Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume21 Chapter2.3

Panic Attack! Part 3.

At this time on a Sunday, there was a gap between buses on the route so they moved briskly. Yoshino arrived at K Station seven minutes before the appointed time. Though this shuttle bus is constantly in use, today's run was a new record for time. At the aforementioned ticket gate, the figure of Nana could already been seen waiting. She wore jeans with a cream-colored sweater and a light-brown duffle coat. Somehow, this was a very Yumi-esque appearance.

"I'm sorry for making you wait."

"Good day." During the less than twenty-minute jolting bus ride, her breath, which had fallen into disarray while running, had settled down. She showed little sign of her earlier surge of anger and concern about the story of Rei-chan's Omiai. Although, there is a tendency for concerns to grow as time passes.

However, that sort of thing has nothing to do with Nana. Losing her temper over Rei-chan would be seen plainly. As she had to yet to decide if Yoshino was a wonderful upper classman, Yoshino squashed it as much as possible, acting brightly and cheerfully.

Nevertheless, Nana said, "Is something wrong?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing. It must have been my imagination."

"So it was written all over my face, huh?" Yoshino smiled wryly. Does Nana have a sharp intuition? Was she acting like a daikon radish? *

"That's why, I..."

"It's not your imagination. I'm sorry. I'm useless today. Probably, even though I'm here with you my head's in the clouds. I think it's probably just something trivial."

Since their initial exchanging of greeting, they hadn't moved as much as one step from the appointed place. Only their conversation itself had proceeded.

"Is something bothering you?"

"Well… yeah."

"Is it something that ended badly? Or is it a progressive problem?"

"Progressive. That's why I'm being distracted." No matter what she looked like, she'd decided to think about Rei-chan after all. In such a state, even if she talked about it, she couldn't be in the here and now. Even her cake wouldn't taste good. It would be impolite to enjoy Nana's company like this.

"So, what does Yoshino-sama want to do?" After she thought a bit, Nana asked.

"What?"

"Even though you had something bothering you, you still came here because you had a previous appointment with me?"

"Well… yeah." That was it, exactly. Though, when it's pointed out by the company she'd made the arrangement with, wasn't that more or less like an admission of guilt? It was complicated.

"Therefore, if you broke off the engagement, and Yoshino-sama hadn't come here, where on earth would you be right now?" Yoshino inwardly repeated Nana's question. (If I broke the engagement, where on earth would I be right now…")

"I think I probably would have gone to that place, but…" When she was true to her feelings, sure enough, she wanted to chase after Rei-chan. In Yoshino's having gone, probably nothing would have changed. Yet, if she had been hesitant, she would have wanted to go to that other place quickly and learn what had happened.

"That place... what's there? The place where your worries fester, it's not at home, is it?"

"It's a certain hotel in the metro area." To this, Nana nodded.

"I understand. Let's go."

"Wha-?" In this hasty decision, Yoshino was bewildered.

"But that's where Yoshino-sama wants to go, right?"

"That's true, I want to go, but, Nana... you'll come?" Please come. Or rather, let's go. Even still, when she put it like that… I can't ask that.

"Of course, I'm offering. Or, would it be an intrusion?"

"No… It's not that." But, is necessary that she accompany her? She needed to confirm this.

"Umm… even if I cancel the engagement with you and you come along to the hotel, it does seem like I need to accept your hospitality in coming." That Yoshino would feel a great deal of concern about Rei-chan's Omiai, there was no helping it. Though, putting off worrying about until she got to the hotel is sound logic. In this case, wouldn't Nana be a complete outsider? Or wouldn't she also be opposed to Rei-chan's Omiai? No, Yoshino hadn't given a detailed enough account yet.

"Perhaps Yoshino-sama is teasing to me?" Nana's eyes became cloudy.

"Why do you think that?"

"Or… is this a kind of hazing?"

"That's… Hello, Earth to Arima Nana-san. I have no idea what you're going on about."

She hadn't explained in a way Yoshino could understand. Is it popular for students in middle school to talk like they're speaking in riddles?

"To be stirred up like this, I feel left out of the loop. But you're speaking like you're rejecting me, it's awful."

"What? Stirred up?"

"Can't you see?"

"See what?" Though she might say, "Can you see?" Or "Can't you see it?" if she could only answer by selection an option, "I can't see." would get her vote.

"Anyway, I'm not going home. I've decided to spend the day with Yoshino-sama. No matter where we go, we're sticking together."

No matter where we go, we're sticking together. If with this she could be resolved in choosing a cute little sister to be in her life, how happy she would be. But, in reality… Nana was still an underclassman she was just getting acquainted with.

"Even though you don't know what's going on, you'll still go?"

"I'll ask you about it on the way. Anyway, let's buy our tickets." Nana took Yoshino's arm and turned to face the ticket vending machines. It seemed like she was gradually powering-up.

"Umm… tickets…" Although she opened the mouth of her purse for the moment, how much would she need to deposit, and which button did she need to press? She didn't immediately have a way to discern that. But, there's no helping that, is there? Until just now she had thought her feelings about wanting to go impertinent. Previously she hadn't even been able consider it. However, she was rapidly putting those thoughts aside—here was a person who had made her wish of going there concrete.

"Come on, hold it together. To go to that hotel, which tickets do we need to buy to get to which station?" This was quite an unexpected development.

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