Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume3 Chapter2 1

2008-10-05T01:12:15Z

97.100.239.223: /* <noinclude>The White Rose. </noinclude>Part 1. */

===<noinclude>The White Rose. </noinclude>Part 1.===

What is this feeling? I asked myself.

No one answered. It wasn't a relatively cool relationship that you could just call "friends," but because they were the same gender, it probably couldn't be called "love," either.

This nameless feeling swelled day by day, and it asserted itself to the point where my little body couldn't suppress it anymore.

Please, get me out of here.

I need to tell Kahori how I feel.

In the spring of her second year of high school, Sei found herself in the same class as Kahori.

In the beginning, she could remember feeling a bit of repulsion over how opposite to herself Kahori was, but gradually it transformed into a feeling of Kahori supplementing the areas she lacked, and so she became a bigger and bigger part of her life.

I want to be with her forever, Sei wished. But after graduating high school, Kahori was to enter a convent.

The adults worried about the growing intimacy of the two girls and pushed ahead the convent discussions in secret. Despaired by their future, and losing faith in adults, they took each other's hand on Christmas and left on an aimless journey.

Stepping out of the terminal station, Sei and Kahori walked into the forest and decided they couldn't be separated in heaven, and so they took sleeping pills.

But they weren't able to die together.

By the time Sei woke up, Kahori's hand, which she was supposed to have gripped firmly, was no longer there. As she stared up at the white hospital ceiling, Sei lamented losing something far more important than herself.

- that would be a concise summary of "Forest of Thorns."

"What, what a depressing story!"

Yumi, rolled up on her bed, reached out to her box of tissues placed by her pillow. First, she wiped away the tears that had flooded down her face, then blew her nose.

The image of a forest, with white mist rising from the snow, remained in her soul.

Forbidden love. You could summarize it like that and that would be the end of it, but on top of that, it cleverly used psychological descriptions of the characters, so it invited the reader to place themselves right into the story. Yumi found a little bit of the story overlapped with her relationship with Sachiko-sama, so while she cheered for Sei, she also couldn't shake the feeling that a "bad" ending was in store while reading.

About two hours, it was the first time she'd ever read a novel this quickly. She'd begun as soon as she came home, and it was already somewhat dark outside.

"Yuuumi, can I come in?"

Right after knocking, her brother, Yuuki, walked in.

"Woah, why don't you have any lights on?"

[[Image:MM_v03_03.jpg|thumb]]
And with that, he turned on the lights without waiting for a response. When he saw her older sister's face, still plainly showing signs of fresh tears, he became speechless.

"You're supposed to wait for a 'yes, you may,' before you walk in."

Yumi said, as she sniffled into her tissue. She didn't know how her brother saw her, but she still tried to act like a lady.

"What… what happened, if I may ask?"

Yuuki asked, probably after mustering every ounce of courage he could. Well, he was a boy, after all. If it came down to it, he was willing to try to help her out.

"A novel, I was reading. Sad story."

"Ohh, whatever, then."

She felt a bit conflicted watching him look visibly relieved, then take a deep breath. Maybe she should have scared him a little more.

"What is it?"

"Could you lend me your archaic dictionary? You have a different one from mine."

Mine doesn't seem that good, he said, waving around his own dictionary. Do these things differ that much with different publishers?

"Fine with me."

Yumi took her dictionary from her shelf and handed it to Yuuki. "Here." After taking it out of its case and then flipping through some pages, Yuki nodded, satisfied.

"Can you let me borrow it until tomorrow?"

"No."

She wasn't actually teasing her brother or anything. But Yuuki pouted, anyways.

"Why?"

"I have my archaic test tomorrow."

After hearing Yumi's response, Yuuki said "are you stupid?" without changing his expression.

"You have an exam tomorrow, but you're reading a book and crying?"

Well, it was the truth, so she couldn't give a retort. Yes, brother, you're right. But big sis isn't strong enough to not read a novel that's lying around her room.

"Well, I don't say anything other than, let's study. We haven't been granted special genes that let us naturally score 100s."

Pat pat. Yuuki patted Yumi's shoulder, like he was talking to a child ten years his junior. Hey, it might not be that big of a difference, but I was born earlier than you, Yumi wanted to point out, but she didn't dislike the feeling of being protected, so she let herself feel like a little sister.

Ahh, if only this were Sachiko-sama instead of Yuuki, she thought.

"Sounds like you're having fun at school, too."

"Why?"

"It sounds like you have someone close to you that easily gets 100s."

"You too, big sis."

"…"

Indeed there is. And plus, hers is an exquisite beauty and even has an incredible house, take that! -but she knew if she said that out loud, she'd be the one who'd be "taking" it, so she kept quiet.

"Well, everyone has their own traits."

Yuuki mumbled, trying to cheer up his sister before she felt down.

"So what's ours?"

"… Being born with faces that remind of you a baby raccoon, and natural-born ditzes."

"What's that?"

"My senior told me that."

"What part of Yuuki is a natural-born ditz?"

"Yumi's even more of a ditz than I, so you just don't notice."

"But the baby raccoon part suits you more."

"…"

"…"

"Let's stop, the childish argument is even sadder."

"Time spent on sibling fights is time better spent on studying."

"Yup."

"You can take the dictionary, I'll use Yuuki's."

And so she acted out the "good big sister" part. Siblings licking each other's wounds. It feels a bit awkward. Like an old drama you can only see through re-runs.

"Sorry."

Yuuki left the room. But, within five seconds of the door being shut, the warm, homely feeling was dried faster than an air conditioner at work.

"It's dinner, you two."

At their mothers' shout from downstairs, the two hungry children joyfully answered, "Okay-," leapt out their doors and bounced down the stairs in a me-first way.

Raccoon face and natural-born ditz. Maybe we should add "gluttonous" to the list of traits, Yumi thought.

*****

It was about half-past-nine in the evening when Yoshino-san called.

"I'm sorry for calling at night, I just wanted to hear someone's opinion."

"What happened?"

Though, as she asked, she imagined it would be about Rosa Gigantea. If that were the case, it meant Yoshino-san read "Forest of Thorns" instead of studying for exams, too.

"It's about Rei-chan."

"What?"

For a moment she thought she heard Rei and Sei wrong. But Yoshino-san wouldn't call Rosa Gigantea "Sei-chan," plus it would be weird calling a novel character by –chan, so it couldn't have been Sei from "Forest of Thorns."

"What about Rei-sama."

"… She said she's not going to involve herself with the matter anymore."

I wonder why, seemed to say Yoshino-san, whose voice was trembling a bit.

"Why… I don't know. That would be my question to you, Yoshino-san."

"Alright… then it's not just me. I'm just so confused right now, I was worried I was being insensitive or something."

"Calm down, Yoshino-san. What do you mean by Rei-sama not going involve herself? Do you mean she's going to put off reading 'Forest of Thorns' until after the exams?"

"She already read the novel."

"She read it?"

Rei-sama apparently also lacked self-restraint with these things.

"But, she said she'll act like she never read it. And she won't have anything to do with the rumors anymore."

"I don't get it. –Oh."

While scratching her head, Yumi suddenly remembered.

"What, Yumi-san?"

"Sachiko-sama was also hesitant. Even though she bought the book, she was wondering whether to actually read it or not."

"Sachiko-sama, too?"

"… Yes."

I wonder why? The two of them became silent, still gripping the receivers.

Even if Sachiko-sama and Rei-same both became passive for the same reason, there was no hint as to why they'd suddenly changed their attitudes.

"By the way."

Yoshino-san gathered herself again and asked.

"Yumi-san, did you already read it?"

It, would definitely mean "Forest of Thorns."

"I read it. Yoshino-san?"

"Same. What did you think?"

What did you think? was posed by Yoshino-san more as whether Rosa Gigantea might have written it rather than what Yumi thought about the novel, itself. Like a sort of tacit understanding, where you have a feel for someone even if you don't actually have them in front of you.

No clues could be found in the author's column for "Forest of Thorns." Actually it was basically a blank page. Of course, it's not a misprint, but a deliberate hiding of her identity.

"I don't know. I think the protagonist Sei is a bit different from Rosa Gigantea."

But rather than an "autobiography" it was an "autobiographical novel," so even if the frameworks were to be the same, the meat might be dramatized.

"Personally, when I was reading it, I remembered that Rosa Gigantea was a bit more like that, rather than her current, loose self."

Yoshino-san is Rei-sama's cousin, so they talked about school a lot. Especially last year, when they were split up between high school and middle school, Rei-sama had a bucket-full of stories about the Yamayurikai and the Roses, so she told Yoshino-san even more stories. So, obviously, Yoshino-san would find out a lot about the Roses-.

"These things tend to burn an image more on the listener than the speaker. Because the person who doesn't know reality might leap ahead with their imagination."

"Yes?"

"Rosa Gigantea- well, she was Rosa Gigantea en bouton back then, but I thought she was a scary person. So this April, when I actually saw her in person, I thought it was a totally different person."

"…"

That squiggly, cackling person being scary? From what Yoshino-san said, Yumi couldn't help but agree that it sounded like a different person.

"But their names were identical. Satou Sei."

Maybe Yoshino-san thinks Suga Sei is Rosa Gigantea? Because Rosa Gigantea from a year ago seemed similar to the main character of "Forest of Thorns."

But, that would mean Rosa Gigantea attempted a lovers' suicide, then somehow ended up being the sole survivor of that. It was hard to believe that would have happened to Rosa Gigantea just last year.

"At the very least, Rei-chan and Sachiko-sama might have thought Rosa Gigantea was the main character. And so they decided to stay back."

"… Maybe."

Even if they didn't know everything, as high school freshmen, they might have known a bit about what happened last year. And because they had made the decision to do so, with a greater understanding of what happened, as their little sisters, it felt right that they, too, would drop it.

She felt like she was withering away.

"What are we doing?"

The determination they had during the day had vanished.

"Let's do our best for the last exam."

"… Yeah."

Yoshino-san's voice also sounded a bit let down.

After putting the receiver down, Yumi stared ahead blankly and realized she was beginning to understand.

No matter what, she didn't know anything about Rosa Gigantea. Rosa Gigantea's past, her feelings now, nothing.

So she thought she began to understand, after reading the novel.

There was no way you could comprehend the past by ignoring the Rosa Gigantea of now.

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| Back to [[Maria-sama_ga_Miteru:Volume3_Chapter1_5|Chapter 1 Part 5]]
| Forward to [[Maria-sama_ga_Miteru:Volume3_Chapter2_2|Part 2]]
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Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume3 Chapter1 4

2008-10-05T00:20:32Z

97.100.239.223: /* <noinclude>The semester exam and the paperback. </noinclude>Part 4. */

===<noinclude>The semester exam and the paperback. </noinclude>Part 4.===

By the next day, the rumor had spread like influenza.

The virus had certainly spread throughout the entire class, and if this were a real case of influenza, there would no doubt have been a quarantine.

"Yumi-san, how was your test today?"

Yoshino-san asked, propping her head on her hand.

"Bad. Even though I tried to study, I couldn't get Rosa Gigantea out of my head."

"Same. And then I tried to get some sleep, but I couldn't do that either."

"… Yes."

It was past noon, when the third exam had finally ended.

The two sisters of Boutons had come to the Rose Mansion, even though they had no particular reason to be here, and with no one to see them, they sighed.

Tomorrow would be the last day of exams. So they would usually enjoy their brief respite between exams this afternoon, and also get ready for winter break, by going home and studying for their last exam. But even if they'd gone home, it would have just been a repeat of yesterday, so they'd gathered here. They couldn't study, because the Rosa Gigantea rumors wouldn't leave their minds.

"The upperclassmen aren't coming?"

"Rei-chan… I mean, onee-sama said she would come-"

The rumors were centered more around the first-years, so the second and third-year students didn't seem to pay it as much heed. After all, they were the sort to immediately gather at the Rose Mansion and think of a counter-measure.

"How about Shimako-san?"

Yoshino-san asked Yumi, lifting her head abruptly, like she had just remembered. Because, see, Shimako-san's in Yumi's class.

"By the time I left the classroom, she was gone."

"Oh."

They sighed together, again.

First-years couldn't do anything when push came to shove. They'd only been born one or two years earlier, Rosa Gigantea often said, but that one or two year difference was definitely huge. But even with another two years, she couldn't imagine herself being anything like those super-humans, so people are probably born with different dispositions.

"Mm?"

They heard the dull sounds of feet climbing the stairs. They couldn't tell, at first, but by the time it'd come close, they could hear the unique characteristic of those footsteps.

"I wonder if it's Rei-sama?"

"It could be."

For the inexperienced first-years, even despite knowing that footsteps have a unique characteristic to them, they couldn't actually tell who they belonged to.

The squeaking sound of feet crushing down on the decrepit floors stopped in front of the second-floor salon that Yumi was in, also known as the conference room.

"Is someone there?"

The person who came in through the biscuit-shaped door made her appearance with scarlet roses behind her back (at least, that's how Yumi saw it).

"O, Onee-sama!"

"Oh, Yumi. And Yoshino-chan."

Always the brilliant and cool expression. Yumi's onee-sama, a true, elegant, noble princess, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, entered the room.

"It, it has been a while, onee-sama."

But they'd passed each other in the hallway this morning. But Sachiko-sama smiled, "Indeed," and sat down next to Yumi at the round table.

"And?"

Sachiko-sama straightened her back, intertwined her fingers above the table, and asked.

"What are you two trying to do?"

Yumi and Yoshino-san both asked, "Huh?" Speaking of which, what was Sachiko-sama doing here, too?

"I was thinking about going home, but Rei stopped me in the hallway. And she told me to go to the Rose Mansion."

"And that Rei-sama?"

"I'm not really sure, but she was caught by some first-years."

Like background music to Sachiko-sama's words, they could hear the "grush, grush" sound of someone climbing the stairs. This time it was no doubt Rei-sama.

"Sorry for being late."

Rei-sama appeared with her very-short front hair disheveled, making her forehead bare. Because there were almost no students left, she'd apparently run from the hallways.

"I wish you would be a bit more quiet."

Sachiko-sama muttered to herself, and Yoshino-san wiped Rei-sama's drenched face with a handkerchief.

"I stopped by the Milk Hall, but they don't have a whole lot of supplies right now, so they were sold out."

But Rei-sama placed a cute bear-symbol pouch on the table.

"What is that?"

Yoshino-san asked.

"A first-year gave it to me just now. Handmade snacks, apparently, let's eat it together."

Yumi was the only one that squealed, kyaa.

"I'll pour tea, then."

And she stood up quickly. To be honest, she'd been hungry for quite some time. She intended to go home right after exams, so she hadn't thought to bring any lunch.

"Making cupcakes during exam time."

Yoshino-san looked troubled.

Ah. Because Rei-sama received those cupcakes. Which meant, of course, the patissier had to be a big fan of Rei-sama. As her sœur you end up being jealous. She probably didn't want to say it, but Yoshino-san had to have been a bit hungry, too. So this had to be a dilemma.

But when they re-started the meeting after distributing tea, Yoshino-san seemed to have completely forgotten the circumstances involving the cakes, as she happily gobbled them up. It might have been because she was bothered far more about Rosa Gigantea's rumors.

"I don't actually read everything by Cosmos Books, so I can't say for sure."

Rei-sama began.

"But I haven't read anything like that, so it's probably a new release."

"When did the new books come out?"

Sachiko-sama inquired.

"Today. It's the sixteenth of every month."

"Today!?"

Yoshino-san and Yumi both stood up.

"If you intend to go to the university book store, it's futile. They were sold out."

With Rei-sama's one statement, they both sat back down. Hmm, she's reading them completely.

"They only order one copy each of Cosmos Book releases. And since apparently a high school student waited for the store to open, and bought it then, there were a number of students that dashed out between exams."

"How powerful."

Yoshino-san mumbled, exasperated. Even though she was just about to dash out, herself.

"So we have no leads?"

"But, Yumi-chan."

Rei-sama reached into her bag, like she was waiting for the chance to do so.

"Huh?"

It was a book exactly like the ones she saw at the library with Tsutako-san yesterday. –Right, Cosmos Books.

"But, Rei. You said they were sold out?"

Sachiko-sama elegantly tilted her head to the side.

"So I bought a different book that was released today."

"Gosh, Rei-chan, you did your own shopping instead?"

Yoshino-san was so exasperated she forgot "onee-sama" and polite speech.

"No. Well, I'm going to read it later, but…"

Rei-sama found the leaflet tucked inside the book.

"'Cosmos News'?"

Is how the title, in elaborate decorative font, read on what would count as the front cover of the quad-folded leaflet. Rei-sama nodded, "Yup."

That was a "news" leaflet detailing new publications, quick notes by authors, and other such introductions.

"After all, how do you think people find books without knowing their titles?"

"I don't know…"

Well, she said that, but it wasn't actually a question.

"And that's where 'Cosmos News' comes in."

Rei-sama kept talking, engrossed, but without any offense, Yumi still only saw a handsome man. She would definitely be so stylish in a Hanadera uniform, but given that she loved shoujo novels this much, it definitely would feel a bit weird.

"The new publications summaries, see, there're only a few, but they are listed."

"Ah, that's true."

Everyone looked at where she pointed.

- "Forest of Thorns" by Suga Sei –
Were those months spent at school an illusion-?
Sei shut everything inside the forest of thorns that was her soul.
The anticipated new novelist, a shocking autobiographical tale!

"So that's why."

Sachiko-sama whispered. But Yumi had no idea "why." Why would that link to Rosa Gigantea?

"Yumi. Say Rosa Gigantea's name."

Sachiko-sama suddenly posed a question.

"Umm… I think it was Satou-, Satou Sei."

"Right."

Safe. If she couldn't say the Roses' names, Sachiko-sama might go beyond just scolding her.

Right, Rosa Gigantea's name is Satou Sei. For such a flamboyant exterior, her name was actually relatively mundane, so it didn't really stick.

"Ah, Sei is the same."

She noticed that much, but "so what?" she thought. Even if they sounded the same, they were written differently.

Yoshino-san, next to her, didn't seem to understand either, mumbling "Suga Sei" and "Satou Sei" over and over again-.

"Shuga Sei!"

Yoshino-san suddenly shouted, a rarity, along with her sudden understanding.

"I get it. Suga must be Sugar. Sugar, Yumi-san what is sugar?"

Yoshino-san is completely excited.

"Sugar? Would be satou… oh, Satou!?"

So, Suga Sei equals Satou Sei. It was a bit of a rough guess, but it might actually be a good deduction. Suga, Shuga, Sugar, and then Satou.

"But that's not enough to conclude that Rosa Gigantea wrote the novel."

"Right, it's still a stretch. So I wonder if the rumors only began because of that leaflet?"

In stark contrast to the excitable first-years, Sachiko-sama calmly and collectedly kept thinking.

"By which you mean?"

In an effort to at least give appearance, Yumi asked, setting the muscles in her face.

"I haven't read it, so I can't say for sure. … But if the contents of the novel were extremely similar to Rosa Gigantea's past. Then that would be a good way to deduce Rosa Gigantea is Suga Sei."

"Um, but, it was released today, was it not? Then it would be weird my classmates were whispering about it since three or four days ago?"

If it wasn't released yet, they wouldn't know about its contents. And the first-years wouldn't know about Rosa Gigantea's incident last year, either.

"But there's a way to grab these books before the release date."

Rei-sama folded her arms and confidently said.

"Go to the big bookstore around Kanda. They sell books and comics three or four days before the release dates."

"Kanda, you mean Kanda, with the used bookstores?"

"Yes. It's pretty famous."

If that were true, people living in mountainous regions or on small islands had reason to be annoyed. Tokyo is useful… although a person living in Tokyo really shouldn't be admiring that.

"Then, Katsura-san and others bought 'Forest of Thorns' at Kanda or some store like that, and already read it?"

"I don't know who Katsura-san is, but that's probably what happened, I would think? Even if they can't talk about it outright, I'm sure some upperclassmen talked about what happened. Yumi-san, too, if you had a sister two or three years above you, you might have found out about it, you know?"

"But Rei-chan never told me."

Yoshino-san interrupted, somewhat cross.

"I'm only one year ahead of you, I don't really know much, either. I specifically said two or three years, didn't I?"

Umm. You two, I don't think this is the time to be having a lover's quarrel.

While exasperated, Yumi felt a bit envious. After all, there was no way she could act cross to Sachiko-sama.

When she glanced at Sachiko-sama, by chance their eyes met. Yumi immediately became embarrassed, like she was a child that got caught peeping.

"But, it's the middle of exams, it's amazing they'd actually go to Kanda to buy the book, and then even read it."

Yoshino-san smiled, "They must be confident," but that felt a bit wrong. Katsura-san's actions weren't so much confidence but rather-.
"Evasion, isn't it?"

Rei-sama harshly said what Yumi was thinking.
"Evasion?"

Sachiko-sama cocked her head to the side, like she just heard something fascinating. It was unthinkable that someone like Sachiko-sama wouldn't know what "evasion" meant, but Yumi explained, anyways, to keep the conversation moving.

"Evasion, umm. Is a phenomenon when there's something you need to be doing, but you run away by doing something else."

Sachiko-sama responded with an "of course I know that much" look. Rei-sama came in to help.

"These cupcakes are an example. I do it sometimes, too, by knitting."

"What I don't understand is what 'what you need to be doing' is."

"Wait, what-"

That's studying for exams, of course. Excluding Sachiko-sama, the three looked at each other.

(Sachiko-sama, you… do you…)

Yumi's premonition came true.

It wasn't even a joke, Sachiko-sama truly, honestly never studied for exams.

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