Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume23 Chapter1 nr

Onee-sama's Lead

Part 1

The day of the second-term closing ceremony.

The Yamayurikai member's Christmas party had been held in the Rose Mansion. The Bûche de Noël, made by Shimako-san following Rei-sama's instructions, was really good.

Even though it had all been new to the Rose families' guests, they had all enthusiastically participated in the various games and enjoyed the silly banter.

Truly, she had expected she would still be enjoying herself when the curtain fell on the party, trying to drink it all in.

However.

Some sort of madness had flung Yumi into the depths of the abyss. No, perhaps she had unwittingly thrown herself down there.

All because of a single sentence she'd directed at Touko-chan back then.

"Yumi-chan, w-what happened!? Huh, Sachiko too!?"

Rei-sama was the first to call out when the door opened.

"What on earth – "

Followed by the seldom seen sight of Shimako-san looking surprised.

"First of all, you should come inside."

"Right. Neither of you are wearing your coats and it's freezing out here. How long have you been like that?"

Noriko-chan and Yoshino-san. In her foggy brain, Yumi clearly noted each of her friends as they appeared in succession. They were distinct but somehow distant. It was just like watching a scene in a TV drama.

That's how it went.

That evening, as the Red Rose soeurs clung to each other and sobbed, their friends noticed the disturbance and quickly ushered them back into the Rose Mansion.

"… Here you go."

Noriko-chan placed a hot cup of tea down in front of them. It looked to be freshly prepared, even though they'd largely finished tidying up after the party. She heard Yoshino-san remarking to Shimako-san that it was a good thing they hadn't emptied out the kettle yet. Rei-sama was back in the room. Tsutako-san and Nana-chan were still there as well.

"Sorry for making you worry."

Sachiko-sama was the first to speak. Yumi followed her onee-sama by simply bowing her head, to indicate that she felt the same. She couldn't speak just yet. She felt that the tears which had finally stopped would come flooding back if given the slightest chance.

"It's really not a big deal."

Apart from her red eyes and nose, Sachiko-sama looked as dignified as ever as she prefaced her explanation with that statement.

"Yumi offered her rosary to Touko-chan."

At which point everyone cried out, "Wha!?" simultaneously. It was clearly not the reaction of people who had heard something that was "not a big deal."

"And was refused."

"–"

There was no shouting this time. But neither was there dead silence, nor a "whuu" or "haa," instead there was the hard to represent in words sound of multiple overlapping intakes of breath.

They were two female high-school students that had been sobbing, not babies or toddlers, so everyone must have expected there was a reasonable explanation, but it still seemed to be quite a shock for them to actually hear it.

"That's all."

After Sachiko-sama's concluding remarks, Noriko-chan quietly mumbled, "No way."

"Noriko. Be careful what you say."

Shimako-san cautioned her, like a rebuke.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't mean that Rosa Chinensis wasn't telling the truth."

Noriko-chan explained, and Sachiko-sama smiled at her.

"I know. You were simply trying to say that it seems unbelievable, right? But, it's the truth."

The truth. Yumi closed her eyes and chewed on that phrase.

In any event, Touko-chan had refused the rosary that Yumi had offered her. No matter how she tried to spin it, that "truth" would not change.

"There isn't really much to report, since, in the end, she was refused. But seeing how worried you were, I thought it was better to tell you. Besides, there's something I'd like to request of all of you."

"Request?"

Everyone other than Sachiko-sama, including Yumi, looked confused.

"That's right, a request. Could you please leave the matter between Yumi and Touko-chan alone for a little while?"

"Leave it alone … ?"

Rei-sama asked, acting as their representative.

"Don't commiserate with Yumi or criticize Touko-chan. Please just watch over them from a distance. Because this is their problem."

"Don't commiserate with Yumi-chan or criticize Touko-chan?"

"Of course, I'll be doing the same too."

Sachiko-sama announced, and Rei-sama laughed.

"Well if that's what you're doing as her onee-sama, then we couldn't possibly butt in."

When she'd finished laughing, she looked at the others and said, "Alright?"

"Understood."

Yoshino-san and the White Rose soeurs agreed, as did Tsutako-san and Nana-chan. Leaving aside Tsutako-san for now, while Nana-chan may not have fully grasped the situation, she probably couldn't say that it had absolutely no relevance to her future.

"We don't need someone who would turn down Yumi-san."

Yoshino-san cried out. Her expression was angry but there was a little glimmer in the corner of her eyes. Rei-sama said, "Enough," and pressed her cheek against her petit soeur's face. Even though she'd agreed with what Sachiko-sama had said only moments ago, Yoshino-san couldn't stop herself from saying it.

"Surely."

Shimako-san said quietly.

"You haven't given up, right Yumi-san?"

Yumi nodded languidly.

That's right.

Sachiko-sama had said to "watch over them" because this wasn't over yet.

They all finally started to get a move on when the patrolling security guard came by and urged them to hurry on home.

They formed a number of loose, flowing groups and walked along the gloomy ginkgo tree-lined path. There had been something of a solemn atmosphere as they closed up the Rose Mansion, but now there was bright laughter bursting out here and there.

But this in no way meant that they'd all completely forgotten that Yumi had been rejected by Touko-chan. This was fully understood by Yumi.

At her grandfather's funeral, when the old men that were her grandfather's friends paid their respects, they said, "He hated being morbid, you know," and laughed. It felt incredibly similar to that.

They were forcing themselves to laugh and create a cheery atmosphere.

So Yumi laughed too.

Because her feelings weren't dead yet. She couldn't be disheartened.

When they stopped to pray at the statue of Maria-sama, Yumi prayed for Touko-chan.

– That Touko-chan wasn't crying.

Not that they would become soeurs. But that she wasn't crying.

Yumi had such good friends beside her. But right now, Touko-chan was all alone.

Earlier, she would have walked this path alone.

There were surely plenty of people that cared for Touko-chan, but there wouldn't be anyone near her now that would call out to her and make her laugh.

Throughout this, Yumi felt the warmth of her onee-sama's hand.

This was probably why she couldn't shake the feeling that Touko-chan was hurting much more than she was.

Part 2

Three days later, a written invitation arrived.

She spotted the unusual sight of a letter addressed to her amongst the letters she took out of the post box. Wondering who it was from, she flipped it over and written there as the sender's name was "Ogasawara Sachiko."

Now that she'd seen that name, there was no way she could wait until she got back to her room. She took the scissors out of the drawer above the shoe rack, then, taking care not to damage the contents, Yumi opened the letter from her onee-sama and read it where she stood.

Like a few-days-late Christmas card, the message in the red envelope was word processed and simple, like so:

 We're holding a women-only New Year's Party. Please join us, if you feel so inclined.
 
 When           :   From Noon on January 2.
 Where:         :   The Ogasawara Residence
 What to Bring  :   Sleepwear, any food or drink you'd like.
 
 * The plan is for an over-night event, but you're free to arrive late or leave early.

"A New Year's Party at Sachiko-sama's house."

From memory, it was on the second of January this year that the former Rosa Gigantea, Satou Sei-sama, had tricked her and dragged her along to Sachiko-sama's house.

Every year, Sachiko-sama's father, Tooru-oji-sama, and grandfather were out of the house on the second day of the year, so the house staff were given the day off too. Thinking that Sachiko-sama and her mother, Sayako-oba-sama, might be lonely by themselves, they'd barged in to liven the place up. Although Sei-sama probably hadn't anticipated Kashiwagi-san having the same thoughts and beating them there.

Sei-sama had told Yumi that she should go and visit them from time to time after she'd graduated. So maybe it would have been better if Yumi had gone out on a limb and asked Sachiko-sama, "Is it alright if I come and visit during New Year's?"

But she hadn't been thinking that clearly recently, due to the shock she'd received.

Still. What kind of a pathetic petit soeur would she be if she needed someone to force her to go to her onee-sama's house to offer a New Year's greeting? Although this time she was taking advantage of the invitation extended by Sachiko-sama. She had to be more proactive.

"Even so."

Yumi smiled at the words "women-only," and felt relieved. Since it seemed that Sachiko-sama was going out of her way to let her know that her rival, Kashiwagi-san, wouldn't be coming.

"But still … "

Why such an impersonal invitation, like for a school reunion? If she was just inviting Yumi, a single telephone call would have been better –

Yumi put the invitation back in the envelope as she walked back to her room. She glanced at the telephone in the living room on her way past, and as she did it started ringing, like it'd been aiming at her.

"Hello."

She said, picking up the receiver in disbelief.

"Ah, Yumi-san?"

"Huh?"

Naturally, Sachiko-sama would never talk in such a casual manner. However, that "Yumi-san?" was in a voice she heard all the time.

"… Uh, this is the Fukuzawa household, right?"

The person on the other end of the phone line corrected themselves.

"That's right. And you must be Shimazu-san, no?"

"Wha~at. For a moment I thought it was your mother and I panicked."

Correct, that was Yoshino-san.

"You know how your voice always sounds a bit different over the phone."

Yoshino-san laughed it off, sounding a bit embarrassed, before she said, "By the way," and jumped into the main topic.

"I got a letter from Sachiko-sama."

"Ah. Now I get it."

Yumi said.

"What, what do you get?"

"Sachiko-sama sent a written invitation to everyone."

With the same contents. Yumi finally understood why the invitation had seemed so impersonal. Sachiko-sama was the type of person who would have handwritten an invitation if the situation had been different.

"You're going, right Yumi-san?"

"Yep. Although it's only just arrived, so I haven't asked my parents yet. But that's the plan."

"Then I'll go too."

"Really?"

Before she could ask, "What about the marathon?" Yoshino-san said:

"Since I went to Hakone to watch the marathon relay at the start of the year, it feels like I've beaten that demon – I don't have the cravings to watch it. Well, even if I hadn't beaten that demon, if I had to choose between the Hakone marathon and a New Year's party at the Ogasawara house, I'd probably pick the New Year's party."

"What about Rei-sama?"

"Why wouldn't she be going?"

"She's studying for exams, right?"

"Well, by that reasoning, what about Sei-sama last year?"

"Mmm."

Still, the counter-example to "that reasoning" was Mizuno Youko-sama, who'd been in the same position last year and hadn't been able to attend because she'd been taking a prep course over the winter break. Incidentally, Torii Eriko-sama would have been in the same position with regards to entrance exams, but she'd spent her time relaxing in Hawaii.

So then, which type was Rei-sama?

"Well, Rei-chan can do whatever she wants. But since it'll be my first visit to the Ogasawara estate, I'll have to ask her all sort of questions – like how to get there, or what to bring."

"Hahaha. I don't know if that'll help or not."

"Count on it. Well then, see ya."

"Yeah."

Hanging up the phone, she suddenly laughed.

She absentmindedly thought that it had been one year since then. She didn't know whether she should prefix the "one year" with "only" or "already."

She put the handset back and took a single step towards the staircase before the phone started ringing again.

It was probably Yoshino-san. But it felt a bit soon for her to be calling back to give an update if Rei-sama had just arrived home. It was so fast that she must have pressed the redial button immediately after hanging up.

"Hello."

Yumi answered the phone, thinking that Yoshino-san might have forgotten to ask something.

"Ah, is this the Fukuzawa household?"

"Yes."

She heard a composed voice, completely different from the one a while ago.

"I'm Lillian's Girls Academy high school second-year Toudou Shimako and – "

"Shimako-san!?"

"Yumi-san? Gokigenyou. Is now a good time to talk?"

It was rare for her to get a phone call from Shimako-san, but Yumi immediately knew the reason behind the call.

"Actually, I've received a letter from Sachiko-sama."

Part 3

Yumi's parents gave her permission to attend the Ogasawara's New Year's party surprisingly easily, given that she'd intruded on them for New Year's this year (although that was almost a year ago so it felt more like last year) and visited their holiday house.

It was after the Fukuzawa family dinner.

"Still, I feel guilty that we're always the ones imposing on them. Why don't you invite Sachiko-sama around to our house next time?"

Her mother said while wiping down the dinner table, then added, "Although it's a bit small," at the end. But since Sachiko-sama didn't really like her overly large house, she'd be fine in that regard. Sachiko-sama had once told her that she longed for a home where she would know where the rest of her family was. Although if she were to tell her parents that, they wouldn't believe her and say, "She's just being humble."

"Hey, you know you can't come, Yuuki."

Clearing the chopstick holder and nabe pot stand, Yumi called out to her brother who was walking ahead of her, carrying the nabe pot to the kitchen. Incidentally, tonight's main dish had been oden.

"Why? Because I went last time?"

Yuuki looked back at her.

"Yeah … something like that."

Sort of. She was just a bit concerned that it might follow the same pattern of events as last year.

"I won't go."

Yuuki suddenly laughed, temporarily setting the earthenware pot down on the gas range.

"I only went because Kashiwagi-sempai forced me to accompany him there."

Yumi's heart went "thump" when she heard the name "Kashiwagi" mentioned. It wasn't the usual heart flutters that were implied by that phrase, just a simple "thump." It didn't go as far as a "stab," but it was basically a light "stab."

As her rival for Sachiko-sama, Yumi had various thoughts about Kashiwagi-san. But right now, the thing that most stuck in her mind was the promise he made about the Touko-chan incident.

(If you ask me about it again, I'll answer you.)

Remembering this, her heart went "thump" again.

But whether it was a "thump" or a "stab," if Yuuki noticed he'd surely be suspicious. Consequently, Yumi put the chopstick holder and the pot stand back in their positions and said, "I know," then left the kitchen with her back still turned to her brother.

However.

"I wonder if Kashiwagi-san will be there as well."

She returned to the living room where her mother was waiting with starry eyes. Apparently the conversation between the two children had reached her ears.

"I'm not sure … "

Yumi could only offer a vague answer because she really didn't know, but her mother stubbornly persisted.

"He's Sachiko-sama's cousin, right?"

Oh boy. For various reasons, Kashiwagi-san had been visiting the Fukuzawa house quite frequently of late, and her fad-following mother had become quite taken with him.

"But Kashiwagi-kun's a man."

Her father muttered disinterestedly, his eyes fixed on the newspaper's TV listing.

"The New Year's party is supposed to be women-only."

Despite seeming disinterested, her father had fully grasped the contents of the written invitation. Women only. That was quite important.

"Then I suppose they might have invited Touko-chan?"

Touko-chan. That name made Yumi's heart go "thump" too. She hadn't yet told her family about Touko-chan's refusal.

Touko-chan had said, "Your family talks about everything, Yumi-sama," but there were some things that were surprisingly hard to discuss.

"I don't know. Sachiko-sama may or may not have asked her."

"Honestly, Yumi-chan, you really don't do any intelligence gathering, do you?"

Her mother said, "You're her little sister." Sure, she might have been Sachiko-sama's little sister at school, but it wasn't like they lived together, so there were things she wasn't informed of.

"It was a written invitation, so we haven't talked yet."

She'd spoken to Yoshino-san and Shimako-san on the phone, but not yet with her onee-sama.

"Huh, why not?"

"Well, I thought I'd reply over the phone after I got permission from you and dad."

"Don't you think you're being a bit too serious, Yumi-chan? Say, are you feeling alright?"

"…"

Her mother was worried that she was being too serious. Yumi headed to her room, thinking that her parents were a bit off-kilter. Well, maybe it was because she'd been raised by parents like them that she became the daughter she was.

"She's fine. Although I have my doubts about a high school student who can only use the phone with their parents' supervision too. Yumi's different."

Yuuki surreptitiously advised their mother, seeing Yumi grab the extra handset before she headed up the stairs.

Indeed. It wasn't a secret phone call, she just wanted to be alone, with no-one around her, when she made it. But it was a bit annoying that her brother had seen through her like that.

When she got back to her room she called the Ogasawara's house and Sachiko-sama answered.

"I thought I'd get a lot of telephone calls today."

Ah-hah. Since the invitation should have been arriving about now, it looked as though she'd been prepared for people ringing to accept or decline, or ask any other questions.

"Rei called me a little while ago, to say that she and Yoshino-chan were coming. It looks like they've had enough of Hakone."

So the topic of Hakone had come up between Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama, just like it had with her and Yoshino-san. New Year's for Yoshino-san was watching the marathon relay. Because it had such a huge impact, everyone seemed to have input that as an annual event, even if she'd only gone once to see what it was like.

On that note, summer for Yoshino-san was climbing Mt. Fuji. Same thing as above.

"So, how about you, Yumi?"

Asked by Sachiko-sama if she'd attend, Yumi gave a big nod, still gripping the handset tightly.

"Of course I'll be there."

"I'm so glad. Just for you, I gave serious thought to crossing out "if you feel so inclined" and writing "no matter what.""

Sachiko-sama laughed splendidly over the phone.

Just for you, no matter what, she said.

Just for you. Just for you. Repeating this over and over in her mind, Yumi blushed on her own. It looked as though making the call in her room had been the right decision after all.

After discussing a couple of things related to the event, Sachiko-sama said:

"I sent an invitation to Touko-chan too."

Since she was completely unprepared for this, when Yumi heard Touko-chan's name her heart responded with a "thump" once more.

"… Is that so?"

Yumi mumbled. She thought that Sachiko-sama might start to worry if she remained silent, since she couldn't see her face over the phone.

"It was my own decision. I'm sorry I didn't inform you earlier, Yumi."

"No."

On reflection, this was probably something she wanted to ask about far more than what to bring, or how to get to Sachiko-sama's house from the train station.

"She might not come."

"Yes."

"But even so, I thought it was better to invite her. You may still be suffering some shock from the rejection, but I felt that if we did nothing then Touko-chan would gradually drift further and further away."

Indeed. Given how harshly Touko-chan had spoken, it seemed unlikely that she would take any action. Even if they didn't end up as soeurs, Yumi felt they'd both be worse off if they remained apart like this.

By retracting the soeur offer, perhaps she could build a healthy relationship with Touko-chan, like she currently had with Kanako-chan. Although now that she'd realized her feelings, it was incredibly sad to think that she'd never call Touko-chan her petit soeur. But it was much better than keeping her back turned to her.

Not giving up was important, but sometimes, after considering the other person's feelings, giving up was the more meaningful choice.

But even so, come on, onee-sama.

"Are you shocked? Because I asked everyone to watch over you from afar, but I was the first to meddle."

Sachiko-sama said, like she was reading Yumi's mind.

"Are you a mind-reader too, onee-sama?"

"I'm not a mind-reader. But, I am your onee-sama."

Onee-sama.

"So it's okay, for me."

To meddle. What she was saying was unreasonable, but it was said with such self-confidence that it was strangely persuasive.

Yumi giggled.

Saying that it was okay.

Just for her onee-sama.

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