked as though she cast her gaze down at the ground and then suddenly stood up. Then, as Yumi looked on in shock, Sachiko-sama started climbing down the ladder.

In spite of the height.

Paying no mind to the fact that she was wearing a skirt.

(Onee-sama!!)

She shouldn't be able to tell that it was Yumi there. She shouldn't be able to tell but – .

Yumi desperately continued forcing her way forward, one foot after the other. By now, Sachiko-sama had reached the ground and was rushing towards her.

And then.

"I'm so glad … Yumi!"

Right after calling this out, Sachiko-sama embraced the panda.

"Onee-sama."

Yumi was deeply moved as they embraced tightly.

"You knew it was me … "

Inside the stuffy panda head, her sweat and tears mixed together. Yumi would've been happy to get out of the costume already, but she wanted to embrace her onee-sama forever, so she stayed as she was.

Without knowing why, Yoshino-san and Noriko-chan came over, followed by Rei-sama and Shimako-san who were delayed getting down from their towers.

Amused by the sight of Lillian's Girls Academy's Rosa Chinensis embracing someone in a panda suit, the injured soldiers stood up and slowly gathered around.

Even so, they did not separate.

Because, her onee-sama had proven it.

That even if Yumi didn't look like Yumi, she would never mistake her.

"Even if I was in a silent world of pitch black, if you were there I'd know instantly, Yumi."

– Yes, onee-sama.

"Even if you were lying in bed wrapped in bandages like an Egyptian mummy, I'd still be able to identify you."

– Yes, onee-sama.

Yumi revisited that conversation and agreed with her onee-sama.

She couldn't look for greater happiness than that.

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