Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume3 Chapter8 2 (section)

===<noinclude>The last flower of winter, and then. </noinclude>Part 2.===

When I got home, I called Shiori's dorm.
At first, my mother was too agitated and ranted insults at Shiori, but after a while she seemed to have finished venting and let me return to my room.  I was too tired to care.

Shiori was not at the dorm.  She'd requested a leave of absence two days ago, and hadn't returned since.

I then called the convent at Lillian.  But they told me Shiori hadn't come.  At that point, I had no idea where Shiori could be.  I was at a dead end.  I didn't know how to get in touch with her relatives in Nagasaki.

I just wanted to hear Shiori's bright voice.  Even if she coldly hung up, if I could apologize for making her go through all this, I would have been satisfied.

I called the dorm every day, asking whether Shiori's returned, or if they knew where she went, but I couldn't even find out where she was, much less get in contact with her.  And the closing ceremony in preparation for winter vacation came.

 

I expected it.  My grades were considerably worse than they were during first semester.  At Lillian, we were to have a Mass at noon, and the speaker was a guest Father from outside.  It wasn't obligatory, so we were free to attend or not at our own accord, but I headed toward the sanctuary in the hopes of seeing Shiori.  If she'd come to school, she'd definitely show up at Mass.

I was a lot more discrete than I thought I would be.  The danger of bothering Shiori with anything I did suppressed my wildness.

As I expected, Shiori was at Mass.  She sat near the front, with a serene look.

I took my distance and gazed at her.  I was moved by her peaceful look.  To me, Shiori looked closer to God than the Father.

 

Youko came to my class to invite me to the Rose Mansion.  They were going to have a Christmas party.

"Rei-chan said she baked some cookies.  That might be reason enough to stop by, I think."

"Yes…"

I'll go if I feel like it, I told her, and I left her.

"We'll be waiting."

Youko's voiced seemed to splatter against my back.

Still wearing my indoor shoes, I ran to the sanctuary.  We'd made no promises or anything, but I felt like I would see Shiori there.

Shiori was waiting for me, leaning against the sanctuary.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Shiori looked up when I spoke, and she into my arms surprisingly naturally.

"Shiori?"

I was confused, feeling a mix of happiness and surprise, and I pulled her to the back of the sanctuary, where less people were to come.

And then we kissed, and I don't know if one of us lead the other.  It was like we were communicating to each other our feelings, feelings that were too complex to describe with words.

"I kept thinking of you, when we were apart… even while I was praying, I kept thinking of you.  I didn't know why it turned out like this… and I felt pathetic."

After calming down, Shiori began talking.  About how she'd stayed at the principal's room in the convent during the break.  About how she met with her uncle, who came to Tokyo, and how they spoke about the future.

"The principal figured out what was between us, and she was greatly worried.  She was vehement about me not taking a misstep.  I understood what she tried to say, and I thought I shouldn't be with you, and I promised with her, that I wouldn't see you again, but it was no good."

The dam broke the moment we saw each other.  We were swept along by a great wave, not knowing where we would land.  It took our all to hold onto each other's hand, so that we wouldn't lose sight of each other, no matter where we ended up.

"What's going to happen to us?"

"I don't know."

But we knew we'd be torn apart, at this rate.  We became lonely all of a sudden, and embraced each other tightly.  Feeling each other's warmth and heart beats, we calmed down, eased by knowing we weren't alone.

"Shiori, let's run away."

I must have thought about that, long ago.  That we would have to throw away our current lifestyle and build ourselves a fresh home.

"… What?"

"Don't worry, we'll be okay, I know it.  Let's live together, where no one can interfere."

"Live…?"

"Yes."

I asked Shiori if she didn't want to.  If she didn't want to go with me.

"Of course I wouldn't.  I'll go anywhere with you, Sei.  But-"

I placed my index finger on Shiori's lips.

"We can."

There was no way of knowing if we can or can't without at least trying.  I didn't want to give up before we tried.

"Bring the minimal amount of things you need.  Let's go now."

I wanted to run away with Shiori right there and then.  I knew deep down that if we took too long, our resolve would wither.  Running away from home was something you had to do through momentum, I thought.

But reality came with its own set of problems, like needing to change out of our uniforms to stand out less, and we had to find out where to run, and how much money it would take.  So I had to go home once, too, and grab my cash card.

Paying heed to being seen, we decided to leave the campus separately.  And we'd meet up in the evening with our belongings.

"Okay."

Shiori and I split up behind the sanctuary.

"See you."

Shiori waved her hand slightly and watched me return to the campus.

See you.

I'll never forget that smile.

I whole-heartedly believed that I would see that smile again, a few hours later.  I had no reason to doubt it.

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