Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter4 4 (section)

===<noinclude>Finding Me. </noinclude>Part 4===

The following day was Friday, so Yumi informed everyone that she had something she had to attend to, then put in an hour of work before leaving the Rose Mansion early.

It was halfway between when school let out and when after-school activities ended, so there were hardly any students walking along the path lined with ginkgo trees.

It had been a while since she'd left school on her own.

It felt a bit strange to not have her friends beside her. She wondered if she'd get used to it before too long.

With no-one in front, behind, or to the left or right of her, Yumi keenly felt the cool breeze passing by. She thought of the young lady that had caused the cool breeze of uneasiness to blow through her heart.

Perhaps that girl would call out to her. A part of her was expecting this as she walked.

If she did call out to her, Yumi thought she would suggest they walk together. Then as they walked, she'd have a chance to ask the question she had to ask.

Yumi walked slowly without looking back. The wind that blew through the ginkgo leaves ruffled both her hair and her heart.

"Yumi-chan."

However, the voice that called out to her belonged to someone else.

"… Sei-sama."

The former Rosa Gigantea and current Lillian's University student, Satou Sei-sama, flew over to Yumi's side like she'd jumped the fence from the university grounds. Her blue-and-white-striped shirt had a white sailor collar, showing the barest traces of Sei-sama as she had been when she was Rosa Gigantea.

"Heading home?"

"Yeah."

Yumi nodded, since she was undoubtedly heading home, then Sei-sama put her arm around her shoulder and whispered into her ear:

"By the way, you know there's a creeper?"

"A creeper? That's a bit rude."

"Ah, so you did know. My apologies."

But she only knew because of Tsutako-san's photos, without those, who knew how long Yumi might have remained ignorant. And yet Sei-sama had figured it out after a quick glance. Just proving she wasn't an average human being.

"So how far you taking that?"

Sei-sama didn't turn around, instead she jerked her fist up, pointing her thumb behind her.

"To the school gate, for now."

"The school gate? Is there something at the school gate?"

"If I lied, you'd find out soon enough … there is something."

This was an unexpected development. So would the addition of essence of Satou Sei-sama to the previously prepared meal bring good luck or bad? It was impossible to predict.

"I won't get in your way so can I watch?"

"You're not going to quietly walk away if I say no anyway."

"Exactly."

What choice did she have? Yumi resigned herself to fate. Sei-sama was the sort of person who could be annoyingly persistent.

Upon recognizing Yumi, the person leaning against the gatepost lazily waved and smiled.

"Yo, Yumi-chan."

As she looked up at his face, Yumi idly thought, "Of course he'd greet me with, "Yo.""

"Either way, sending Kashiwagi-san … "

Why did he stand out so much when he was wearing a plain cotton shirt over a deep blue T-shirt and a completely ordinary pair of jeans? Was it his actions, or his face brimming with self-confidence? At any rate, he was tall and stylish, which would make his presence felt. Yumi was once more relieved that there were hardly any students around. The handful of students at the bus stop were obviously conscious of what was happening as they kept glancing her way.

"You're as cute as ever."

Kashiwagi-san played with her hair bunches like he might with a puppy's tail.

"Don't you think you're going a bit too far?"

Yumi grinned as she batted away his overly-familiar hands.

"Going too far? Don't be like that. This isn't an act, I'm just taking this chance to let my true feelings out."

He placed his right hand over his heart as he brought his face closer to hers. His expression looking like he was about to shout, "Juliet!"

"My apologies. But, I'm female."

Kashiwagi-san was drunk on himself, so she pushed his head back to its normal position. If things had kept going, it looked as though they might have kissed.

"Female. What's wrong with that? I adore women. Because without women there would be no men."

"Well, that's true, but."

It wasn't that she'd said the keyword "female" because she wanted to get into that kind of conversation. It was just that Kashiwagi-san preferred men and Yumi was simply asserting that as a female she wasn't a target for his affection.

"Setting that aside, what's up with your creeper? She seems a bit different to what Yukichi described."

"Creeper? How rude."

Having just been christened a creeper, Sei-sama appeared from the shadow of the gate and scowled at Kashiwagi-san.

"Sei-sama."

"Oh right, I said I was going to watch on quietly, didn't I? But how could I walk away when I saw the ginkgo prince sinking his poisonous fangs into cute little Yumi-chan right before my very eyes?"

"You're wrong."

There was a reason for this. But Kashiwagi-san and Sei-sama were both the type of people that would keep on talking without giving her a chance to explain. She tried to start, but the tempo of the conversation was too fast and she couldn't really break into it.

"So we're in agreement that Yumi-chan is cute. But, ginkgo prince? That's inexcusable. You couldn't possibly be referring to me, could you?"

Couldn't possibly.

"Who else is there but you, you prick?"

As usual, Sei-sama became foul-mouthed when talking to Kashiwagi-san.

"Women shouldn't say things like that."

"Is that why you said what you did before? Stop putting boxes around men and women. Your adoration of women just shows how indelibly stained you are with those old ways of thinking."

"Men and women are fundamentally different. Since you want to be treated as an equal, saying that just makes you come across as childish."

"While I'd very much like to refute you in great detail, I don't think we'd ever come to an agreement, so I'm going to stop this argument for now. By the way, how was I wrong, Yumi-chan?"

Yumi had been opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish, waiting for the right time to jump into their conversation, and at long last that chance had arrived.

"Um, well you see, Sei-sama. Kashiwagi-san was just acting friendly because my brother asked him. Right?"

Yumi sought confirmation from Kashiwagi-san, since it would be bad for both of them for this weird misunderstanding to remain. But that Kashiwagi-san.

"Not at all. I volunteered."

"V-volunteered?"

"Yep. Yukichi and the others were secretly discussing something in the student council room, so I drew it out of them and got them to entrust it to me." 

Hearing this, Sei-sama spat out the following words in shock:

"Seriously, showing up at school after you've graduated.. Don't you know that people who do that are the most hated type of graduates?"

Sei-sama had apparently completely forgotten her initial promise to watch without interfering. She kept nipping at Kashiwagi-san like a dog that was looking to pick a fight while being taken for a walk. Yumi considered trying to stop her, but if she got involved it might just excite matters further, so she decided to watch on. From a distance, it probably looked like they were all close friends.

"That's too bad for you, then. I was invited back by my juniors. Six months after graduation. Life's tough when you're an adored senior."

"Asked back? By the student council?"

"No, by the mystery novel club."

"Why would a guest of the mystery novel club be in the student council room? Or, what? Does the mystery novel club meet in the student council room at Hanadera Academy?"

"Well, since I was already there, I decided to pop in and pay them a visit."

"I suppose you mainly wanted to get a look at Yuuki's face."

"You got it. But where's the harm in that?"

"Alright. However, I can't ignore your overly familiar behavior towards Yumi-chan."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you, that Kashiwagi-san's just pretending to be close."

"I'm not pretending. I really do want to be close to you."

"I'm sorry, Kashiwagi-san, but can you please stop talking until I tell you to. You're complicating the conversation."

Enough already. She had to go back to the start and correct her explanation.

"Basically, what I was saying was – "

Yumi said as she resumed slowly walking. But while it was good that Kashiwagi-san was staying silent, she was no longer sure just how she should explain this.

"The goal was to let your annoying chaperone see you being close to a guy. Am I wrong, Yumi-chan?"

Sei-sama asked, arriving at the conclusion early.

"No, that's right."

The "annoying chaperone" part was a bit wrong though.

"Was this plan something you came up with on your own?"

" … No. It was my brother and his friends."

"I'll bet. Ah, the bus is here. Shall we get on?"

"Yeah."

Yumi jogged over to the bus stop, arriving just as the bus to M station was leisurely pulling up and opening its doors. The students already waiting there had formed into a line and climbed on board in turn. Students that had just walked out the school gate, and those that had been chatting to their friends who came by car, spotted the bus and quickly ran over.

"You're coming too?"

Sei-sama asked, looking at Kashiwagi-san who was following them in silence. Now it kind of felt like Kashiwagi-san was being the creeper.

"So what happened to your pretentious chili red car?"

"…"

No reply was forthcoming.

"You can talk now, Kashiwagi-san."

Yumi broke the spell and Kashiwagi-san took a deep breath and laughed, saying, "It's hard not to talk."

"Still, my chilli red car? You're one to talk, Satou-kun. What about your mustard yellow car?"

"Lillian's University doesn't allow commuting by car."

"Same with Hanadera University. I was on my way home after class today."

"Ohh."

"Given the choice, I'd much rather have hidden my car somewhere and taken Yumi-chan for a drive, but if we did that then we couldn't be tailed."

"By the creeper?"

"Yeah. So let's move a bit further towards the back."

To be more easily tailed.

A single Lillian's student got on right at the very last moment and then the bus took off. She slid into a seat in the front row and didn't turn around once during the trip to M station.

Seated in the back, Yumi probably wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't already known who it was.