Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume12 Chapter6 1 (section)

=== <noinclude> Songs of an Angel. </noinclude>Part 1 ===

They arrived at Saionji Yukari-sama's villa shortly after six o'clock.

The Saionji's estate didn't have any large trees to obstruct the view, and the sun hadn't set, so when they emerged from the woods it felt to Yumi as though time had slipped backwards.

Yumi was wearing her white butterfly dress. In her hair she wore a partially-opened lily flower from the garden that Sachiko-sama had picked for her, and even gone to the effort of removing each individual stamen so that it wouldn't drop pollen over her clothes.

Sachiko-sama had decided on a deep green dress with a white floral pattern. The flowers were the same color as Yumi's white dress, so when they stood next to each other they looked like a matching pair.

"Are you ready?"

Standing at the entrance to Saionji-sama's villa, Sachiko-sama looked like she was about to step on to a battlefield.

"Yes."

Yumi responded enthusiastically. Come what may. If anything did happen, she'd try her best to act with dignity and not embarrass herself.

After taking a deep breath, they rang the doorbell. Shortly thereafter, Yukari-sama came out to greet them and showed them inside.

"Do come inside, Sachiko-onee-sama, Yumi-sama."

Yukari-sama was wearing a dress with puffed sleeves made out of a pink lamé cloth, that had metallic fibers sewn through it. It was somewhat reminiscent of candy wrapping paper, and when she moved it sparkled prettily.

"Thank-you for extending this invitation to us."

"Now, now, there's no need to be so formal. Let's go inside."

Yukari-sama grinned as she said this, then looked back over her shoulder and slightly raised her voice to say:

"Mother, the Ogasawara's Sachiko-onee-sama has arrived. She has the long awaited Fukuzawa Yumi-sama with her."

The long awaited.

Was it just Yumi's suspicions working overtime, or was there something sinister lurking in that phrase?

A lady wearing a tight-fitting navy blue dress answered Yukari-sama's call. Arranged haphazardly in her dyed reddish-brown hair were feathers of the same color as her dress.

"I apologize for not visiting sooner, ma'am. This is my petite soeur, Yumi. Did I hear that you've been waiting to meet her?"

Sachiko-sama said with cool sarcasm as she handed over their gifts of wine and cheese. This was, however, completely lost on the Saionji's.

"Yes, of course. The word around the neighborhood is that you've found an adorable little sister. Welcome, Yumi-san."

"Gokigenyou. Thank-you very much for favoring me with an – "

"Tonight's not a night for formalities – it's a night for eating, and drinking … ah, of juice, of course, since you're underage. At any rate, enjoy yourselves, although the toasts have already started, I'm afraid."

It looked like Yukari-sama's mother had already started drinking, and was in a good mood. She handed the cheese over to one of the waitstaff and wandered off, muttering, "Now where's that corkscrew?"

The party seemed to be in full swing, with about 30 people in the parlor, engaged in pleasant conversation. The room was about triple the size of the one in the Ogasawara's villa, and was probably built for parties like this.  The tables lining the walls held an array of food and drinks from a famous hotel, and the grand piano in the center of the room was being played by a female (and likely professional) pianist, who had chosen a subdued piece of music so she wouldn't disrupt the conversation.

"I'll get some drinks. You wait here."

Sachiko-sama said, then left Yumi standing on her own and she walked towards the drinks area. It looked like the Saionji's had hired a bartender to fix whatever drinks were requested. Yumi watched Sachiko-sama walking away for a little while before a young lady in a red dress sidled up to her and said:

"I didn't think you'd come."

"… Touko-chan."

She was wearing a retro-styled dress, with short sleeves and collar and a flared skirt, which complimented her ringlets extremely well.

"Despite all those warnings I gave you. Yumi-sama are you, perhaps, a masochist?"

Touko-chan quickly drank the rest of her orange juice before continuing.

"What on earth were you thinking? I have no idea. This party isn't just a simple summer soiree."

"What can I say?"

Obviously, she wasn't expecting it to be just a simple summer soiree, but they weren't hosting this lavish party just to pick a fight with her and Sachiko-sama either.

"Why don't you just go home soon?"

Touko-chan wandered off smugly. She'd known that it wasn't an innocent affair, but still attended anyway, and now warned Yumi to, "Go home." Touko-chan's train of thought was a complete mystery to Yumi. 

"You've got a lot of guts, you soeurs."

A young man in a summer suit replaced Touko-chan, standing behind and to the side of Yumi.

"Kashiwagi-san…"

Since Touko-chan was here, Yumi had though it was possible he'd show up too, and here he was.

"You've got to be expecting something bad to happen, but you've come anyway. Why?"

Kashiwagi-san offered her a glass of grapefruit juice, but Yumi shook her head and turned him down.

"So the gossip about me has even made its way to your ears?"

"More or less."

Kashiwagi-san responded vaguely, then took a sip from the glass of juice that Yumi had rejected.

It was a small world after all. It seemed like Kashiwagi-san came from a wealthy family, so it was only natural that he'd have connections to some of the people that had villas in this area. 

"My onee-sama wouldn't go into the details, so were the rumors really that horrendous?"

"Horrendous … I don't know if I'd call them that. Ridiculous, perhaps?"

Ridiculous. That was pretty much the same opinion that Sachiko-sama held.

"Like the thing about the rice?"

"Ah, the "Koshihikari Rice Princess.""

Koshihikari Rice Princess!?

"… That's supposed to be me?"

She hadn't expected they'd give her such a straightforward nickname.

"Oh darn. So you hadn't heard that yet, Yumi-chan?"

Kashiwagi-san face-palmed theatrically, confirming that he was as pretentious as she'd thought.

"What else?"

"Please, don't ask me that."

Kashiwagi-san had been the one to approach her, but now he was looking to flee.

"I'll feel better when I've heard everything they said."

Yumi latched on to him like a snapping turtle until eventually Kashiwagi-san relented, sounding amazed as he said, "I guess I'm no match for you."

"You know how Sacchan went to the Kyougoku's villa on her own? They're saying you refused because you heard Mrs Kyougoku was ill and you didn't want to get infected."

"That's not – "

"I know. You wouldn't say something like that. It's a terrible rumor, especially since Mrs Kyougoku was only feigning illness."

Then Kashiwagi-san added, "But rumors spread before all the facts can be assembled." Indeed, even if a rumor was completely false, once it started spreading it took on a life of its own.

"There's more, right?"

Yumi asked, seeking confirmation, and Kashiwagi-san nodded, "Yeah."

"Although I'm partly to blame for this one. There's a rumor going around that you left Sacchan at home and went out on the town with some guys." 

"With "some guys." It was you, Kobayashi-kun, and Yuuki."

"Right? I don't know who saw us though. Someone with too much time on their hands, who spreads these worthless rumors. And then to spread that rumor to me, without knowing that it was about me – it's just idiotic."

Yumi thought he was right.

"But why are they so mean … "

Sachiko-sama had been making her way back when she was caught and drawn into deep conversation by an older gentleman. Kashiwagi-san quietly said:

"There's many reasons why they're mean. But, in this specific case, I think it's mainly due to envy."

"Envy?"

"It's the flip-side of their complex."

"What, are you telling me they have a complex?"

Those brightly colored butterflies.

Cute and just a tad egotistical, they didn't look like they had any weaknesses at all.

"Absolutely. Most of the families in this area have built their fortunes over the last fifty years. When people get that kind of money, they start to want social prestige. That's not the sort of thing that can just be bought with money, so they're incredibly envious of those that have it."

"… Like the Ogasawara family."

"Exactly. They're old money."

The huge building, the gorgeous decorations, the ostentatious party. Even with the short amount of time she'd spent in the Saionji's villa, Yumi felt like she sort of understood what Kashiwagi-san was trying to say.

"So, those people that are so obsessed by pedigree feel inferior to them. And then, suddenly, you're introduced into this environment."

"Me?"

"You're Sacchan's petite soeur, so it's like you're a part of the Ogasawara family."

That was when Yumi suddenly realized:

"By finding fault with everything I do, they could cause the Ogasawara family to lose face … !"

"Exactly. If they can't climb any higher, then they can get the upper hand by dragging others down. That's how they're looking to keep the balance."

"… It's kind of sad."

"Yeah. But there's people that are slaves to that sort of thinking."

Sachiko-sama returned, carrying a glass in each hand.

"Sorry for taking so long. I ran into an old teacher of mine, who taught me how to write … What were you two talking about?"

"Nothing."

Yumi shook her head, while Kashiwagi-san smiled as he answered:

"Yumi-chan was just telling me that she wouldn't drink the juice I brought her because she was waiting for you. That sort of thing."

"I see."

The drink that Sachiko-sama gave her was a cool lemonade. Its color was slightly different to Sachiko-sama's, due to an extra measure of honey.