Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume29 Chapter6 1 (section)

===<noinclude>Miracle Worker. </noinclude>Part 1.=== 

Contrary to the expectations that Yumi had held when she left her house about 30 minutes earlier than usual, the bus she caught was quite crowded.

Not only that, today was the day of the third-years' send-off.

The entire four hours usually reserved for Saturday classes had been allocated to the send-off.

(Hmm)

Yumi surveyed her fellow early-birds as she held on to a strap and swayed back and forth with everyone else. Since they wouldn't need their textbooks or notebooks, only a handful of students were carrying their school bags. Consequently, you may expect there would be a bit more room inside the bus, but that was not the case. Instead, most people were carrying things like sports bags, or paper bags, or packages wrapped in cloth – everything except a school bag, which contributed to the claustrophobic feeling.

Almost all of the students arriving early were either performing in the third-years' send-off, or exhibiting something they had made. Therefore, it stood to reason that they would have a lot of luggage. Squeezed amongst them were costumes, props, and exhibition pieces that had finally been finished.

(Come to think of it, I was like that last year.)

Last year Yumi had destroyed her health on the day before the third-years' send-off, so she hadn't caught a bus 30 minutes earlier than usual, but she had carried a paper bag holding a cloth-wrapped package to school. Of course, that wasn't for the third-years' send-off, but for the Roses' farewell party which was held after it.

(For the Roses' farewell party … )

After thinking that much, Yumi suddenly remembered. In fact, she may have even cried out in surprise. One of the students standing nearby looked doubtfully in her direction.

(Damn it. I completely forgot!)

What she had forgotten to do was to talk to Touko and Noriko-chan about the party performances.

(No, wait.)

Hadn't they decided not to tell them about it? Yumi reconsidered. It seemed like they had decided that it would be bad to make the first-years worry about it, since they were already trying their hardest. But was that where the conversation had ended?

(That's right.)

Someone said that the third-years might suddenly request a performance. And they'd thought it would be unfair on the first-years to make them perform without any warning.

(So what happened after that?)

The first-years had returned, and the conversation was shelved – 

After that, they'd completely forgotten about it.

(Ohhhhh. Really!?)

It seemed unbelievable that they would have done that. Had they really forgotten? Or had Yumi purged that memory to help her cope. She wracked her brain trying to reel in any additional memories, but there was absolutely nothing after the shelving of the conversation.

(What should I do? No matter how talented Noriko-chan and Touko are, telling them today and expecting them to perform on the same day is just impossible.)

The blood rushed to Yumi's head, possibly aided by the overcrowding in the bus.

(Calm down.)

At any rate, she had to calm down first.

Panicking wasn't going to help her come up with a plan. First of all, she should go to the Rose Mansion and discuss this with Shimako-san and Yoshino-san. If they put their minds together, they should be able to come up with a plan.

After finally getting off the bus at Lillian's, Yumi was taking a deep breath of fresh air when she was tapped on the shoulder.

"Onee-sama."

Obviously, the only one who would call Yumi that was Touko.

(Aaargh, it's her.)

Controlling her impulse to flee, Yumi turned around. Then.

(...Huh?)

Something was odd. There was no doubting that it was Touko standing before her, but there was something about her that was different to usual.

"I saw you getting on the same bus as me, onee-sama, but we were a fair way apart so I didn't call out to you."

Then, finally noticing the look on Yumi's face, Touko said, "Ahh," and pushed her hair back behind her ears.

"This?"

That.

"Right. That, your hair."

Yumi pointed.

Touko's trademark hairstyle, the two vertical rolls, or drills, or cones, or spirals, were not there. Well, even if the hair rolls weren't there, it wasn't as though the hair itself had gone away.

"I didn't coil it this morning."

Right. That.

"Since my character in today's play has her hair down."

She had changed her hairstyle because of the character she's playing. Well, that made sense. Actually, Touko had changed her hairstyle for the school festival play too. But, back then, it had been a part of her costume, so was easier to accept. Seeing Touko wearing her school uniform without her vertical rolls, however, was like looking at a completely different person.

Touko spoke next:

"Shouldn't we be going soon?"

"Huh?"

"That's a surprise. It seems kind of a waste to go to all the trouble of arriving early only to spend that time standing around talking at the bus stop."

Hearing this, Yumi looked around and saw that the students that had been on the bus with her were no longer around. Looking up at the pedestrian bridge, there was a line of girls clad in blackish school uniforms. If Yumi hadn't been surprised by Touko's hairdo, they would probably be a part of that queue.

Touko walked off, so Yumi followed her. Touko would probably be angry if she found out, but Yumi  was intrigued by her unusual appearance.

Touko's straight hair swayed across her back. It wasn't as long as Yoshino-san or Sachiko-sama's, but about the same length as Shimako-san's. The hair that she usually coiled up was surprisingly long when let down. That may have been common knowledge, but it was impressive to see it first-hand. 

Touko was also carrying a large bag. It was a black, nylon overnight bag, the kind of bag you'd use when going on holidays. The zipper running down the middle was firmly closed, so there was no way of knowing what was inside. Probably her costume or some props for the play. It looked quite heavy.