Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume24 Chapter1 2 (section)

===<noinclude>Riding a Bicycle. </noinclude>Part 2===

Rei-chan returned home about an hour later. The local bookstore hadn't had the reference book she wanted, so she'd had to go K station.

"Here, look at this."

Waiting motionlessly in the house was frustrating so I'd been going in and out of the entrance, and when I eventually spotted Rei-chan's bike coming up to our house, or the Hasekura house, either way, onto the property, I rushed over and handed her the red envelope that I'd already retrieved from the letterbox. The one addressed to Rei-chan.

"At that?"

Rei-chan parked her beloved bike in the bike shed and looked at what I had in my hand.

"Yeah. There's a New Year's party at Sachiko-sama's house. On the second of January. An overnight stay. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Hey, we'll go, right? Let's go, yeah?"

"… And I suppose that's what's written in this letter."

Rei-chan took the envelope from me and I waited, excited and expectant, as she used her bike key in place of a letter opener to open the envelope and then read the printed invitation in silence. And what was Rei-chan's conclusion after doing all this?

"I see."

After she finished reading, Rei-chan put the card back into the envelope and smiled.

"We'll go. We have to cheer up Yumi-chan."

"Yeah."

As expected. Rei-chan understood. And it was pretty impressive of me to understand that too.

"So then."

Rei-chan said.

"I suppose it'll be the fourth or fifth of January."

"What will?"

The tension gone, I said the first thing that came to mind. Rei-chan had suddenly said the fourth or fifth, and I didn't immediately realize what she was talking about.

"What will? When Nana-chan's going to visit."

"Nana's visit … ?"

As I said this, I thought, "Dammit."

"For the bout. We said we'd have it during the winter break, remember? She'll probably be busy preparing for the end of year, so it'll be better to have it in the new year. I can't believe you forgot, Yoshino."

"Uh, no way. I didn't forget."

Actually, the truth was "unbelievable." But that was because that conversation had taken place right in the middle of the Christmas Party, and after that there had been Rei-chan's announcement that she was going to take entrance exams to other universities and Yumi-san had been rejected by Touko-chan. So that topic had slipped my mind. No, with all those other major things going on, I may have intentionally chosen not to think about it, deciding it was fine to let it remain hazy.

But, what was up with that? Rei-chan had clearly remembered it. Like, all those other things were going on, but that was that and this was this. She hadn't even been distracted by the invitation to the New Year's party.

"I'll ask Nana. Whether the fourth or the fifth are good for her."

If Rei-chan was concerned about her promise to Nana, then I didn't have much choice. I accepted my fate.

"Okay. She told me her phone number, so I could call her – "

"No, I'll do it."

"Alright. I'll leave it to you then."

Nana and Rei-chan were going to cross blades. Why was my heart beating so hard?

It wasn't apprehension. Nor was it exhilaration.

It's a bit of a grandiose simile, but it was like I was facing the end days. Like Jesus had appeared to perform the Last Judgment, or the Maitreya Buddha had finally arrived after 5.67 billion years, that sort of thing.

It didn't change that I'd run out of time to do what I should do. But that day was undoubtedly closing in. I wasn't worried about what would befall me – whether I'd be saved or damned – but the practice, or fight, between Nana and Rei-chan would turn my world upside down. That was the hunch I had.

I'd watched Rei-chan's matches countless times before. So what was so different about this one?

Because her opponent was Nana.

I had no idea about her true strength. No, it'd be the same even if I knew Nana's approximate skill level.

Her opponent was Nana. Therefore – 

"Yoshino?"

"Uh … how will get to Sachiko-sama's house?"

"How? We'll get a bus to the station, then catch a train, then walk the rest of the way. Ah – I think Sachiko might have said something about a bus between their house and the station. But I'm not really sure, I never asked her about it."

Rei-chan said, scratching her head.

"Sounds like a long trip."

"Yeah, I guess. Although it's not that far in a straight line."

"You rode your bike there last time, right?"

This was followed by a brief silence. Rei-chan broke the silence by suddenly lowering her head.

"I'm sorry, Yoshino."

"Huh, why?"

"I should have got my license, like Sei-sama. Then I could drive you – "

I had to consider what to say next.

"That wasn't what I was thinking."

Rei-chan was so busy with student council and club activities that there was no way she'd be able to find the time to go to driver training. On top of that, she was also currently studying for university entrance exams. With that said, Sei-sama had done it at some point last year. But she wasn't in any clubs, so she probably went to a driver training school during the holidays and got her license through that.

"Then what the heck were you thinking about during that silence, Yoshino?"

"Bike."

"Huh? But, Yoshino – "

"Ah, don't worry. My dad'll buy me a bike."

In truth, I hadn't had my own bike for many years.

"No, it's not that. Well, there's that too. What I'm trying to say is."

"I know. So, you'll help me, right?"

"…"

Rei-chan's face clearly showed that she thought this was going to be a pain.

"You're serious?"

"Totally serious. And it'll be way quicker than you getting your license."

Instead of responding, Rei-chan let out a sigh.

Which wasn't surprising.

It had probably been about ten years since I last rode a bike – and that had been a kid's bike with training wheels.