Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume20 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3.===

"..."

Which was worse: the loser being in the victorious school, or the victor being in the losing school? No way can the final game of a tournament come to this resolution. Yoshino couldn't find the words to describe the participants. But, she couldn't have imagined that Lillian would be defeated. In a novel or television drama, the protagonist must, while suffering, disregard failures or accidents, and in the end, obtain victory no matter what. Therefore, it's not that Lillian was defeated. Somewhere in her heart, she believed this.

However, the heroines in this story were the Ohnaka Kendo Club members. It was probably the same as saying: in the preliminaries, Takarazawa High School and Tsukimigaoka High School were defeated. The way you see the world varies greatly depending on where you stand.

Rei-chan won, but Lillian had lost. The win was decided at the point when her comrade, the Second in Command, finished. There had already been three wins: the Vanguard, the Second Guard and the Second in Command. It had already been decided that Ohnaka had the overall victory before their match.

"Rei-chan looked so cool."

"Yeah. I did."

Rei-chan was unexpectedly relieved. Defeated players had room to improve. In being defeated today, she will grow stronger for tomorrow. It made her want to cry.

Speaking of being made to cry, the overall victory went to Ohnaka's captain, Tanaka-san (the second daughter). She was red-faced and puffy-cheeked and cried out loud. Even though she was favored, she wasn't crying for joy. You could see that she was mortified to have been defeated by Rei-chan. As she was leaving, her team members and a person who looked to be the advising teacher surrounded the girl.

Because of this and that, Yoshino was late in leaving. In theory, right after the match finished, she had planned to vanish into thin air. She panicked: until a little while ago Yoshino had seen Eriko-sama sitting nearby. The three courtly looking ladies had been lined up: in between Sei-sama and Youko-sama there was now a vacant seat.

(Crap!) What should she do? Should she carry out her previous plan, or somehow modify it? While hesitating, her eyes ran across the entire audience. Eriko-sama's disappearance had stalled her. Because it was immediately following the end of the match, there was a considerable wave of people heading toward the exit. She wasn't able to get through.

"I'm sorry, I'm going on ahead." Yoshino thrust the club's luggage to Tanuma Chisato. She then took off in a dash. If she cut across the sparing area, she'd be able to reach an exit before Eriko-sama.

"Hey, wait. Yoshino!" she heard coming from the mass exodus. It was unmistakably Eriko-sama's angry voice. Yoshino began to run. That person had already spotted her.

"Excuse me, I need to get through." Yoshino separated the stampeding crowd in the vicinity of the exit with those words. Somehow a passage appeared toward the gym's exit. (Right? Or Left?) The right fork leads to a staircase. On the left was a lobby, with the foyer and doors for exiting the building. If I was forced to describe my chances, I'd say the left was more crowded, but not by a tremendous amount.

"All right, I've decided." Yoshino chose to go right. Because traffic on the upper levels was prohibited, they were roped off. She could only go down. But, certainly there should be a washroom down there. If she entered the private room, how long could she remain there? Eriko-sama wasn't likely to kick the door in.

"Yoshino-chan!" When she went down the stairs, there came a voice from behind calling her to stop. It was not necessary to turn around to the speaker. That had been Eriko-sama's voice. What kind of divine skill was she using to have escaped that mad rush? Was it time to pay the piper? No, she must not give up just yet. Although it was true she had run away, the matter of her little sister was still uncertain.

"Eriko-sama." Yoshino turned around slowly. "Good day."

"Where were you going in such a rush?" Basically, she had run away, but she couldn't say such an unkind thing to Eriko-sama so directly.

"Umm..."

"Oh, the bathroom?"

"Yes, That's right. To the bathroom."

"I see. It couldn't be that you were running away from me because you couldn't get a little sister. There's no way Yoshino-chan could do such a thing, right?" When provoked by Eriko-sama, she slipped into a defensive posture every time.

"Oh, is Eriko-sama belittling me?" With this, Yoshino's path of retreat was completely severed. It would now be impossible for her to be forgiven after a cute apology.

"So, you weren't able to get a little sister?"

"O...of course I was." In reality, she wasn't. However, she was no longer at the level of apology. Yoshino was quickly being chased down a dead-end street.

"By the way, was the rosary bought during your field trip?"

"Huh... No."

"Ah, so you gave your little sister the one given to you by Rei?"

"Yeah." If she stopped to give it much thought, even if she hadn't bought the rosary during the field trip, there were various places she could have acquired it. But, being in a desperate situation, Yoshino didn't catch on to the idea. Because she had not bought it in Italy, it followed that she would have given her little sister the rosary Rei-chan had given her. This was dreaming up a fanciful story. However...

"Well that's odd. Isn't that a rosary there?" Eriko-sama peeked into Yoshino's collar with a finger. During the dash through the crowd, the rosary seems to have come out.

"Yes. It's a rosary." Yoshino showed her as if there was room to negotiate. She purposefully unfastened it from her neck. She rolled it on her palm from her right hand to her left hand and back again.

"You're asking about this because you think we've had the ceremony. Actually, we haven't done it yet." Somehow something so random came out of her mouth so smoothly.

"Well, I'm not saying I'm glad about it. So, she's "fundamentally" your little sister?" That's right. Except there wasn't anyone known as her little sister, fundamentally or otherwise.

"My little sister is..." Yoshino looked away from Eriko-sama.  Just over there was a poster with the characters for "washroom" written on a downward diagonal arrow.
"...in the washroom right now." Coming up with a response based on what she had seen was decidedly lacking in skill. Yet, when you have your back to the wall you have to use everything at your disposal.

"In the washroom?"

"I was quickly coming to find her because I was going to have her greet you. It's not that I was going to the washroom for myself, it was actually for my little sister. Nevertheless she's taking her time, I wonder if there's a problem. I'll go take a peek." Yoshino ran down the stairs. Though, she didn't check to see if Eriko-sama was following.

"Wait, I'll come with you."

"No, that's not necessary."

"No need to be so tactful."

"Sure there is." They single-mindedly descended the stairs, but had to cling to the wall to squeeze past two people coming up the stairs. They once again passed a sign marking the way to the washroom: this time pointing left.

(Left!) As she turned the corner she aimed for the washroom. Fortunately, the passageway was empty as they came to the end. She could twist around at once and throw her off. And then Yoshino turned.

In that moment, an unexpected person suddenly appeared. One might have said their paths collided. But, that person who was suddenly there dodged very easily. Only Yoshino, who suddenly threw on the emergency breaks, overbalanced and fell over.

"Owwwwwww."

"Are you all right?" the person said as I looked up into her face. It was a girl wearing a pink sweatshirt with semi-long hair.

"What a pretty rosary." When had she picked that up? She picked up the rosary Yoshino must have dropped in the moment that she fell. She held it up to the light and muttered to herself. She must have thought it was beautiful. Rei-chan had gotten it specifically for Yoshino. It was well chosen as it suited the color of her skin. The jungle green colored stone set in the chain was said to be lucky. While absent-mindedly watching the figure of this girl roll the rosary around in her palm, Yoshino thought, "this girl, why do I feel like I know her from somewhere?" Just where was it? It wasn't at all clear. The memory was obscured but it wasn't that she had completely forgotten. However, this may have been the first time she had directly spoken with this person.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll return it." The girl noticed her glance. Because she panicked and presented the rosary, Yoshino reached for her hand and was lifting the rosary. Just then, Eriko-sama appeared from around the corner. It coincided with the moment when the two girl's hands were touching.

[[Image:MM_v20_193.jpg|thumb]]

"Yoshino-cha..." Eriko-sama who had should have been chasing Yoshino, upon seeing the form of these two people, came to stand still as if her battery went dead. But Yoshino had also forgotten that she was supposed to have been running away.

"Is it possible, this girl..." At that moment, it finally dawned on Yoshino: Eriko-sama mistook this girl who happened to be here by chance for Yoshino's little sister. She had gone to the washroom for her little sister and this girl who faced opposite her had come from there. Additionally, the two people both held the rosary in their hands.

"Yes, well..." Yoshino nodded. She nodded and lowered her eyes in that moment. She was convinced that heaven had supported her. The girl who stood next to Yoshino, all her eyes had told her was that she was wearing a pink sweatshirt. But actually, now it seemed she was wearing a Lillian uniform underneath. In a small voice to this girl she said, "Follow my lead." After whispering she spoke to Eriko-sama.

"I'll introduce you. She... this girl is who I'd like to have become my little sister."

"I see." Because the girl introduced herself before being asked for her name, Yoshino was honestly saved.

"I'm Arima Nana. It's a pleasure meeting you." A-ri-ma Na-na. This was a name she'd not heard before. Spelled: "Possession Horse Vegetables Repeat Syllable" If I write out her name, it doesn't turn on any light bulbs. So having thought she might have seen it recently somewhere, was maybe just her imagination.

"I see. Nana-chan, is it. I'll remember." Well, with that, she tried to take Nana and leave that place. As expected, Eriko-sama did not permit it.

"Won't you perform the ceremony in my presence?"

"Um, that's for a future date. Today was for introductions." Performing the ceremony in Eriko-sama's presence, she had certainly said something like that. But, she hadn't said that should be today. This was a stopgap performance. When it came to giving away the rosary that she'd been given by Rei-chan, she didn't want to put it around the neck of this unrelated girl.

"Why? Here's an opportunity to have one, you shouldn't let it drag on." Does she doubt me? Or, is she just interested? Eriko-sama is considerably insistent.

"That's... there are various circumstances."

"Circumstances?" This time Eriko-sama didn't look at Yoshino, but rather at Arima Nana. With this, Nana spoke.

"I'm sorry. The circumstances are mine: I can't receive her rosary just now."

"Those circumstances are somewhat bothersome."

"It's a bit of this and that."

"A bit of this and that, huh." Eriko-sama, in order to evaluate her, looked at Nana from head to toe. "I understand," she said and nodded. "There are various reasons so we'll consent to put it off." Am I in the clear? Yoshino excitedly watched the outcome of events. But, Nana replied more calmly and more unexpectedly. Eriko-sama was finally made to shut up.

"Incidentally, Yoshino-chan. As I was saying at the sports festival: what happened to those anxious first-years?"

"Huh?" Because of that, this Arima Nana doesn't fit? (It's all a sham but...) What is it that Eriko-sama misunderstands?

"Well, that's fine. Since this person has turned out to be rather interesting." What is it that she had decided by herself? Eriko-sama grinned from ear to ear with meaning and she turned away.

"Well then. I guess I should be going. At this point, Youko and Sei ought to be tired of waiting in the lobby." Was it true that she had somehow ridden the tides of fate safely? Instinctively she would have given three cheers, but checked herself.

"Good day, Yoshino-chan. It was a treat to be introduced to your little sister. I'll leave it alone for a while."

"No need for such remarks; please come and visit any time," while answering with a smile, Yoshino thought, "Do not come back for ten billion years". Even as she thought about sticking out her tongue to the retreating figure, Eriko-sama suddenly turned back.

"Oh, that's right... Nana-chan, was it?"

"Yes."

"Your personal appearance is very neat. Please fix what's under your sweatshirt." Leaving with that message, Eriko-sama returned to her original course. At the point where she disappeared up the stairs, Yoshino thought "you're safe now" and turned to thank Nana.

"Thank you. You've saved me." However, Nana responded.

"...But, I didn't, I don't think. That person certainly saw through us."

"What?"

"I'm unqualified."

"Un...qualified?" What's this? In this case it must mean she doesn't have the qualifications to become Yoshino's little sister. But, in that meeting just now, in exchanging only a few words, how would she be able to judge whether or not the qualifications existed?

"Because the Lillian uniform stuck out, the sweatshirt helped things. But I screwed up. My ribbon came loose before I could notice." Nana flipped up her sweatshirt so Yoshino could see. At that time, the thing greeted Yoshino's eyes…

"Oh, you're..." Although most of the uniform was the same as the one she wore, the chest was definitely different. "You're a middle schooler?!" Yoshino stabbed a pointing finger and shouted. From the line of her sailor-collar a thin black ribbon was tied. That was the mark of Lillian's Middle School.

"Yes, I'm a third year."

"Oh." Because she hadn't meant to actually consider making this girl her little sister, she was not likely to care if she was in middle school or high school. She somehow knew at once her exhaustion. That fact that Eriko-sama had seen through to the truth only made things worse.

"Well then, I should also be going." Nana raised her hand to the high school girl who seemed to be leading her out of the washroom.

"Hasekura Rei-sama's little sister..." on the verge of separating herself, Nana called with a serious look. "Your little sister, will she receive that rosary?"

"Wha?" Nana left without waiting for an answer, appearing satisfied. If there had been enough time to give an answer, what could I have said? Yoshino's heart throbbed. Even though nothing was done, this was the first time since her operation she was made to feel this way. Because she had been in such a state, even if she had been wearing an Ohnaka Girl's uniform, she would take Nana. There was neither a "why?" nor any room for doubt.