Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter4 6 (section)

===<noinclude>Finding Me. </noinclude>Part 6===

"Are you alright?"

Sachiko-sama asked quietly, her hand on Yumi's shoulder.

"Yeah … or rather, it doesn't feel like this is real yet."

[[Image:MM_v14_149.jpg|thumb]] 

Still crouching down, Yumi looked up at her onee-sama. Her face was no longer as terrifying as a demon's, nor was her voice as cold as ice.

"I received a phone call from Sei-sama last night. She said she was a bit worried and I should keep an eye out for you. As usual, she's on the same wavelength as you."

Sachiko-sama answered Yumi's question of, "Why are you here?" before she could ask it.

"But."

Sei-sama was indeed always helping her. But Sachiko-sama was definitely the person she wanted there the most right at that moment.

"What did she mean when she was talking about things "like me?" I've never really thought about how people view me."

Yumi was still confused, so she said what had stuck in her mind. She wanted to understand the situation and sort out her feelings.

"That's for the best, don't you think?"

Sachiko-sama smiled.

"Although it's something I think about from time to time."

"Oh, really?"

"Selfish. Arrogant. Hysterical … I think I've got a pretty good grasp on my own image."

Sachiko-sama took a few steps over to the flowerbed and gently stroked the Rosa Chinensis bud. It looked to be a little larger and a bit redder than when Tsutako-san had taken the photograph just a few days earlier.

"You should just do what you think, and not consider what's "like you." The end result will be "like you." In your case, Yumi, I think that's for the best."

"Onee-sama … "

"That girl admired you based on appearances. That may serve as a thin thread to bring people together. But by itself it's weak. It falls a long way short of what you'd call a connection. That's all it was."

Sachiko-sama was saying that how they met wasn't important. What was important was how they forged their bonds after that.

A weak thread was easy to cut. It would inevitably get broken sooner or later. Even if it was repaired it might just get broken again.

"That reminds me, the first thing that drew me to you was when I saw you playing "Ave Maria" on the organ, onee-sama."

Yumi stood up and brushed the dirt from her skirt.

"Right. Appearances are the easiest thing to notice. But the most important things are hidden deep inside, so it can be quite a struggle to reach them."

"Inside?"

"Precisely."

Sachiko-sama held out her hand towards Yumi, and Yumi walked over to her onee-sama's side.

"I like your face, your hair, your voice, your fingertips and all that. But it's not because of your appearance that I like you. What I love is your soul, which moves them all."

Sachiko-sama's hand stroked Yumi's cheek, touched her hair, and gripped her hand before coming to rest on the knot of the tie of her uniform.

"My soul?"

"Yes. The part that can't be seen. If there's anything that's "Yumi-like," don't you think it would be that?"

"And you could find that, onee-sama?"

Yumi wanted Sachiko-sama to answer, to say that she'd unhesitatingly find that precious thing hidden deep inside, that thing that only Yumi had and which made her who she was.

"Of course? Even if I was in a silent world of pitch black, if you were there I'd know instantly, Yumi."

"Uh … "

"Or … let's see. Suppose you were involved in some sort of terrible accident, and you were taken to a hospital and wrapped in bandages like an Egyptian mummy, lying in a bed alongside a thousand similar people, I'd still be able to identify you on my first attempt."

"Um, onee-sama, that example's a bit dark."

"I suppose. But that's how certain I am that I wouldn't mistake you."

Like that huh? Suddenly, her strength was gone and the tears started welling up and spilling over. Her onee-sama was holding her hand out, waiting for her and Yumi didn't hesitate in running over to her.

"Onee-sama~"

The switch had been flipped and the tears were coming one after the other with no way to stop them.

However, it wasn't a flood of tears brought about by Kanako-chan's words.

Sachiko-sama had warmed Yumi's heart. That was why there was the stream of tears.

If she really was in a silent world of pitch black, or bandaged like an Egyptian mummy, Yumi didn't know if her onee-sama would actually find her. Somewhere in her heart she knew it was probably impossible.

But even so, those words were what Yumi needed right at that moment. Like ointment applied to a graze, they were the medicine she needed to protect herself from the open air.

"It's alright. I'm here for you, Yumi."

Sachiko-sama stroked Yumi's hair like she were a child, and amazingly her heart steadied. Without wiping away her tears, Yumi buried her head in the warmth of her onee-sama's chest. 

When people say, "Everyone," how many people are they talking about?

One hundred? Two hundred? Or even more than that?

She didn't know.

However.

Being liked by everyone wasn't everything.

If there was just one person who felt that way, that was more than enough.

Yumi was thinking of her one and only irreplaceable onee-sama.