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“YOU shouldn’t have done that, Urara,” Mikazuki said to me as soon as I walked in.
He, Mochizuki, and the others were apparently having tea in Lady Chouko’s makeshift clubroom.
“I can’t believe she got Chouko to listen to her advice...”
“This is a perfect example of saving an enemy from trouble instead of taking advantage of their weakness.”
“That’s so like Tendou.”
What on earth were they talking about?
“Urara doesn’t even know what she did wrong, so your words are meaningless,” Aritomo said critically with no attempt to enlighten me.
It was one thing for Mochizuki and the others to be giving me a hard time, but Aritomo was another matter entirely.
“You have the advantage here. Why would you train Chouko? Y’know?”
Ahh, right. I had been helping Lady Chouko patch things up with Mondaiser.
“Well, she needed help figuring out how to start a rapport. If she can get the hang of that, the rest will come,” I explained.
“That’s what I’m saying. You need to focus on you winning!” Mikazuki exclaimed, waving his arms about.
Of course. Mikazuki had generously offered up his time, so I needed to do my best.
“Of course. I will. I’ll practice and give it my all, so let’s go for the gold,” I declared, causing the boys to all groan my name and smack their heads in exasperation.
I wonder why.
“By the way, why are you all just sitting around sipping tea in the clubroom?”
Chouko and Mondaiser seemed to be growing closer. After riding practice today, she’d had the staff teach her how to care for Mondaiser, so she had been a little later than the rest of us in getting back.
“We didn’t want this room to go to waste. It’s not like you were using it.”
I guess having a whole room built just for us did seem a tad wasteful.
“Don’t complain. This was still cheaper than Mitsuru’s piano.”
The piano was THAT expensive?! I felt as if those two should have been in much more trouble than I was.
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OUR training was proceeding as planned, but we stopped for a short time to prepare for our end-of-term exams. I still made my way to the stables before and after school to say hello to Galileo. Lady Chouko did the same with Mondaiser.
After the last test on the last day of exams, we were able to resume our training.
“How did your exams go, Urara?”
“I think I did all right. How were yours, Chouko?”
“Same as usual, I suppose. There was nothing really unexpected.”
Aritomo had been called away by one of the teachers after exams had finished, so Lady Chouko and I were on our way to the riding grounds. Walking and talking like this, beneath the emerald summer canopy and along that sun-dappled walk, I almost forgot we were even at school.
The sight left me nostalgic for my past life and our summer retreats. I took a big breath, and the clean air flooded my heart, washing it clean.
Lady Chouko opened her mouth wide, watching me.
“Hey, Urara. I have something I’ve been wanting to ask you. May I?”
“Yes, what is it, Chouko?”
She hesitated a bit, even after my response, then finally continued.
“How is it that you can ride horses even though you have no prior riding experience?”
Clearly she thought this should be impossible for someone like me. Yet she still wanted to know why. In that moment I didn’t really mind the fact that she had investigated me. What was important was how to explain how I could do what I should not be able to.
What could I say? How could I put it? Sensing my agonizing over what to say, Lady Chouko responded gently.
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I just want to know. Not just about the horseback riding, but also why you carry yourself as you do.”
What on earth was I to say to her? I had already tried talking to Aritomo about my past life memories. It hadn’t gone very well, unfortunately, and even though I hadn’t necessarily confessed about my past life, Aritomo at least had her own as a starting point.
But what about Lady Chouko? What if she refused to accept what I had to say even after I was honest with her? Would she think I was mocking her? Either outcome was equally awful.
She waited silently for an answer. I gazed up into her eyes. Even if I said nothing, I’m sure Lady Chouko would keep her promise and not blame me for doing so.
But then...
“Chouko?”
“Yes, Urara?”
“Will you give me some more time to answer your question? I don’t think I can explain it properly just yet. So please, just wait a bit longer... I will think of how to best explain it so it makes sense to you, so please give me a little more time,” I said, still gazing into her eyes.
“Thank you,” she said, her eyes locked with mine, “I will wait, then.”
She gave me a soft smile.
I would need to think long and hard about how best to explain this very, very important matter to her, without messing it up.