Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume11 Chapter1 5 (section)

===<noinclude>The Girl with the Brown Umbrella. </noinclude>Part 5===

It was just before 7 when she got home, and the preparations for dinner were already complete.

"Go change, and rinse your mouth. Dinner will be in five minutes."

Her mother didn't pry, probably thanks to Sei-sama's phone call. There were only a couple of questions related to Katou-san, since they'd imposed on her. Well, the Fukuzawas placed complete faith in their children, so there was no reason she would be doubted.



In the evening, as she was getting her books ready for tomorrow, Yumi was startled when she opened her school case. The textbooks that she'd used that day were in an appalling condition.

"Wah, wah, wah."

For a moment, she couldn't understand what had taken place in there. The topmost part of the books, near the bag's opening, looked like they'd been soaking up water.

She'd completely forgotten about it, but she'd thrown her bag to the ground along with her umbrella when she embraced Sei-sama. It had probably landed in a puddle, and water seeped in through the opening.

"… Ahhh."

Air had got between the pages of her math, modern Japanese, and English grammar textbooks, and from above they looked just like a mille-feuille. 

Perhaps she could have done something to prevent it while they were still wet, but now that they were dry, the only way to get them back to their original condition would be to iron them. The thought of getting them wet a second time floated into her mind, but she dismissed it because it seemed like it would result in an even bigger mess.

The textbooks were used all through second-year, and Yumi was convinced that each time she saw those stains she'd be painfully reminded of the day's events. But there was nothing she could do about that.

The stained textbooks could never be changed back to the way they were before.

Yumi put the textbooks back into position within the bookends on her desk, and readied tomorrow's textbooks. Then, just for a little bit, she couldn't hold back the tears and so they flowed, although there was no clear reason for them.

At that moment, she couldn't hold on.

She couldn't force herself to keep up a cheery facade. Because right now, she was a wounded kitten. She needed her wounds licked, to be protected, and for her exhausted body and soul to be tended to.

She needed to rest, so that some day she would surely gain strength from this.

Leave thinking about tomorrow until tomorrow.

Yumi turned down the lights, crawled into bed, and bid farewell to the many and varied events of that day.