Chapter 1

``- - And that's why.''

It was Monday.

The ever-peaceful student rhythym had set back into place. ......Or so it seemed, as Yumi walked to the Bara no Yakata after school.

(Why do I have to ask Rosa Foetida what happened?)

The hot Darjeeling Tea had turned into Iced Tea. Many things had happened that hour, and they had finally caught Rosa Foetida.

``Everyone. I'm sorry I'm late today.''

``You were trying to run from me.''

``Huh?''

``I know you the best Yumi-chan. So, that's why it's your responsibility to explain.''

``But .......''

Because today wasn't a meeting day, Yumi thought it would be alright if she didn't come, but everyone thought she had been running away.

``So, please continue.''

``But, I said everything that needs to be said.''

But, Rosa Foetida's explanation had not been enough, so she had been stubbornly requested to explain more. Having come after school for the first time in a while, Rosa Foetida used her power to throw the discussion wide open.

For some reason Rosa Foetida had been depressed the last time Yumi had seen her but, she did not really want to meet with that Rosa Foetida again. Other than the newcomer Yumi, everyone had thought she was running away.

Somehow, it seemed that Rosa Foetida had once more regained her interesting in the things around her.

``Yumi-chan, there's nothing wrong with what I'm saying, right? I had said that I had been gone for about two weeks, so there's nothing wrong with that. And then a crisis happened with my younger sisters and I didn't notice a thing. After two weeks, I just wanted to come back. Is there anything wrong with that?''

``Yah.''

But she just couldn't forget about it. When the biggest part of the crisis was starting in the first week, Rosa Foetida had been going to school, but she hadn't noticed, and making her notice would have made too big of a spectacle out of it.

``Well, it's settled then. Everything's at peace.''

``I see.''

``Is Yoshino leaving the hospital next week?''

``Yes.''

``Thank goodness.''

Rosa Foetida crossed her eyebrows at the cold cup of black tea and drank it down.

``Ah, I'll do the washing.''

``Oh? Too bad for you.''

Yumi rolled up the sleeves of her seifuku.

Well well, it seems she got off the hook.

It seemed like Yumi became the leader of cleaning for today (because today wasn't really her duty) because a one-on-one questioning with Rosa Foetida would be uncomfortable for her. She would have a better time soaking herself in very cold water than talking with Rosa Foetida.

``By the way, Rosa Foetida.''

``Yeaaah?''

``Rosa Foetida ....... Well - -''

While Rosa Foetida was humming a lively song, Yumi had the sudden urge to want to know what had happened. Her swollen cheek, her more than one week absence, and that figure who could have been Rosa Foetida at the hospital. But it was a private thing, so she really shouldn't ask. So she somehow found something she wanted to say to Rosa Foetida and opened her mouth.

``It can't be that Yumi-chan also thought I was pregnant?''

``Eh?! Rosa Foetida was pregnant?!''

In her great surprise, Yumi turned off the water faucet. Rosa Foetida wore her obviously bored face.

``I said it can't be, didn't I? I don't know why people thought that. I don't know anyone like that, so.''

``You don't?''

``I don't. From kindergarten, I've been going to girls' schools. How would I know someone then? It could have been a teacher but, since I've only been to private schools, my teachers have all been old men and women.''

``Even if they are all old ......''

But Rosa Foetida obviously wasn't like that.

``You're the only one of my classmates who worries about me like this. I wonder why.''

I wonder why, she had asked. She could only guess about Rosa Foetida's personality was why. While she flipped the bursting faucet back on, her heart beat a little faster than before. ``Pregnancy'' she had said. It was one of the most scary topics to talk about.

``I have a dentist's note. I will show it to you, if you really want to be sure.''

``Ah, a dentist's note. ......Wait, dentist?!''

Again the surprise made her turn off the fauced. Thank goodness it was the dentist.

``Huh, you didn't know? I had my wisdom tooth removed.''

Rosa Foetida opened her mouth wide and showed the large hole in the back of her gums on the left side of her mouth.

``It's so horrible, I got a grain of boiled rice stuck there.''

``Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!''

If Yumi had heard correctly.

Because Rosa Foetida hated the drilling noise of the dentist's tools, she kept strict discipline with her oral hygeine. Rosa Foetida had been able to boast that she had never been to the dentist in her life. But because she had not been to a dentist, her wisdom tooth had grown in an odd spot, and things had gotten worse from there. She had quickly knocked on the door of her dentist, but then she had heard that drilling noise of the tools, and she just couldn't open the door. So it had seemed like she was pregnant.

``You might be laughing because it was just a dentist but, I have a deadly fear of dentists. So I had thought that, only if I started dying because of my wisdom tooth would I go to see the dentist.''

``So ......, So, when your cheek was swollen and you were crying.''

``Probably. It hurt so badly I was losing my patience with everything. Ara, Yumi-chan, did I meet you somewhere?''

``You had specifically said `Yumi-chan' to me. And then - -''

Yumi abruptly closed her mouth. She went back to putting on her indoor shoes, and then she understood what was going on. This experience was embarassing for Rosa Foetida.

So then, that time she had come to the hospital to meet Yoshino-san, and she had pointed out that person who she thought she knew but wasn't in a Lilian seifuku, that was Rosa Foetida.

``I had thought it could have been Urashima Tarou. She was the only other person who had been gone for two weeks.''

Because Rosa Foetida had not wanted to go to the dentist, and because she had thought it was embarassing to go, she had kept it a secret from everyone at her home. She had eventually contracted fever, and started moaning, when Rosa Foetida's father had seen her, panicked, and called the ambulance. Luckily, he had taken her to the general hospital which had a dentist on spot, who removed the tooth there. It was a good thing her father had noticed what was going on.

``So he had called an ambulance right? He was taking me home when the vain head of the neighborhood had looked at my father and told him to keep me in the hospital until my fever went down.''

``You have a good father.''

``How could he be good?''

Rosa Foetida made a dubious face. From the sounds she had made during the conversation and the look that was painted on her face, it looked as if she would never forgive her father for what he had done.

``Well - -''

Because he was a person who loved her, he had done something unpleasant for her. Yumi thought that was a great quality to have.