Chapter 9: New Welcome
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou."
"Gokigenyou, Ranko-san."
"Gokigenyou."
"Ranko-san, gokigenyou."
If there was any change in the reception Ranma received around Lillian's campus as compared to the previous morning, it was too minor for her to notice. Practically every girl who came near her offered a greeting of some kind, and the ones further away would subtly look and talk amongst themselves. The only real difference in her trip to class was that the sign counting down to the festival now displayed "05."
It was a different matter once she walked into the First-year Chrysanthemum Group classroom. The spark of interest she received was still decidedly more voluminous than when Yoshino entered, but it seemed to be slowly settling down. There was still a plethora of girls greeting her, but the flood of questions had become more like a trickle, and even those stopped when Ranma took her seat and opened her copy of the Cinderella script. Thereafter, her classmates left her alone to do her morning training.
With Sachiko's newfound strategy in mind, Ranma tried a different technique this time. Rather than covering the entire page with her hand, she went line by line. She would read what the step-family was supposed to say and then try to think what her response should be. Only once she had it in mind would she reveal the next line to confirm whether or not she had been correct. It was slow, but she was correct more often than not.
Ami's announcement of Tanezaki's arrival signaled the start of classes, and the rest of the morning proceeded as could be expected. The teachers would still frequently reference concepts or details from back in August and September, leaving Ranma in ignorant confusion, but those incidents were becoming less and less common. Naturally the focus of discussion was on the more recent past, and those topics Ranma could handle with only a modest amount of difficulty. She was definitely behind the rest of the class, but, just as definitely, she was catching up. It was only a matter of time.
When lunch came about, and Ranma noticed a couple of other classmates trying out some instant noodles. Ranma disregarded them and instead returned to her new script training regiment.
After that was the afternoon classes. Ranma was in a similar state to those as she had been to the morning ones, except for PE class within which she was so far ahead of the others that it wasn't even worth thinking about.
Finally, the formal academic day closed out with the daily cleaning duties.
Somewhat less typically, Sachiko arrived at the door a few minutes later. Despite the fact that two-thirds of the girls had already left, her entrance caused a flutter of excitement as large as Ranma's own entrance had created in the morning. It manifested as subtle stares and quiet whispers amongst the first-year students.
"Sachiko-sama, gokigenyou," Ami said quickly, her words almost in a squeak.
"Gokigenyou," Sachiko said. "I'm here to see Ranko."
"Of course," Ami said. Despite the fact that everybody in the now-still room had seen and heard the exchange, Ami still walked over to where Ranma was talking with Yoshino and said, "Sachiko-sama is here to see you."
"Right," Ranma said. She looked up at Yoshino. "See you soon."
"Good luck," Yoshino said.
Ranma picked up her book bag and walked over to Sachiko, who led her out of the room.
As they walked through the hallways, Sachiko said, "It's really easy. You just need to greet them and tell them you respectfully decline to answer their questionnaire at this time."
"That's it?" Ranma asked. Considering how difficult Minako and the others had been thus far, Sachiko's suggestion seemed far too simplistic. There had to be a catch of some kind.
"That's it. It's best to give a single clear declaration to everybody at once. If you leave any ambiguity, it will only cause confusion and more problems in the end," Sachiko said. "If they give you any trouble, I'll be right outside to help."
"Okay," Ranma said. She was more than a little doubtful, but she was willing to give it a try. Sachiko was the master, after all.
They reached the room which served as the newspaper club's headquarters. From outside the door, Ranma could hear Minako loudly talking to another girl about something regarding the Third-year Camellia Group. Once Ranma opened the door, though, she found herself once again the center of attention as Minako fell quiet and turned to address her.
"Gokigenyou," Minako said as Ranma walked in. "Thanks for coming. We appreciate your help with the next issue of the newspaper."
"Uhh... actually, I'm not going to," Ranma said. What had Sachiko told her to say? "I respectfully decline at this time."
A sigh could be heard from the others in the room, and Minako winced as if in physical pain. That gave Ranma a feeling of smug satisfaction, even if it was tinged by a hint of guilt.
"I... understand..." Minako said. Her words sounded stiff and forced. "You said, 'at this time.' I hope that you will find an opportunity to assist us in the future."
"You..." Ranma began, but she withheld herself. Sachiko had said that damaging a relationship was a bad idea, and she had already proven herself against this opponent.
Instead of her reflexive rejection, and added insult for good measure, Ranma instead said a non-committal, "We'll see."
"I suppose that is all we can hope for," Minako said.
"Gokigenyou," Ranma said and then left.
Sachiko was waiting for her outside the room. She asked, "How did it go?"
"Fine, I guess," Ranma said. She wondered what the difference was between what had just happened as compared to the numerous skirmishes she had had with Minako throughout the previous week. She pondered that question as the pair made their way from the newspaper club headquarters, across the school grounds, and to the secondary gym. Despite the long walk through the campus, though, she was unable to come up with an understanding of any kind.
At the front entrance of the gym, both Ranma and Sachiko chose to not don any vinyl slippers and instead went inside wearing only threefold white socks on their feet. They entered, joining the collection of about two dozen girls inside the gym proper. All of the Yamayurikai were already present, with the sole exception of Eriko, who Youko said was attending to an issue of some kind and would not be able to join for this session.
Everybody took their places with a minimum amount of fuss. This time, Rei was partnered with a plump girl slightly taller than she was, and Ranma was partnered with an even taller girl with a thick braid. Youko pressed a button on the CD player at the side of the room, and the air was filled with mellow western music. They then began.
Ranma could see the ensemble of girls drifting into and out of her peripheral vision as she danced, but she forced herself to remain relaxed and rely on her partner to not lead her into a collision or an outright attack. The girl proved to be more proficient than Rei had been, too, with Ranma's feet not being stepped on once during the whole sequence.
As Sei had predicted the day before, practice quickly completed. Youko did offer some minor adjustments throughout the session, but her instructions were more focused on the group choreography than on any specific dance steps or dance pairs. It went on for about an hour before it concluded with several exchanges of "good job" and "gokigenyou" as everybody scattered once again.
After they left the gym, the Yamayurikai made their way to the Rose Mansion. It was finally time for the thing that Ranma had been looking forward to for the entire day: dinner. She could almost taste the chicken, eggs, and rice already. The main issue was that she would need to avoid any hot water as she helped prepare it. That was certainly a worry, but seeing how soup was not on the menu, it shouldn't be a major risk, assuming she could avoid any cleanup going on.
Once inside, Youko split off and walked up the creaking stairs while Sei led the rest of the group onward to the kitchen. Eriko remained entirely absent. Presumably the problem she was working on was a complicated one.
The kitchen was decidedly modest. It was as different from the enormous stadium Ranma had once fought within as it was different from a makeshift pot hanging over a wood campfire in the wilderness. It had an electric oven with stove-top burners, a sink, a refrigerator, some counter space, and a decent amount of storage space. It seemed like a fine, if plain, place to make dinner.
Sei opened the refrigerator and started pulling out various ingredients from within. Meanwhile, Rei and Sachiko pulled out some bowls, plates, and knives from the drawers and cabinets.
Ranma grabbed an apron from the wall, put it on, and rolled up her sleeves. She then surveyed the battleground before her. The focal point of her assault would be the chicken and the eggs. Secondary weapons included spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, daikon radishes, broccoli, and a variety of other vegetables spread out on the counter. The spice rack offered fewer utility tools than could be hoped for, but there was adequate supply of soy sauce, mirin, salt, sugar, vinegar, and oil for all but the most specialized of techniques.
"Can you maybe not do that?" Rei asked.
"Hmm?" Ranma asked. She looked up at Rei, who had taken a step back away from her. In fact, all of the girls had stepped back. They were all focused on her hands, where she was twiddling two knives like they were pistols in an old western movie. "Oh, right." Ranma caught the knives and held them steady.
"Thank you," Rei said, although she and everybody else still kept their distance from Ranma.
Ranma approached the vegetables, and said, "Let's get to this." It was time to execute.
She spread out three plates and threw some tomatoes, carrots, and daikon radishes into the air. As they fell, Ranma flourished her knives through them in a flurry. The sliced vegetables continued to fall and landed onto the plates in neat piles.
The girls looked on with wide eyes. Rei edged in closer, keeping a close watch on Ranma, and picked up one of the slices of carrots. She said, "I guess that's one way to do it, but I'm thinking maybe we should have Yoshino and Shimako do the cutting." The other girls nodded.
"Why don't you put the knives down? You can do the cooking with Rei. I'll handle the rice, and then help Shimako and Yoshino-chan," Sachiko said.
Ranma shrugged, causing Rei to shy away from her again. If they wanted to do the food preparation, then that was fine. She could handle the frying just as easily. Ranma left the knives on the counter, and the others visibly sighed in response. She then walked over to the stove, placed a wok and a pan on top of it, and turned on the heating elements.
Sei sidled over to Ranma's side and asked, "Where'd you learn to cut things like that?"
Ranma looked up to Sei and said, "I picked up the basics in a school I used to go to. Everything there was focused on cooking. They had daily competitions, and the best chefs formed the student council."
"I thought you said your last school used dressage competitions," Sachiko said.
"Dressage?" Yoshino asked. She sent a questioning look at Ranma.
"That was later. This school was a long time ago," Ranma said.
"And was everybody there so... flamboyant?" Rei asked.
"Some more, some less," Ranma said. She didn't really consider her techniques that flamboyant. Now Saito, Kobayashi, and the others, they had been flamboyant. She, on the other hand, was far more utilitarian focused.
"Is that so? Now I'm really curious what your cooking is like," Sei said. She reached over, picked up a daikon radish, and stepped back out of the way. She proceeded to loiter in the corner of the room, idly tossing the vegetable from hand to hand as she observed Ranma.
"Just you watch," Ranma said.
Some people cooked with love. They would spare no effort, meticulously performing each step until their affection would shine through in the taste of the final dish. Ranma was not such a person. Whenever she had tried to imitate somebody like Megishima, she had always ended up past time with substandard results.
Instead, Ranma cooked with her fighting spirit: fast movements, decisive heat, and bold use of flavors. Her techniques served her adequately in martial arts cooking duels, and they were almost as applicable in a venue where the ingredients didn't explode.
She cracked the eggs and hurled them into a mixing bowl. Into that she flung in sugar, soy sauce, salt, and mirin. This mixture she attacked with a wooden spoon until it was a consistent emulsion. Then it was time for the main event.
The foray with the hot pan in front of her began with a raid of oil. After that had had a moment to prepare, she followed it up with the general assault of the egg mixture she had created. It seared in a fine layer on the pan with a satisfying sizzling sound. As it cooked, she flipped it, rolled it, and eventually tossed it high into the air. As the tamagoyaki fell, she snatched it with her bare hand and took a bite of the still-steaming roll.
It was as near to perfection as she was able to make.
Behind her, Sei, Rei, and occasionally another girl from around the room were staring at her. Ranma disregarded them all. Spectators were a non-issue in a duel, and becoming distracted was anywhere from foolhardy to suicidal.
Ranma practically inhaled the rest of that tamagoyaki and then started over. She tossed some more oil into the pan and then followed it with more egg mixture, which she cooked into a roll. This time she caught the flung tamagoyaki on an empty plate beside her. She repeated the process again and again, until the mixing bowl was empty and she had a stack of cooked rolls next to her. They were far from the prettiest things ever, but Ranma had confidence in both their texture and their taste.
By this point, Shimako and Yoshino had finished cutting their vegetables and had brought them over stacked on some plates. Putting aside the slowness, which would have resulted in a defeat if this were a martial arts cooking match, their knife-work was mostly passable.
Ranma poured some more oil into the wok and then lobbed the offered vegetables into it. The satisfying sound and smell of sizzling once again filled the room. This was followed up by some salt, soy sauce, mirin, and a touch of the too-few spices she had. She then once again launched into battle, challenging the sturdy wok aggressively with her wooden spoon.
About a minute later, she grabbed a slice of carrot and tossed it into her mouth. It tasted thin, so she threw some more sugar and soy sauce into the wok. She cooked the mixture for a few more seconds before trying a piece of broccoli, which was much better. Ranma nodded to herself, tossed the mixture into the air, and caught it all in a neat pile on a clean plate.
The chicken and vegetable used a different mix of seasonings, but the same principles applied. Likewise, the chicken and eggs were quickly cooked together into the oyakodon variant on the menu.
Finally, once the rice had finished, and Ranma completed the omurice and fried rice dishes with elan.
Rei and Shimako took these finished dishes and set about distributing them. They separated each into eight approximately identical plates. All of the preparations had a frilly and delicate touch, reminiscent of Shimako's lunch the previous week, but the size of the portions was smaller than Ranma would have preferred. It was something of a disappointment how much food shrank when divided by eight. At least Ranma had gotten some early snacks in the form of her taste tests.
Once they had finished, it was time to bring the meals up to the dining room. Ranma was sure that one of the plates had marginally more on it than the others, and she made sure to grab for that one. Sei took one as well, although for some reason she placed her raw daikon radish and a chef's knife on top of it before picking it up. The other girls each took a plate, too, excepting Sachiko and Rei who both took two.
They carried the food up the stairs and through the biscuit-shaped door. Inside, Youko and Eriko were sitting at the large table next to each other with some papers spread out between them. Youko had a red rose pinned to the front of her dress, and Eriko had a yellow one pinned to the front of hers. They were discussing something about the Second-year Cherry Blossom Group, but that quickly came to an end when the first of the dinner plates entered. Youko quickly gathered the papers and put them into her book bag while Eriko clapped at the arrival.
The plates were quickly distributed around the table, and everybody took a seat.
"Itadakimasu." The communal call was said by all the people around the table, signaling the start of the meal.
Ranma began with the onigiri. The sour bite of pickled plum in the center caused her mouth to water, its electric shock of flavor counterpointing the relatively plain rice surrounding it. She finished it in three bites.
"Rei, you've really outdone yourself today," Eriko said. She took another bite of the omurice she had almost drowned with ketchup in front of her.
Ranma quickly moved on to eating her salad. It was crisp and tangy, giving a nice crunchy texture after the softness of the rice ball.
"You're right. It is delicious, but you should really thanking Ranko-chan. She's the one who did most of the cooking today," Rei said. She was interweaving bites of tamagoyaki with bites of salad.
"Ranko-chan made this?" Eriko asked.
"She did. She has a very unusual cooking style," Sei said.
"That's one way of putting it," Rei said. Yoshino and Shimako both nodded in agreement.
"Marry me, please," Eriko said. She had fallen out of her chair into a kneeling position with both of her hands help upward in supplication to Ranma.
"Hmm?" Ranma asked. She had continued on to her fried vegetables. They had a tantalizing mixture of salty, sweet, and savory, as she had known they would from her earlier taste tests.
"Would you kindly please not tease my petite soeur," Sachiko said sternly.
"Really, this is quite good," Youko said, before taking another bite of the fried vegetables on her plate. "Where'd you learn to cook like this?"
"Here and there," Ranma said. She had started in earnest at that cooking-focused school years ago, but at least half of her techniques she had developed on her own since then. Cooking on the road with limited supplies had forced a great deal of practice as well as creativity upon her.
"Ranko was telling us how she used to go to a school where everything there was determined by how well you could cook," Sachiko said. She ate decidedly more deliberately than the others did. The origiri, which the other girls had just bitten into using their hands, Sachiko carefully cut with a fork and knife.
"Even the student council," Yoshino said. She put a large scoop of fried rice into her mouth.
Ranma did likewise, quickly scooping her fried rice into her mouth.
"Is that true?" Youko asked.
Ranma swallowed hard and then said, "Yeah."
"What a curious way to run a student council," Youko said. She then took a bite of the oyakodon variant.
"It sounds exciting," Eriko said.
Yoshino finished chewing another large bite, of onigiri this time, and then said, "Now I'm curious. If you can cook like this, then why are you always eating instant noodles?"
Ranma momentarily pocketed the piece of omurice she was chewing into the side of her mouth and said, "I don't really have much time to cook, and there's not that much available around here to cook with, either." She then finished chewing and swallowed.
"Not much to cook with? What do you mean?" Yoshino asked. "There's supermarkets everywhere, and convenience stores, too."
"Yeah, but by that point, it's easier to get preprepared stuff," Ranma said. It was different in the wilderness, but in a city, ready-made foods were just easier. Besides, any time spent cooking was time which could instead be spent on training.
"I guess," Rei said. She looked confused. "But then..." She was interrupted by a knock from the entrance of the Rose Mansion.
Ranma was the closest to the door, so she shoved her last bit of the oyakodon into her mouth and stood up to answer it. She had almost finished her plate, anyway.
She walked through the hallway, down the stairs, and opened the door.
"Gokigenyou," the girl at the entrance said. She was short, and her hair was tied up into two ponytails. Behind her were two other girls, one tall with short hair, and the other thin with two long braids. "Are The Three Roses present? The go club would like to speak with them."
"Sure, come in," Ranma said.
The girls hesitantly looked around as they entered, acting like nervous tourists entering a temple shrine.
Ranma led them up the stairs and into the dining room. As she entered, she said, "The go club is here to see The Three Roses."
"Excuse... oh... oh my..." the short girl said as she caught sight of the dinner party in front of her. The other two slowed to a halt right behind her.
"Yes? Can we help you?" Youko asked.
"Umm... We're sorry to intrude. Umm... We have a bit of trouble. The chairs we wanted to borrow for our cafe appear to not be available," the short girl said.
"I see," Youko said. "Can it wait until tomorrow? As you can see, we're in the middle of something right now."
"Of course, Rosa Chinensis," the girl said.
"Very well. In that case, I'll check with you tomorrow after class," Youko said.
"Thank you very much. Gokigenyou," the girl said. She bowed, accompanied by the others.
Ranma returned to her seat while the three girls left.
"There's always something every year. How many groups do you think missed some order this time?" Eriko asked.
"Too many, but that's why we have that emergency fund, right?" Youko asked.
The rest of the dinner was filled with light conversation on various inconsequential topics. The only unusual thing which happened was that occasionally, one of the girls would get a rose pinned to the front of her dress. Sachiko, Sei, and Rei ended up with a red, white, and yellow rose respectively.
Eriko was the last to finish eating, and her expression of gratitude for the meal brought it to its conclusion.
Overall it had been a very pleasant experience, being delicious as well as relaxing. Ranma felt satisfied.
A few moments after Eriko had put her chopsticks down, Youko rose to her feet. The action naturally drew the attention of everybody to her.
"Now that we have completed dinner, there is some business to which we must attend," Youko said. She took a few steps away from the table to an open area, turned around, and addressed the assembled group, focusing particularly upon Ranma. "Every year in May, we have a welcoming ceremony for all of the new first-year students joining us. It's a joyous celebration, marking the beginning of a young lady's life in Lillian.
"However, as we all know, Ranko-chan was not a student of Lillian at that point, and thus was not able to join in that celebration. Nevertheless, missing such an important milestone would be a travesty, and it would be remiss of us to allow that to happen.
"Therefore, today, on the one-week anniversary of Ranko-chan's joining of Lillian..." there was some energetic, but quiet, clapping from around the room, "... we have the perfect opportunity to rectify this situation."
Sachiko, Eriko, Sei, and Rei all stood up and took positions near Youko. Their roses were prominent on their uniforms, denoting to which rose family each girl was a member.
Youko slightly raised her voice, as if she were proclaiming an announcement into a room modestly larger than the one they were actually within. "So, to the new first-year students, let me begin by offering my congratulations on your entry into high school. All of us older students happily welcome our new younger sisters. Together, let us enjoy our time in this school in a manner in which Maria-sama will approve.
"As I am sure everybody here already knows of the Yamayurikai and our role within the school, we can move on to the presentation of the commemorative medallions. When your class is called, please line up in a single file. Would the Peach Group please step forward?"
Shimako rose to her feet and walked over to stand in front of Sei.
Sei turned to her side, where Rei was holding an open box out towards her. Sei reached into the box and pulled out a silver medallion attached to a long chain. She then used both her hands to drape it around Shimako's neck and said, "May Maria-sama bless you and watch over you."
"Thank you," Shimako said. She gave a slight bow of her head and then returned to her seat.
"Would the Chrysanthemum Group please step forward?" Youko then announced.
Yoshino quickly stood up walked over to stand in front of Youko. Ranma was confused as to what was going on, but with Shimako's encouraging nod and Yoshino's eager beckoning, she also rose to her feet and moved to wait behind Yoshino.
Youko reached into the open box, now being held by Sachiko to her side, and pulled out another medallion. Much like with Sei and Shimako earlier, she used both of her hands to drape it over Yoshino's neck and said, "May Maria-sama bless you and watch over you."
"Thank you," Yoshino said. She also gave a slight bow of her head and then walked back to her seat.
Youko repeated the same action again, draping a silver medallion over Ranma's neck this time. It felt pleasantly solid as it settled onto her chest.
"May Maria-sama bless you and watch over you."
The entire room burst into emphatic applause.
As she made her way back to her seat, Ranma could feel the blood rushing to her face. She couldn't understand why, either. The entire ceremony was a pointless waste of time, and it was being held for "Ranko Sugita," anyway. Nevertheless, for some reason, she felt all squirmy inside, as if her chest had been filled with warm jelly.
"And now..." Sei said as Ranma was sitting down. "... it's time for the performances!"
The applause abruptly stopped.
Youko turned to Sei and asked, "What? Performances? Why? Ranko-chan already knows all of us."
Eriko had also turned to look at Sei.
"Is it not traditional for the Yamayurikai to perform for the student body at the welcoming ceremony?" Sei asked.
Youko frowned and said, "It's not a matter of tradition, it's a matter of preparation. This was meant to be a simple event. Nobody prepared anything to show off."
"How exciting." Laughter bubbled at the edge of Erika's voice. "I agree with Rosa Gigantea. Rosa Chinensis, as the master of ceremonies, you surely must agree that no welcoming ceremony is complete without performances, would you not?"
Youko sighed. She said, "We don't even have a piano in here, so we can't just repeat what we did last time."
Sachiko remained silent, but she nodded in agreement with what Youko said.
"Then we'll just need to improvise, won't we?" Sei asked with a grin on her face.
"Improvise," Youko said, directing a skeptical look at Sei. "I'm sure you've been planning this since yesterday."
Sei's grin only grew larger in response.
"Come on, it'll be fun," Eriko said.
Rei remained as silent as Sachiko had, but she looked far more pained at Eriko's declaration.
"Really? Are we really doing this?" Youko asked. Sei met her question with an amused grin and an emphatic nod. If anything, Eriko's nodding was even more emphatic than Sei's was. Youko sighed again and shook her head. "Very well. Let's move the table to make some space. As Rosa Gigantea has clearly been planning this in advance, she can go first and give the rest of us some time to think of something."
Sachiko and Rei both gave a quiet groan.
The girls collectively moved the large table to the side of the room. Ranma, Yoshino, and Shimako then lined up the chairs in front of it to make the newly cleared area a makeshift stage while Sachiko, Youko, Eriko, and Rei were staring at the floor in deep thought. Just as Ranma and the other first-year students sat down, Rei abruptly looked up and left the room.
Sei paid no attention to the departing girl. She confidently picked up the chef's knife and the raw daikon radish from where she had been sitting at the table. She took those to the center of the room and addressed the attentive Ranma, Yoshino, and Shimako.
"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm Sei Sato, Rosa Gigantea of the Yamayurikai. Today I will be showing you how to turn a daikon radish..." she held the vegetable out in demonstration, "... into a rose. Watch carefully."
Sei took the knife and nicked the top of the daikon radish. She then slowly turned it, peeling off a thin slice of vegetable as she went. Around and around she went, creating a longer and longer continuous strip. She then took the white ribbon and twirled it in frilly circles until it formed what appeared to be a flower.
Ranma, Yoshino, and Shimako all clapped at the outcome.
Sei gave a bow and then took a seat next to Ranma, joining the impromptu audience to see what her fellow members of the Yamayurikai had in store.
Youko went next. She walked to the center of the makeshift stage, introduced herself, and recited from memory some selected poems from the Manyoushuu. Ranma recognized a few of the lines, but overall the performance didn't have much of an impact upon her.
Rei re-entered the room as Youko was sitting down. She was now carrying a shinai, and the bamboo practice sword greatly interested Ranma. Rei walked straight to the center of the makeshift stage, introduced herself, and announced that she was going to be demonstrating some kendo. She then put her words into action, using the shinai to show off various strikes and maneuvers. She performed them adequately; as best Ranma could tell in such an artificial setting, Rei had the abilities of a capable amateur. It would require seeing her in combat against an actual opponent to get a more precise and accurate assessment of her skills.
Sachiko followed after Rei. After her introduction, she performed a dance from some ballet. If anything, her performance interested Ranma even more than Rei's had. Sachiko demonstrated the same flexibility and grace that Ranma had seen her exhibit in the secondary gym. Unlike that waltz, though, Sachiko was light on her toes as she frolicked around the area, bending her feet in ways Ranma had never seen before and fluttering her legs in the air with startling agility. While it was clear that her movements lacked any substantial momentum, and thus would not be directly applicable to combat, it still raised some intriguing possibilities.
Finally, Eriko stood up and took the center of the impromptu stage. As she was the last to perform, she had the full attention of the entire Yamayurikai. She said, "Gokigenyou. I'm Eriko Torii, Rosa Foetida of the Yamayurikai. I would like to share a song with you. It's the first song a girl learns in kindergarten here, and everybody in Lillian should know it. It's called, 'Maria-sama's Soul.'"
The girls around Ranma gave quiet gasps.
Eriko took a deep breath.
"~Maria-sama's soul, it is...~"
Eriko's voice was unsteady, and her voice cracked when she tried to reach the high notes. Nevertheless, she sang out with irrepressible determination.
Starting at the second verse, Youko added her voice to Eriko's. She was followed shortly thereafter by Sachiko, and then Rei. Soon, all the other members of the Yamayurikai had joined in, and the full choir of music surrounded Ranma.
The song sounded vaguely familiar to Ranma for some reason, but she had no idea why. It compared Mary's soul to a variety of things, such as a blue sky, a mountain lily, and a sapphire.
The other girls trailed off near the end, leaving Eriko to sing out the final note by herself. There was a moment of silence, and then the entire room burst into a round of applause and congratulations. Eriko gave a bow and then returned to her seat.
Youko rose to her feet again, clapping as she did so, and resumed her place in the center of the open area. The applause quickly quieted down as she turned to face the audience, clearly directing her attention specifically at Ranma. Youko had a beatific smile on her face as she said, "And that concludes our welcoming ceremony. We all hope that you will enjoy your years here in Lillian. May Maria-sama watch over you. Gokigenyou." She gave a bow.
The entire room broke out into one last round of applause, this one the loudest of all. Looking around, Ranma noticed the members of the Yamayurikai all seemed to be smiling. She felt her cheek, and she realized that that included her, too. The squirmy feeling within her hadn't disappeared, but it had been overshadowed by some kind of effervescence which lightly bubbled in her chest. It was all very strange.
While Eriko and Rei began clearing the chairs, Yoshino and Shimako took off their medallions and gave them to Sachiko. Not knowing what was going on, Ranma mimicked their actions, removing the medallion from around her neck and handing it over.
"No, Ranko, that's for you to keep," Sachiko said as she put the other two medallions back into the box they had come from. "These two are just some spare ones we were using for the ceremony. Yoshino-chan and Shimako already received their medallions back in May, along with all the other first-year students."
"I see," Ranma said. She replaced the silver medallion around her neck, and it settled against her chest beside her silver rosary.
The room was straightened out in short order. After the chairs had been cleared, everybody helped move the large table back to the center of the room. They had to move it thrice, as Sachiko suggested it was off center on their first two attempts.
Once the table had been restored to its rightful place, it was quick work to place the chairs around it. Thereafter, the only evidence remaining of their dinner party was the dirty dishes still distributed around the table, and that was quickly disposed of by Shimako's, Yoshino's, and Rei's efforts. Meanwhile, Ranma drew the curtains shut and tidied up the rest of the room.
The Three Roses bid everybody a good evening and departed into the darkness of the night. Rei, Shimako, and Yoshino soon left, too. Ranma remained behind, with Sachiko staying behind as well to help her with her training once again.
By any measure, it was a successful session. Ranma was able to leave her copy of the script in her book bag, and she was able to complete nearly the entire play from memory. There were only six lines she missed, and those she quickly picked up with a small hint from Sachiko. Ranma's only real disappointment was that they had not been interrupted by an announcement of a second dinner.
At the end of their practice, Sachiko's smile and congratulations matched Ranma's own feelings of accomplishment. There was clearly more work to do, but Ranma felt like she had reached a major milestone in her progress.
It was late when Ranma and Sachiko left the Rose Mansion. Between the dance lesson, the dinner party, the welcoming celebration, and the training, time had veritably flown by. It was definitely past evening, even if it did feel much earlier than that.
A warm glow suffused Ranma as she talked with Sachiko about nothing in particular on their walk through the darkened campus, and the feelings continued to linger after they split up to go their respective ways.
Ranma soon reached the temple that served as her temporary camp. She covertly checked around for witnesses and then jumped over the foliage. It was time to change into her keikogi in preparation for a night of sparring with Genma.
Right after Ranma pulled off her slip, though, Genma quietly asked, "What's that?"
"What's what?"
"This." Genma reached over and pulled the silver medallion off of Ranma's neck. It sparkled in the darkness, reflecting the dim lights from around the city.
"I got it from Rosa Chinensis," Ranma said.
"Hmm?" Genma asked as he walked over to his backpack.
"Umm... from Youko-san," Ranma said.
"Hmm..." Genma grunted distractedly. He rummaged through his backpack, pulled something out of it, and then fiddled the medallion for a few seconds. He then quietly exclaimed, "This is good. It's got to be worth something. Keep at it." He tossed the medallion into his backpack.
Ranma frowned.
The squirming, bubbly warmness within her chest from before was replaced by a coagulated breathlessness. She didn't like it at all. However, she couldn't really understand what it was, let alone articulate the ambiguous feeling she had. It simply gnawed at her as she finished changing her clothes and subsequently poured some hot water on herself.
Once Ranma's daily training with Genma began, the hollow feeling within him disappeared, pushed away by the driving immediacy of the fight. The exhilarating thrill of adrenalin coursed through him as he once once again dedicated himself to his perpetual struggle against Genma.
That evening's duel was a great one. As was always the case, they fought through the streets and parks of nighttime Tokyo, sparing no effort in their protracted fight. It climaxed with Ranma executing a devious double-feint which completely tricked Genma and allowed Ranma to throw him to the ground. It was a brilliant victory.
They then returned back to their camp, and Ranma once again collapsed onto his cold bedroll. As the thrill of the fight ebbed away, the vague feeling of wrongness from earlier re-manifested in his chest. It was just as nebulous as before, but that didn't stop it from nibbling at him as he fell asleep.
Omake:
"Where's Rosa Gigantea?" Rei asked.
"Did you need her for something?" Shimako asked. She directed a benign smile at Rei.
Yoshino, like Rei, had also thought that Shimako would have wanted her grande soeur to be involved in what was certain to be their upcoming conversation. For that matter, Yoshino was somewhat surprised to see that Eriko wasn't around either, for the exactly same reason with respect to Rei.
In the case of Eriko, her absence was likely because Rei had been waiting to see the outcome of the just-finished party before deciding if she would need to consult with her grande soeur. As for Sei, though, it was much less clear why Shimako hadn't chosen to involve her here. Shimako had almost certainly talked with her already, as there was every reason to suspect that that was what had motivated Sei to push for the party in the first place. However, their relationship had always been a complicated one.
By all appearances, Shimako was an impeccable petite soeur, performing all the duties and fulfilling all the expectations of one. Likewise, Sei provided the guidance and assistance expected of a grande soeur, albeit in her own fashion. They had the most mutual respect amongst all the soeur pairs Yoshino knew, her own included. Despite that, there was an invisible barrier between them that they absolutely never crossed. The closest analogy Yoshino could think of was that Shimako and Sei were like a pair of samurai traveling along Toukaidou Road for sankin-koutai, with the new samurai being shown the way by the veteran.
Then again, Yoshino and Rei couldn't exactly be said to have the most conventional of relationships, either. Yoshino always considered Rei to be like a sister, which made sense seeing how they had been together for practically their entire lives. However, the nature of their sisterhood varied dramatically depending on the context within which they were acting. At Lillian, Yoshino would typically be the one to prepare the tea, as was proper for a petite soeur. At home, Rei would typically be the one to prepare the tea, as was more natural considering both of their proclivities. It made the liminal times, such as this one, particularly complex, with Rei's ineffable transition between "Onee-sama" and "Rei-chan."
Those thoughts raised the question of what kind of soeur relationship there was between Ranko and Sachiko. Did they continue the pattern, completing the set of first-year members of the Yamayurikai having unorthodox soeur relationships, such as between Yoshino and Rei, and Shimako and Sei? Or did they break the pattern, having a more typical soeur relationship, such as between Rei and Eriko, and Sachiko and Youko? Only time would tell.
"No, I supposed I don't," Rei said, answering Shimako's question. "Shall we go?"
Yoshino took the lead, beginning the walk from the Rose Mansion to the bus stop outside the front entrance of Lillian. As she was the one with the weak heart, it was natural for her to set the pace. Rei followed just behind, such that she could better keep watch over her.
While Yoshino loved Rei for that, it also drove her crazy. Yoshino would have very much preferred it if Rei would walk beside her, like Shimako did. It was made even worse because very occasionally a fit would overtake Yoshino, and she actually did need the help.
She hated it. She hated what it did to her. She absolutely hated what it did to Rei. And she absolutely, positively, definitely hated what it did to their relationship.
Between the dance practice, the dinner party, and the welcoming celebration, it was unsurprisingly late. Ignoring the pair who had remained in the Rose Mansion, the three of them were likely the only people still present within Lillian's darkened campus. It provided the perfect opportunity to discuss the obvious topic of Ranko. The only question was who was going to start the conversation.
"I saw what you meant, about the bruises. They looked pretty serious."
It was Rei.
Yoshino nodded, dimly visible in the darkness which surrounded them. She had caught the reaction of the others when Ranko had rolled up her sleeves in the kitchen, revealing the bruises on her arms for all to see. Their presence had been unmistakable. A couple of them were the blackish-red of fresh strikes, which Yoshino was positive had not been there on Monday, while others had had the greenish-yellow that partial healing brought about.
"She has more, on her torso and legs," Yoshino said.
Shimako nodded, slightly more visible as they approached a lamp along the path. She asked, "Is it possible that she's just a clumsy child?"
An image flashed in Yoshino's imagination of Ranko walking through a biscuit-shaped door with some tea on a tea service for Sachiko. The Ranko in her vision then tripped, spilling hot tea everywhere. Tears filled her eyes as she panicked, desperately apologized, and frantically tried to wipe up the mess, in the process accidentally knocking her head into a chair. It was a cute vision, but the incongruity between it and Ranko's confident movements was almost enough to make Yoshino laugh.
Rei beat Yoshino to responding, though. She asked. "Are you joking? We all saw how she danced. She said that that was her first time, too."
"Her first time? No way!" Yoshino exclaimed. It was impossible to believe that was true. Both she and Shimako had had to struggle though learning the relatively tame steps of the ensemble's choreography a few weeks earlier. Rei and Sachiko, who were very experienced with kendo and ballet respectively, had still struggled with learning the much more complicated steps of Cinderella's and the prince's dance. It was beyond belief for a complete novice to memorize that entire sequence so quickly, let alone perform it so well.
"That's what she said. She was pretty bad for the first few minutes, too. Then she relaxed and you all saw the results," Rei said.
So either Ranko was lying, and badly at that, or she was some kind of preternatural super dancer. Both alternatives were strange to imagine.
"I did. Ranko-san does seem very agile on her feet. On the other hand, we also saw how she handled those knives in the kitchen," Shimako said.
"What do you mean? She was certainly reckless, but that's very different than being clumsy," Yoshino said. If anything, Ranko had been the exact opposite. Watching those blades flash in the light had been amazing. The spectacle was even more incredible in hindsight, when the feat wasn't overshadowed by the absolute terror of the experience.
"It only takes a bit of absentmindedness at the wrong time," Shimako said.
"That's true, but I still don't think that's what's happening. If she really were tripping or running into things that often, we would have noticed it by now," Yoshino said. She knew nobody had noticed anything of the kind. Of the three of them, she had spent the most time with Ranko, and she had never seen her act in any way other than adroit. No, there was one exception. "Although, now that I think about it, she does seem to get distracted during PE class."
"Really?" Shimako asked eagerly.
Yoshino could sympathize with Shimako's attitude. Child neglect, let alone abuse, was almost inconceivable. It went against all cultural norms, such as cherishing children and the understanding of the proper way parents should act. Just considering the idea itself violated so many taboos, such as the sanctity of the family and insulting the honor of the Sugita clan. It was like trying to imagine the Emperor of Japan selling it out to an enemy during a war. And even having considered it, it was impossible to imagine how the situation should be handled.
"No, it's not her being clumsy," Yoshino said, putting an end to that particular idea. She was as eager as Rei and Shimako to find an alternative explanation for Ranko, but she was sure that clumsiness was not a possible one. "Ranko-san never runs into anything or does anything too strange, even in PE class. If anything, she's a bit above average, but she really doesn't stand out that much."
"She did fall out of a window," Rei said.
"She jumped out of a window," Yoshino said. It was a very key difference. "And she landed without hurting herself, right? You saw her, didn't you, Shimako-san? Do you really think she's a clumsy child?"
"She did seem to be very calm and in control of herself," Shimako said. They were in another stretch of darkness, but the look on Shimako's face had to match the disappointment in her voice.
"The way I see it, she needs to have almost supernatural luck or supernatural agility to pull that off, and the fact that she had even tried it suggests it's the latter," Yoshino said.
If it wasn't Ranko being clumsy, than what else could it be, besides the obvious and unthinkable?
"What else have we learned about Ranko-san?" Yoshino asked. She thought back through the dinner party and anniversary celebration that Sei had arranged. "We know she has some crazy knife skills."
"And her father never taught her the importance of knife safety," Rei said.
"But he did teach her how to cook really well," Shimako said.
"No, she said she learned that at a school," Yoshino said. That reminded her of Ranko's first day and the discussion they had had when Yoshino had described the Yamayurikai to her. "I think she's attended a lot of different schools. Last week, she said that lots of other schools picked their student councils in different ways, like cooking competitions, gambling competitions, tennis competitions, and other things. Now that she's said that a past school of hers picked their student council through cooking competitions, and her most recent school picked it through dressage competitions, I'm wondering if she's really attended all those schools she told me about. That would mean she's transfered at least five times."
"That many?" Shimako almost exclaimed.
"That's definitely suspicious," Rei said.
The most common reason for people to transfer schools was because they moved, usually because their parents changed jobs or something, but that wouldn't explain such a large number of transfers. The second most common reason to transfer schools was to escape something, be it bullying, scandal, or discovery. What were the chances that Ranko had encountered a bully at five different schools?
"She also said that she found it hard to find food," Shimako said. That was one of the most suspicious statements of the evening. Stores were everywhere in Tokyo.
"We also found out that she has terrible table manners," Yoshino said.
"And she eats a lot," Rei said.
"That she does," Yoshino said. She and Shimako had already discussed that the previous Saturday.
"No. I mean she eats a lot," Rei said, emphasizing her words. "I was talking to Sachiko. She told me that last night, they had dinner in the Rose Mansion. Ranko-chan ate the whole thing."
As Rei was in the same grade as Sachiko, it made it easier for the two of them to talk about certain things in a casual manner. Some topics were easier to talk about with family, and some topics were easier to talk about with friends.
"Really? After all those sandwiches and pastries?" Yoshino asked. Ranko had eaten enough snacks for it to practically count as a meal by itself. She had effectively eaten almost two full dinners.
"She ate it fast, too. She was done before Sachiko had even finished half her dinner," Rei said.
"Like tonight," Yoshino said. They had all seen Ranko eating earlier in the evening. It was impossible to not have noticed it. Or rather, it was easy to not notice it. It felt like Yoshino had blinked, and Ranko's tamagoyaki had just disappeared. Another blink, and Ranko's omurice had vanished as well.
"So she eats fast, too," Shimako said.
"That's putting it mildly," Yoshino said. It was as fascinating and as appalling as watching two trains crash into each other.
"Did Sachiko-sama say anything about why Ranko-san is always staying behind?" Shimako asked.
"She said that Ranko-chan said she couldn't do much work at her house. She had 'complications,'" Rei said.
"That's very ambiguous," Yoshino said. Ambiguous and meaningless.
Rei's and Shimako's nods of agreement were visible under the lamp they were crossing under.
"What did Sachiko-sama say about Ranko-san's bruises?" Yoshino asked.
"She didn't say anything," Rei said.
"She didn't?" Yoshino asked. That seemed like a rather significant thing to ignore.
"I... kind of... didn't tell her about them," Rei said.
"You didn't!" Yoshino exclaimed.
"No," Rei said hesitantly. "I hadn't seen them for myself, and it's not exactly the easiest thing to talk about, is it? I just couldn't bring it up."
Yoshino had always been more direct than Rei, and once again the difference in personality irritated Yoshino. It would have been so much better if Rei had just pushed forward and seized the initiative.
She was going to berate Rei, but she felt the clenching arrhythmia of her heart starting to act up again. She slowed down and took some deep breaths to calm herself before she got into too much trouble. She also tried to ignore the concerned look she knew would be on Rei's face behind her due to her slowing down, as that would only irritate her more.
"I'm sure Sachiko-sama noticed today for herself," Shimako said. She slowed down to match Yoshino's new pace.
That was some consolation, but it was also a distraction. In a sense, what Sachiko and the Red Rose Family would do in regard to Ranko was none of Yoshino's business. If Rei got Sachiko involved, or if Sei got Youko involved, that was their prerogative. Yoshino herself had no such venue or reason to engage the Red Rose Family, so their actions only mattered to her in the context of background and curiosity.
Yoshino tried to refocus the group on the more important issue, which was determining what was going on and what they should do in response. She was able to speed up again, and they were starting to approach the front entrance of Lillian. She asked, "Is there anything else we know?"
"Yes, now that I think about it. Remember how I said that Ranko-chan was dancing poorly at first. That's not quite right. It was more that she was always flinching away," Rei said.
"Flinching?" Yoshino asked.
"Yes, like this," Rei said. She stopped under the light they were under, and she jerked her torso back away from the other two in a quick, startled motion.
"That's unusual," Shimako said.
"It is," Rei said.
They were silent for a few more steps, departing from the lamp light into another segment of darkness.
When nobody contributed anything more, Rei asked, "So what do we know? Ranko-chan has bruises, new ones. She likes to do reckless things, like jumping out of windows and twirling knives. She's transferred between schools several times. She's really good at cooking, but never cooks her own lunch because she said she has no time and can't find anything to cook. She eats a lot, really fast, with no table manners. She has a situation of some kind in her home which she's avoiding. She dances incredibly well, but she was flinching at first. I think that's it?"
"I think that's it," Shimako said.
"Then the question is, what do they all have in common?" Yoshino asked.
All added up, there was definitely something strange going on with Ranko's life. There was something wrong, but the question was, what was it?
"I think the most likely explanation is the one we talked about last Saturday, that her father is acting... improperly. It's the best explanation I can think of," Rei said.
"Or the worst one," Shimako said.
"Yes," Rei said.
"I know we talked about that before, but still I don't think that's it," Yoshino said. It felt intuitively wrong to her, and she tried to reason out why. "I guess it does a good job explaining the bruising, her staying away from home, the food, and maybe why she transferred schools, but what about her dancing. How does that explain her being a good dancer, and her lying about it?"
"Hmm..." Shimako said. "There is the old proverb: 'The nail which sticks up gets hammered down.' And she has transferred schools a lot. Maybe she's had an issue with bullying in the past, and she doesn't want to stand out."
"Then her new bruises are from bullying here?" Rei asked. "I doubt that. I've never even heard of a case of bullying in Lillian before. Have you?"
"I haven't," Shimako said.
"Me either," Yoshino said.
The closest thing to bullying Yoshino had encountered was her own social isolation from her classmates, and that was due to her ill health, the constant presence of Rei by her side, and, most recently, her joining the Yamayurikai. It was telling that despite only having been in the school for a week, Ranko was rapidly becoming the closest thing to a friend she had. However, at the very worst, her classmates had always been polite and respectful to her in all ways, friendly acquaintances rather than shunning adversaries. The idea of one of them striking her, let alone hard enough to leave an angry dark bruise, was inconceivable.
"Besides, if she was having a problem with a bully here, wouldn't she want to go home faster, not avoid home?" Rei asked.
"That would make sense," Shimako said.
Yoshino still felt she was circling the periphery, not quite seeing the true heart of the matter. There had to be some key detail she was missing which would explain everything.
They were approaching the stop for the circulation bus. As could be expected due to the late hour, the stop itself was empty. When the bus arrived, the interior would almost certainly be lightly populated at most. Still, it would be better to finish the conversation here. Talking about such a sensitive subject with other people around felt weird and inappropriate, even if they were anonymous strangers.
"I don't know," Shimako said. "I don't know what's going on, but I do know one thing: it can't be good for Ranko-san to be eating all those instant noodles for lunch. I think I'll try making her something better to eat. It's pretty easy to prepare a second meal along with a first one, and that could help her a bit."
That was insightful. Even if they didn't know the true facts of the situation, they could still focus on what they did know; they knew that Ranko had some kind of problem with food, even if they didn't know what it was.
"I think that's a good idea, but we should be careful. We don't want to offend her," Yoshino said. Considering their similar tastes, Yoshino suspected that Ranko took things like pride and honor very seriously. That made trying to give help particularly tricky. Even adults who had run out of money had chosen to starve rather than admit to others that they needed assistance.
"How about if I just invite her to share our lunches together? Friends do that all the time. If I happen to have made too much, then if anything, she'd be doing me a favor so we don't waste anything," Shimako said.
"That's a really good idea. I can make some extra, too," Yoshino said. They were becoming friends, after all, and she was fairly sure that that's what friends did. "I'll ask her tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes."
"How about we meet at that cherry tree out behind the primary gym?" Shimako asked.
"That sounds like a good plan," Yoshino said. That would at least address one issue. Hopefully.
Last Updated: February 23, 2022