1. One day, I read a book in the library.
2. Beneath its cover was a letter.
6. And now I started exchanging letters with someone I knew nothing about.
7. A letter asking to begin an "S" relationship, like girls had in the past.
8. "Cats are my favorite animal. What is your favorite animal, Onee-sama?"
Chargement…Chargement…
1. Our letters are never anything impressive.
2. "Not the most creative topic..."
3. Only about our likes, or little things that happened that day.
5. We bask in our light exchanges without touching too deeply on ourselves.
6. But we never pry or offer anything to give up our identities.
7. It seemed like we were both satisfied with this cozy, hazy rapport.
8. If she won't ask those questions, I won't either.
11. "That's a... cat?"
Chargement…Chargement…
2. "..."
3. "Again, Gaku-chan?"
4. "Sumi-chaaan, home-work~"
5. "Or were you looking for help with something else~?"
6. "How much can you spend?"
7. "Pocket change?"
8. "Eee-hh..."
9. "Ehehe... Actually I didn't know what to get my girlfriend for her bday. How'd you know?"
1. "What, like on Mothers Day?"
2. "Eeeeh? Isn't that kinda kiddy?"
3. "You can even try the letter I bought!"
4. "Oh!"
5. "How about if you wrote her a letter?"
6. "It wouldn't cost anything!"
7. When will I use this...
8. I bought a set for myself back then too
9. "I mean, wouldn't we be sakura?"
10. "...Why roses?"
11. "Huh?"
1. "I guess if you wanted to call attention to yourself."
2. "What, because we're the Sakuragawas?"
3. "Attention to yourself...?"
4. "I do love roses. I share a name with a rose, so I have a fondness for them."
5. "..."
6. "It might be too awkward for me after all..."
1. you could see that as signing with her own name.
2. If Onee-sama uses stationery decorated with roses each time,
3. Is that her way of offering me a clue to follow?
4. Without writing her name, she's always calling attention to it.
5. "Does she want me to find her?"
6. "Is she secretly hoping to be found?"
1. "Momo! Morning!"
2. "Morning, Kasumi."
3. "What do you mean...?"
4. "Umm..."
5. "...Momo, have you ever talked to someone you didn't know online?"
6. "Wah! You're getting the wrong idea!"
7. "Kasumi! Stop talking to them right now!"
8. "Say if you... didn't know someone's name but they seemed to want to meet you?"
1. Look at how writing to just one person already occupies my thoughts.
2. "I mean, I don't talk to anyone online."
3. "I wouldn't know what to do there."
4. "Like Sakura-gawa's such a good name."
5. "Nothing wrong with that."
6. "I think it's lame faking your name online anyway."
7. "Oh, a handle name?"
8. "Fake it?"
9. "Eheh."
10. "What makes you say that?"
11. "Eh,"
12. "eeh?"
1. "I always thought it had a nice sound."
2. "And, 'Kasumi.' They must have named you after Sakuragasumi."
3. "...?"
4. "Why not Kasumizakura?"
5. "Hn?"
6. "I just thought it'd be a play on Sakuragasumi, the rose."
7. "A rose...?"
2. "Yeah, there's so many roses. Check it out."
3. ""Momoka" comes from the name of a rose too."
4. "Ehh !??"
5. "I share a name with a rose, so I have a fondness for them..."
6. That's it: the types of roses!
7. "I know, right? You'd think it's peach."
8. "Wait, your name's a rose -!?"
9. "Hang on."
10. "Eh?"
1. Then isn't there a chance I've been writing letters to Momo!?
2. "Onee-sama" asked me to call her that,
3. I just assumed she was older...
4. but for all I know we could be in the same year...
5. So,
6. ...if that's true:
7. Normal
8. "Nice, I could use an armrest."
9. "Knock it off!"
10. Letters
11. "Such a cute little sister I've found."
12. "I love talking to you too, Onee-sama!"
13. Th-
14. That would be so embarrassing!
1. Oh, I got it!
2. "Momo! Can I see your notes?"
3. No no no no no way!
4. But it's so suspicious she'd bring up roses now...
5. It's too soon to tell...!
6. "...?"
7. Something to discreetly tell if it's her.
8. Is there a way to check?
9. "I forgot to copy something from the blackboard before!"
10. "You made all those faces to ask that?"
11. "Yeah sure, have 'em."
1. It's...
2. different handwriting than the letters.
3. "Which means she's not Momo..."
24. "..."
25. "That's okay... I only needed a quick look."
26. "Hold onto it if you want."
38. "I didn't know there were so many types of roses..."
1. It came to me when I saw Momo's notes.
2. "That doesn't help narrow it down."
3. "Lots of them are named like people."
4. "Or I could always camp out in the library?"
5. "...Okay that's... taking it a little too far..."
6. her handwriting is the only clue I have.
7. Even if I tried searching for Onee-sama,
9. "I know you're here, Onee-sama!"
10. "(She's not)"
11. So even if I tracked down every cat lover, she wouldn't be there.
13. but that could have been a lie to keep the conversation moving.
14. She might have told me she liked cats,
15. "Sorry, I'm a dog person."
1. anyone can lie in a letter.
2. "This got off track."
3. What I'm trying to say is...
4. reflects the real person.
5. I have no way of proving the Onee-sama I built up in my head
6. After all,
7. That's it.
8. Right.
9. "Not that I want to doubt her..."
1. Yeah. It's not just in letters.
2. meeting in person doesn't mean you're meeting their true self either.
3. Strangely, I found it comforting conversing with someone who I couldn't see.
1. What girls in 'S' relationships used to do
*Exchange letters
*Walk to school together
*Visit each other's houses
2. I should see if there's anything else we could try.
3. "Pretty much none of these work without seeing each other..."
4. "Hrrm."
5. Exchanging letters was just one part of our "playing S."
6. "What if we picked a day to wear our hair the same...?"
7. "Something special but won't have to meet for..."
8. "Anything we can do...?"
9. "... Oh!"
1. "Maybe our relationship is... a little unusual,"
2. "Girls in past S relationships used to match their hairstyles!"
3. "See, um!"
4. "but I thought that might feel like we had a special connection still..."
5. "What a lovely idea...!"
6. "Oh."
7. "Oh my...!"
1. "Did you research that on your own?"
2. "Yes..."
3. "Why not wear our hair in braids next Monday then!"
4. "Let's do that!"
5. And now I might be able to find Onee-sama by her hair...
6. "Phew..."
7. "She really liked my idea..."
1. "Braids, got it..."
2. "I never braided my hair before!"
3. I even spent the weekend practicing, and...
4. "Ughhh..."
1. Huh...? It's getting worse... It's coming loose...?
2. It could have looked so much better!!
3. I wanted it looking neat and professional!
5. "Sorry... Thought you were going for that look..."
6. "That's a new one"
7. "Mor-ning! Whoa, it's loose braids Kasumi!"
8. How can I be so bad at this...
1. "It's not a fashion statement, she just sucked at it."
2. "Don't look at mee-ee~"
3. "What's with her?"
4. "Huh... You look different today."
5. "What about mine?"
6. "Yeah, your hair's not so good for braids."
7. "Yours'd be easy."
8. "Want me to fix it up for you?"
9. "Can you!?"
10. "Yeah no. Don't make it weird."
11. "Then you're Momo-onee-sama~"
12. "I tie my sister's hair a lot for her."
13. "Look at her go!"
1. "Oo-ooh~!"
2. "OK, I'm on the hunt for braids!"
3. "Now do me!"
4. "Thanks so much, Momo~!"
5. "Coming right up."
6. "Get a seat"
1. "Is that her...!?"
2. Braids...!
3. "Teacher's calling for you"
4. Oh no! More braids...!
5. "Ugh, hide me~"
6. I should say something...
7. "There you are!"
1. Does that count as braids...?
2. Just how many braids are there!?
3. ...Why do you need to find her?
4. "How am I meant to find her now..."
1. Why are you even running around out here?
2. "...No."
3. Were they really?
4. "Well I... Her letters were hinting she wanted me to find her, so..."
1. "That's just an excuse..."
2. I was only indulging my own curiosity.
3. The truth is...
4. But it was my own greedy desires all along.
5. and used that to justify uncovering her.
6. I decided that she wanted to be found out,
1. It's pathetic.
2. Acting so shameful!
3. Comforting? Don't make it sound so innocent.
4. Not when you're twisting every opportunity to pry into her.
1. "Huh? You undid them?"
2. "Guess you didn't like it after all..."
1. "Mhm..."
2. "Oh? You tied your hair, Haruyo?"
1. "...It's a special occasion."
2. The whole run back I prayed Onee-sama wouldn't see me,
3. right through to this shameless heart of mine.
4. That little cat plush on the shelf behind Kasumi is a "cameo" by Seika (the MC of Igarashi Jun's previous manga, Dominant).
1. let's talk flowers
2. In the language of flowers, Haruyo roses signify: A gentle heart, appreciation, feelings of happiness.
3. "Oh? You tied your hair, Haruyo?"
5. Sakuragasumi are a variety of climbing rose native to Japan. Pink in color, they signify being full of love, gentle, and harboring deep feelings.
6. "...?"
7. "Why not Kasumi-zakura?"
8. "And, "Kasumi." They must have named you after Sakura-gasumi."
9. Kasumizakura are a type of cherry blossom tree with white petals. They signify purity, grace, and elegance. Kasumi surely was not named after them.
10. Sakura = Cherry Blossom
11. When joining words, the sound changes: Sakura to Zakura, Kasumi to Gasumi.
12. Momo = peach
13. Momoka, the rose, is a pink-peach color and signifies warm affection, appreciation, and well-being.