Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume37 Chapter3 (section)

== Farewell Bouquet II ==

"Here you go," Yumi said, placing the cup of tea in front of the unexpected, but welcome, visitor.

Katori-sensei had obediently followed her to the Rose Mansion, perhaps out of a sense of duty from being found in hide-and-seek.

"It's been a long time since I was last in the Rose Mansion." Katori-sensei was a graduate of Lillian Girls' Academy, so it wasn't quite clear which time period she was referring to. "I wonder, did the staircase always creak that much? Don't you think it should be fixed sometime soon? You could requisition some funds for it as part of the next budget. Or maybe it's because I've put on some weight. Ahh, I've got to stop eating so many sweets."

". . ."

The main cause of the creaking was probably people intentionally shaking the staircase because they found the noises it made amusing. Yumi had led the way up the stairs, but she'd been on tenterhooks until her teacher made it to the top.

"At any rate, please take care when it comes time for you to go back down."

Although, having said that, Yumi did think that they would have to consider getting the staircase repaired at some point soon. Since neither her petite s&oelig;ur nor anyone else on the student council was currently present, Yumi jotted down a note, "Staircase repairs?" so she wouldn't forget. But if it wasn't going to happen until next year, then Touko and Noriko-chan should probably be at the center of that discussion &mdash; 

"Oh my. This is . . ." Katori-sensei drew the cup close to her face, cocked her head to the side, and asked, "Herbal tea?"

"That's right." Yumi nodded and opened the lid of the teapot to display its contents. Instead of tea leaves, there were chamomile, mint, and lemongrass leaves soaking in the hot water.

"And it's fresh, not from a tin. No wonder it smells so good. Do you always have this at the Rose Mansion?" Katori-sensei asked in amazement, and Yumi smiled as she answered.

"Not really, it's just a recent thing. Lately, our&mdash;or rather, there's been an unprecedented herb boom among our relatives. Although it was all started by the TV."

"The TV?"

"It turns out that my mom, Touko's mother, and Hasekura Rei-sama all watched the same TV show and started growing herbs in spring. Then, when the plants took off, they gave some to us, saying, 'Why don't you drink them at the Rose Mansion?' and before we knew it, it turned out like this."

Yumi brought one of the simple planters from their position by the window over to the table. The planters, which were made by cutting the top off milk jugs or other plastic bottles, were lined up in a cardboard box. It may have started with those three relatives, but Shimako-san, Noriko-chan, and then finally even Nana-chan had taken some home, so now all the Rose families were growing herbs. However, it looked like Yoshino-san only ever harvested those plants raised by her neighbor, Rei-sama.

"Incredible. But your post-exam break starts tomorrow, what are you going to do with your babies?"

Their babies, the herbs they had there, all loved water.

"Yeah, we won't be able to come in and take care of them over the break, so we're going to divide them up and take them home today. Summer vacation is coming up soon too, so we were talking about drying them at home, and then bringing the dried herbs back."

"Ah, that sounds fine," Katori-sensei agreed as she sipped on her herbal tea, and continued, ". . . It's absolutely delicious."

"Really?"

"How should I prove to you that it's not just flattery?"

"I'm happy to hear that."

Yumi had invited Katori-sensei to the Rose Mansion because she thought she might enjoy the herbal tea, since it looked like her body was craving the soothing sensation of the throat lozenges, and that had apparently been right on the money.

"It's refreshing from my throat to my stomach, and it's giving me a calm feeling."

"That's good."

Yumi tidied up the herb collection then picked up her teacup and sat down in the chair opposite Katori-sensei. They were facing each other like it was a one-on-one interview. But what lay ahead wasn't going to be guidance counseling, or a discussion about exam results, or anything of that sort. Instead, aided by the cup of herbal tea in her hand, it felt more like a couple of friends chatting at a cafe.

Yumi unintentionally let out a quiet laugh.

"What's so funny?" Katori-sensei asked, perplexed. Now then, this was a bit of a pickle.

"Um, well."

It was hard to put her feelings into words. Or, rather, Yumi was basically just happy.

"I've got you all to myself."

&mdash; about that.

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