"A Notice from the Yamayuri Council When watching "Maria Watches Over Us ~Printemps~" please have the room brightly lit and sit well away from the television set." "See you later!" "See you later." "I had anticipated to some degree that this would happen." "But even if it was anticipated, when I'm faced with such outright opposition, it's actually going to get me more fired up about it." "What?" "What did you just say?" "So like, since we're in a new school year now," "I'm thinking about getting involved with a club soon." "What I'm asking you to repeat is the part after that." "The part after that?" "I won't oppose you getting involved with a club." "After all, you've been doing well after the operation, but..." "But?" "Of all the clubs out there..." "The Kendo Team?" "Is the problem because the Kendo Team is known for how tough it is?" "Or is it because it's the club you're involved with?" "Both." "Then, even if I said I wanted to join the Craft Club, you'd be against it if you were in that club?" "Pardon me, I'd like some water." "Please!" "Don't ask for more water when we're having a serious conversation!" "Um, what shall I do about the water?" "Please don't mind this one." ""This one"?" ""This one" is good enough for you when you're being so ungracious." "Am I behaving shamefully?" "Yes." "It's really embarrassing to see you behave flustered because of me." "You want to do kendo, no matter what?" "Yes, I'm thinking it might be good to do." "You don't know how harsh sports teams can be!" "We have morning practices!" "And even in the winter, we have to scrub the training hall floor!" "We go barefoot all year round!" "It would be a nuisance if you joined the team based on some half-baked notion that it "might be good to do"!" "If it's a diversion to stave off boredom," "I'll keep you company at home!" "A diversion to stave off boredom?" "!" "You'll keep me company?" "!" "No, thank you!" "The Lady Rei needn't go to such trouble!" "Y-Yoshino..." "This is bad." "This pattern is..." "Not good, not good." "I have to restrain myself." "Restrain myself..." "But..." "Fine, then!" "If that's the case..." "The rosary..." "I forgot I'm not wearing it today." "Yoshino..." "I'm going home." "Maria Watches Over Us Printemps" "In the morning mist, Asamoya no naka the white path goes on." "tsuzuku shiroi michi" "The birds sing." "Tori no saezuri" "We exchange greetings." "Aisatsu kawashinagara" "At times, the clouds hang low, Toki ni kumo ga tarekomete and the sun may grow dim." "hizashi kagerou tomo" "But I will walk with my chin up, Sesuji nobashite aruku for I know, watashi wa shitteru kara that above those heavy clouds..." "omoi kumo no ue wa ...is the blue sky." "aol sora" "Yellow Rose Weather Advisory" "Was this path always this long?" "Oh, right." "It's because Rei would always talk to me the whole way." "On days when I wasn't feeling well," "I guess she even carried my bag for me..." "That's why it never felt long." "Rei..." "What's with that sigh?" "!" "Like she's the only one with troubles!" ""Please make it so we can reconcile"..." "I'm never going to wish for that." "Even if I don't ask for it, I'll bet..." "Later." "What was that?" "!" "Yoshino?" "Yumi." "Good morning." "Is something wrong?" "G-Good morning." "No, just doing a little weather prediction." "So what does it forecast?" "Considering neither is upside down, clear skies, I suppose." "Clear skies?" "I doubt it's going to clear up." "Oh?" "How can you be so sure?" "Because this won't do what I want it to." "Meaning?" "There's a lot of moisture in the air." "In other words, I have a feeling that rain is not too far off." "That makes sense." "Yoshino, did something happen?" "Nothing... really." "I' m going to ask you, just in case, [Club Application Year: 2, Class:" "Pine, Name:" "Shimazu I would like to join the Kendo Team.]" "but your request to join the Kendo Team isn't as a manager, right?" "No, I would like to wield a bamboo sword and fight." "I see." "The Kendo Team, is it?" "Are you against my joining the Kendo Team as well, Ms. Hoshina?" "Well, I suppose..." "By the way, does Miss Rei Hasekura know about this?" "Would it put your mind at ease if Rei Hasekura said it was all right?" "She's a special person to you, in more ways than one." "Am I wrong?" "No..." "Really, it's been a great help to have you, Noriko." "I hope I have." "You think so too, don't you, Yumi?" "Yes, of course!" "We all think so." "What's with Rei?" "Acting all smiley like that..." "I see, so I don't figure into the picture." "Is that it?" "Isn't it great, Noriko?" "Yes." "Shimako and Noriko seem so fresh and innocent." "I envy that..." "Compared to that, we're like a couple who's grown weary of being married..." "Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, no matter what I thought, to have applied to join the team without even letting Rei know..." "Maybe I'll go reconcile with her, after all." "All right, I'll talk to her tomorrow." "Come visit me sometime at the Kendo Team, too!" "Even so, I think Rei's being excessive with the smiles." "Maybe this is how life works..." "Here I was, all ready to reconcile with Rei, but she didn't come to school today." "What?" "Rei is absent?" "It seems she suddenly came down with a fever." "Could it be... my fault?" "Huh?" "Why would it be your fault?" "I called Rei last night." "I see..." "At first, I was telling her about what happened with the team yesterday, but the talk inadvertently turned to you, and..." "In other words, she found out that I had applied to join the team without letting her know about it." "That can't have been good, right?" "No, she would have eventually found out anyway." "But you know, the moment Rei learned that you had joined the team, she became speechless with shock." "But that makes it more my fault than the team president's fault." "Honestly!" "Just how frail can you be, Rei?" "!" "Uh, um, Yoshino?" "Team President!" "Yes?" "I am joining the team, no matter what it takes!" "Rei isn't at school." "No one can stop me now!" "Then, I will introduce you to the person who will be mentoring you, starting today." "I look forward to working with her." "I look forward to working with you." "Miss Chisato Tanuma?" "Your hair..." "I cut it." "I find it refreshing." "I-I see..." "Chisato, could I ask you something?" "Go ahead." "Since when did you join the Kendo Team?" "The end of our first-year." "The end of our first-year would put it right after that date." "I suppose it does." "Yoshino, it's almost unbelievable how inflexible you are." "You've never done any kind of real exercise, have you?" "Well, excuse me." "Owowow..." "You shouldn't strain yourself." "You'll have to begin by building up basic strength." "Kendo isn't so easy that you can start swinging a bamboo sword around right away." "Right, right." "By the way, how is Lady Rei doing?" "She seems to have a fever, so she'll probably be absent for a couple days." "I see." "But I can't believe Rei!" "She never told me about Chisato!" "Maybe it's because Chisato is here, that she didn't want to let me join the Kendo Team." "I know it's a mean suspicion to have, but..." "Come on, put your back into it." "Owowowowowow!" "Yoshino, how is the kendo going?" "Well, it's coming along." "Yoshino, you don't look happy." "Yumi..." "I become blind to my surroundings when I get absorbed in something." "Could it be that I've been offending people?" "I've never felt that way myself..." "Maybe I'll get myself a little sister." "How did this conversation make the leap to that?" "I've been thinking about it for some time now." "Two rose buds aren't enough to support the Lady Roses anyway." "You're going to get a little sister for the labor?" "Shimako seemed to be against that idea, but I think taking a practical approach like that is one way to do it." "Besides, I need to diffuse my emotions more..." "Morning." "M-Morning." "How are you feeling?" "I'm fine." "I see..." "Yoshino." "I heard you officially joined the Kendo Team?" "Yes." "Basically, your life is your own, so I have no right to stop you, right?" "Rei..." "I thought about it a lot while I was away." "About kendo and about you..." "And I've had second thoughts about how we are as sisters." "What?" "No matter what, we'll always be different from normal sisters." "That's why we end up clashing like this." "That might be true..." "Yoshino, as your big sister," "I could persuade you to quit the team." "You mean ask, not persuade, right?" "I suppose, ask..." "You might be right..." "But you wouldn't acquiesce, right?" "I would, if it was right." "But your reason for opposing me isn't compelling." "Why does it end up like this?" "Maybe we were wrong to begin with when we became sisters." "Darn you, Rei!" "It's all over if you say that!" "So, what is it that you're getting at?" "That if you're going to do as you please," "I have to rethink things, too." "I've had enough of being at the mercy of whatever you decide to do." "Face!" "Wrist!" "Don't try to go at with just your upper bodies!" "Come on!" "Your legs aren't keeping up!" "Rei's still at her coolest when she's doing kendo." "Yoshi..." "Owowow..." "What's with that?" "!" "Shall we call it a day soon?" "Oh, but I'm almost done with my regimen for today." "You don't have to strain yourself." "The regimen is just a guideline." "Right." "You go ahead and go home." "I'll make sure to do the cleaning, too." "I'll help you, so let's go home together." "I'll be fine." "I can do it alone." "But..." "It looks like it's going rain." "I know." "I'll just work at it for a little longer." "Don't overdo it, okay?" "Thanks." "All right..." "I'm not losing!" "But... against who?" "Against myself?" "Or is it against Rei?" "Rain..." "No wonder it's cold..." "Not good, not good!" "Rei!" "I thought you'd gone home already." "I was on my way, but I couldn't do it." "I'm not quitting the Kendo Team." "I know." "I understand your resolve well now." "And you were working hard, too." "But you don't like it, right?" "It's not that I don't like it." "I'm troubled." "What?" "Troubled?" "Yes, troubled and I don't know what to do with myself." "I guess I was trying to protect my territory." "You mean, the Kendo Team?" "How do I look to you when I'm involved with the team?" "You look really cool!" "I actually rather like that about myself." "In that case, I get to see you like that up-close, so that's good, isn't it?" "When you're here, I'm no good." "I lose my composure." "Rei..." "Could you be getting beat up badly?" "Could you be getting hurt?" "Those are the only things I can think about." "And I'm hiding that while I'm training the underclassmen." "I know that." "Because you're kinder than anyone and more fragile than anyone." "There's no way an inferior person like that could possibly train you along with the other underclassmen!" "I care about the underclassmen, but you're different." "Just by having to tell myself that I have to treat you equally," "I'm already being discriminating." "In other words, you're afraid because you might show me favoritism." "Or that I might treat you harshly in my attempt not to show favoritism." "I see." "Go ahead and laugh." "I can't laugh at that." "It's okay, you know." "You can turn your back on me now..." "Rei..." "By that, do you mean you want the rosary back?" "Right..." "Because then, you won't be at the mercy of whatever I do..." "Would you rather have it that way?" "Do you not need me anymore?" "Of course, I'll always need you!" "My feelings for you haven't lessened, even by one milligram!" "Rei, if it's for you, I'd do anything." "If you really wanted, I'd even quit the Kendo Team." "But you know, if I did that, I think you'd become even weaker." "And so would I..." "Being so dependent on each other..." "I don't want to lose to something like that." "So I don't want to quit the team right now." "I'm going to work hard at both the Kendo Team and being a little sister!" "That is all!" "You might be right." "What do you want to do?" "Should we run to the school building?" "It's been left here for a long time, so I decided to take it." "When it rains, people forget their umbrellas, I guess." "I think I might be lucky that the umbrella's crumpled." "Why?" "Because I get to cling to you, which I haven't done in a while." "I think I'll try being at the mercy of the things you do for a while longer." "There are many words for rain." "Like "downpour," "drizzle," and "squalls."" ""Aoshigure" is early summer rain and "hisame" is freezing cold winter rain." ""Konuka-ame" is tiny rain that falls without making a sound and "teppou-ame" is rain that pours down furiously." "There's also "rainstorm," "acid rain," and "rain of blood."" "Something's not quite right about those, Yumi." "It sounds kind of dangerous." "Then, like "harusame" and "arare"?" "They're not wrong, but..." "It's making me hungry." "Next time on "Maria Watches Over Us,"" ""Rainy Blue"." "What kind of rain will it be?" "Drizzle, drizzle, splish-splash."