Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume6 Chapter1 4 (section)

===<noinclude>Order. </noinclude>Part 4.===

"And? Can you tell me?"

In the break between fifth and sixth period, Tsutako-san had her glasses and her camera lined up upon her desk, and was using a special cloth to clean them both.

"I'll answer your questions, but it won't be very helpful."

"Maybe so. Why do you think that?"

"Yumi-san, why is it that you always make a mistake in choosing your research partner?"

"Ehh."

"Not 'Ehh.' Yoshino-san and Rei-sama are like real sisters, right?"

"Real sisters."

People that were born to the same parents and live together, she's trying to say. Certainly, the two of them are cousins, so they're blood related, and they live as neighbors on the same premises, so they are quite close.

"Look up 'date' in a dictionary, and what will you find? Well, there will be meanings like a day in a year, or determining the age of something, but the nuance closest to what we're using is 'a promise to meet.'"

Tsutako-san wasn't wearing her glasses, so she had an unfamiliar face. On top of that, her eyes were narrowed, so it felt like she was talking to a different person.

"... date."

d a t e.

To confirm this, she took her Japanese-English dictionary out of her desk and looked up 'date.' Certainly, 'a promise to meet' was there. Incidentally, 'tryst' was alongside it.

Tryst.

Now she needed her regular dictionary.

Yumi was going to get her dictionary, but Tsutako-san lent Yumi hers. The words of the editor were 'When people who are in love with each other secretly meet." This was close to one of Tsutako-san's favorite words, 'rendezvous,' but unfortunately, there wasn't a Japanese-French dictionary nearby, so she gave up at that point.

"Do you understand?"

Having finished wiping her glasses, Tsutako-san smiled with her normal face.

"A date is, essentially, a prearranged time that people will go out. Yumi-san, when you go out with your mother, do you say that's a date? You don't call it that, right?"

"Ahh, I get it. And Yoshino-san and Rei-sama are like family."

"Exactly. And they're on such intimate terms that they almost certainly do go out together.  And sometimes they'd make plans to meet up outside, but they're inoculated to it, so they can't offer any advice to Yumi-san who's got the jitters about her 'first outing with just the two of us.'"

"I see."

Certainly, Yoshino-san had replied with an extremely displeased attitude, and the reason the contents of the reply were of no use to her fitted with what had just been said.

When she asked "What should I do?" the response was "Well, that depends on where you go."
To the question of "So where should I go?" the counterattack was "First, what's your objective for going out?" In Yoshino-san's case, they didn't need to go out to meet each other, so there was no cause to worry about where they should go.

After the first Valentine's Day was the first date.

But Yoshino-san's first with Rei-sama was most likely completed a long time ago, so asking her for advice had been a mistake from the outset. 

"I'd like to do a dry-run beforehand, but the real thing is next Sunday, so I won't have time."

Tsutako-san offered up some kind words, but despite what she said, Yumi was running out of time.

"By the way, Yumi-san, what experience do you have with dates up until now. How about you use that as a frame of reference."

The flash didn't go off, but the shutter clicked.

You usually asked someone before taking their picture, but Tsutako-san didn't play by the rules.

"I guess you could call that shrine visit with Rosa Gigantea a date."

"Ahh, that. I would have loved to have taken hidden camera photos of it. Why wouldn't you say that was a date?"

"I haven't called it that until now."

There must be some dreadful word you call someone who can say 'hidden camera photos' so boldly. She would never be able to relax and enjoy a shrine visit now, instead wondering where a camera might be set up.

"I've got it. I'll tell you the course for the best date ever."

Tsutako-san returned her camera to the desk, and clapped her hands as though she had just been struck by a brilliant idea.

"... I get it too. You plan to lie in wait on this course and secretly take photos of us, right?"

"Hahaha."

It seems like Yumi's inference was right on the mark.

"It's not something to laugh about. Give me a break."

The sixth period would be starting soon, so Yumi turned to go back to her own seat. That's when Tsutako-san grabbed her by the wrist and told her to stop.

"Ahh, wait up."

"What, you've had another brilliant idea?"

"Someone else. It wouldn't hurt you to ask them."

When she heard this, Yumi retraced her steps. Tsutako-san would tell her who would be a suitable advisor on this matter. After Tsutako-san said 'lend me your ears,' Yumi brought her ear close to Tsutako-san's mouth.

"Shimako-san."

"Heh?"

"Try to ask her. She's also having her first date on Sunday."

"Ah....!"

She had completely forgotten.

Shimako-san would somehow have to go on a date with her rival for Rosa Gigantea, Kanina Shizuka-sama.

Of course it would be her first date.

Moreover, the newspaper club would be sweating on their plans.

It would be a good idea to ask her, so Yumi gave a huge nod just as the bell for sixth period rang.