Thorn Garden

“Ms. Himejima.”

Himeko kept staring at the flowers. The maid stepped closer and called out again. A short, shrill squeal broke her gaze as she spun around. She caught her breath and asked “what do you want, Misao?”
“Everyone is waiting in the dining hall. Please follow me.”
Himeko then apologized and followed, leaving her mind back in the garden.

As Himeko entered the dining hall, Midori shouted “kon∙ban∙wa Hi∙me∙ko~” from across the table. Himeko bowed and returned a soft “good evening” before taking a seat next to Junko who was busy texting her robotic sister.
“What are you two talking about?” Himeko asked Junko.
Typing away like a pianist, Junko turned her head and smiled. From further down the table Iwako said “it is a secret between sisters.”
“Were you in the garden again?” Midori asked.
“It is quite beautiful there, so I lost track of time.”

Himeko turned to the maid and asked “Misao, when did you plant the blue roses?”
“I did not plant the blue roses.”
Everyone looked up.
“Roses don’t plant themselves,” Midori pointed out.
“I do not take care of the garden,” the maid claimed.
“Junko,” Itoe said, “have you been toying with Misao’s database?”
Looking hurt, Junko said “I haven’t touched a single line of her code.”
“Lately,” Haruka added.
Midori laughed.
“Seriously, I haven’t.”
“It is true!” Iwako added to the defence.
“Misao,” Itoe said, “after the dishes are clean, run a diagnostic.”
“After the dishes have been cleaned, I will run a diagnostic.”
“Good.”
“Thank you Ms. Morinaga.”

After the meal, everyone retired to their chambers. Himeko set a kettle to boil and watched out the balcony window as it started to rain. She soon heard a scream in the corridor and went out to check on it. When she looked out in the hall she found Midori, who had fallen on the floor.
“Th-there was a ghost at your door.”
“A ghost?”
“I bet Haruka summoned it.”
“Shall we see then?”

Knocking on the door, they heard “please, come in” from inside the room. Midori put her hands on her hips and adamantly questioned: “Did you send a ghost to scare Himeko?” Haruka poked her head out from behind a stack of books and asked “you saw a ghost?”
“Midori said there was one outside my door.”
“I don’t summon ghosts.”
Midori bent over and stared into Haruka’s eyes as if she would be able to tell if she were lying.
“Sorry for the intrusion, see you tomorrow.” Himeko said as she grabbed Midori’s hand and pulled her out of the room.
“Good night, you two.”

Himeko locked her door and went take the kettle off the stove. She noticed the kettle wasn’t there just before she heard “I’ve poured two cups.”
Startled, she kept facing the wall, afraid to turn around.
“I wasn’t trying to scare you or your friend.”
Tense, she closed her eyes.
“Why don’t you come over here and have a seat. I won’t bite.”
Half expecting a pruny drowning victim or a mangled corpse, Himeko slowly turned toward the table. She let herself exhale when she saw that the horrible ghost haunting her was a fair young woman.

“Why me?”
“You spend a lot of time in my garden.”
“You are the gardener?”
“I’ve been tending the garden here for a long time.”
“Then… why now?”
“You were asking about my garden at supper.”

Himeko sat down and picked up her teacup. A few minutes of silence later, the ghost introduced herself.

“My name is Rei Agata. I lived here once and I usually keep to myself, but no one has ever really paid attention to my garden, even when I was alive. I just had to meet you.”
“Have you always been here?”
“No, but I have seen a few ladies move in and out of this estate.”
“What do you know about me?”
“You are Himeko Himejima. You enjoy tea and tailoring elegant gowns. You are always polite and pleasant, but you distance yourself from the other girls in the dorm.”
“Stop.”
Himeko stared down at the table.
“You asked.”
“Please, just stop. You should have stayed hidden.”
“Himeko.”
Rei touched Himeko’s hand, causing her to run out the door.

The next morning, Haruka was reading in the gallery and overheard the Minami sisters talking nearby. What caught Haruka’s attention was that Junko said “Himeko slept in Midori’s room last night.” Haruka closed her book and walked over to where the sisters were chatting.
“They came into my room last night asking if I summoned a ghost.”
“Did you?”
“Of course not.”
“Maybe you should’ve.”
Haruka laughed a “maybe.”
Haruka walked off and the Minami sisters went back to their gossip.

When Midori saw that it was Haruka who had been knocking on her door, she stepped out into the hall and closed the door behind her.
“Is she still in there?”
“That ghost is haunting her room! She had to sleep somewhere.”
After Midori explained what happened, Haruka suggested that Midori search Himeko’s room for the ghost and then talk to Misao about the house history.
“I’ll be in the library… to see if I can find anything useful.”

A week later, no one else had seen Rei stalking the grounds and Himeko had settled back into her own room. A few days after that, Himeko went to the garden and said “I am sorry.” Rei appeared behind her.
“No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shown up so suddenly, babbling like that. I just hadn’t talked to anyone in a long time.”
“From now on, I will talk to you when I visit the garden.”
“Well, you could start by looking at me.”
“Eh? Don’t sneak up on me! I thought you were invisible.”

The girls laughed and eventually Himeko introduced Rei to the other girls in the mansion, who accepted Rei into their circle much more calmly than Himeko. Itoe enjoyed talking with someone who knew about the history of the school and Rei enjoyed testing the conversational abilities of Iwako and Misao’s AI programs. Haruka now had someone to discuss books with and Midori gained a new ear to test her music on. Junko found that Rei made a good spy for gossip and Himeko never had to have tea alone again.