Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume7 Chapter3 4 (section)

===<noinclude>Umbrella Maker's Wife. </noinclude>Part 4===

The following day, the number of photographs increased.

" … I thought you washed your hands of this."

Yumi muttered tiredly, having been beckoned over to the staircase landing just before morning prayers.

"I did. But then a new guy showed up."

Once again, Tsutako-san was gripping a photograph in her hand. She was holding it so that Yumi couldn't see the contents, like she was playing old maid. It was the last card, so that would make it the joker, right? Anyway.

"So what?"

Yumi thought it completely unsurprising that the number of men would increase by one or two.

There were numerous photographs in her pocket. Almost as though they increased whenever she tapped her pocket. The situation was getting desperate.

"This one's a bit different to the others so far. A novelty, so to speak."

Like something out of a police drama, Tsutako-san leaned in close and whispered this in her ear, prompting Yumi to reach out for the photograph.

"Huh?"

A hand appeared from the side and pilfered the photograph, just like that. When they saw who that hand belonged to, both Yumi and Tsutako-san were shocked.

"Ro … !"

She was so surprised, that the rest of the word didn't come out. Standing there was Rosa Chinensis.

"Ro? Then, robber."

Rosa Chinensis said, playing dumb. So, she wanted to play shiritori, huh?

"Ba, banana."

Still, it was a rather pathetic response. Yumi had unwittingly been drawn into Rosa Chinensis' game.

"Nashi."

That was, obviously, Rosa Chinensis.

"Shi … silhouette."

"To, Torii Eriko. – She's here, in this photograph."

Rosa Chinensis had started the game of shiritori knowing she could end it like this. Normally it continued until a word ending in 'n'.

"Who's that with her?"

She questioned Yumi, thrusting the photograph right in her face. There was indeed someone different to the others, and if Yumi were choosing her words carefully, she would describe him as a simply dressed middle-aged man. The photo's background looked like it was somewhere in a zoo.

"Mmm, who knows?"

Naturally, Yumi didn't know who this bearded, bear-like man was.

"Don't give me that. Spit it out."

But even if she was interrogated, Yumi honestly didn't know, so there was nothing she could do. Even if she were threatened or tortured to the point where she wanted to spit it out, she couldn't.

"I see. It seems you're telling the truth."

Suddenly changing tack, Rosa Chinensis asked:

"Did you take this, Tsutako-san?"

Smiling cheerfully as she grabbed Tsutako-san's sailor collar, foiling her attempt to sneak away.

"Go-gokigenyou. I'm in awe of your exquisite countenance – "

As expected, even Tsutako-san couldn't resist the power of Rosa Chinensis' beauty at close range. Perhaps due to confusion, the words that came spilling out sounded like something from a period drama. 

"Tsutako-san. It's not good to hide things."

Scary. All the more so because she was smiling.

"I simply happened to spot Rosa Foetida by chance. Even if you ask me who she was with … "

Tsutako-san recoiled.

"Well, that's fine. Since you said "this one," that must mean that there are other photos. Hand over the rest of them."

Rosa Chinensis held out her hand to accept them. An authoritative request that was impossible to deny.

"No, I don't have any … "

Tsutako-san trembled as she shook her heads and waved her hands in denial. She wasn't lying. She didn't have any other photographs on her. Holding them was – 

(Amen.)

With her hand still in her pocket, Yumi looked up at the heavens.

As though she had eyes in the back of her head, Rosa Chinensis turned to Yumi once more.

"Yumi-chan. Show me what's in your pocket."

"Huh?"

"Come on, out with it."

Having been ordered to do so, how could she resist? Rosa Chinensis wasn't some kindly old grandmother. There was no way Yumi could match wits with someone who held Sachiko-sama in the palm of her hands.

Reluctantly Yumi took the photos that were the crystallization of Miss Takeshima Tsutako's hard work out of her pocket and placed them in Rosa Chinensis' hand. Despite their two versus one numerical advantage, it had been a complete rout of the first-years.

"I see."

Rosa Chinensis muttered as she scrutinized each of the photos.

"Nice find"

"Huh?"

"Novelty. It's Eriko's weakness."

Rosa Chinensis spoke frankly about her friend's shortcomings.

"She has a weakness … for novelty."

Yumi and Tsutako-san looked at each other.

"Right, novelty. Two years ago, Eriko had her pick of all the first-years, and she chose a masculine, tall and skinny girl. Despite the fact that there were numerous cute girls vying to be her petit soeur. Now, why do you think she did that?"

"Because she has a weakness for novelty?"

"Exactly. She couldn't find a first-year that interested her more than Rei."

So Rosa Foetida's sole consideration when choosing a petit soeur was how enjoyable they would make her school life?

"So you see, the only box that needs to be checked is the one that says they're a type of person she hasn't encountered before."

Rosa Gigantea had said something similar a while ago. That Rosa Foetida found life dull because she had neither strengths nor weaknesses. So when presented with a choice, she would pick the unexpected.

"If it was just these rich men, left alone it would take care of itself."

Rosa Chinensis seemed to be talking to herself as she looked at the photographs.

"This out-of-place man is the only troubling one."

She seemed to be giving serious thought as to what type of man he was. Apparently Rosa Chinensis was completely unconcerned about the rest of them.

"With Eriko, below a certain interest threshold she's able to make very calculated decisions. But once her interest rises above that level, she'll lose sight of her surroundings, which can be dangerous. It's fine as long as she doesn't get into trouble, though."

So the rich men were unable to move the needle on Rosa Foetida's interest gauge. Was that what Rosa Chinensis meant? Yumi had thought it would have been the opposite, that the rich men would have been more troubling.

Still, this showed the caliber of Rosa Chinensis. Even when shown photographs of her dear friend on dates with various men, she wasn't even slightly flustered.

"You must really trust her."

Sachiko-sama's detested phrase apparently hadn't occurred to Rosa Chinensis. Maybe that's what happened with close friends. Yumi felt like she still had a long way to go to have that kind of remarkable relationship, because she doubted if she would have the same level of trust in Yoshino-san or Shimako-san if they were involved in the same situation as Rosa Foetida. Rosa Chinensis hadn't needed a reason. She had full and unconditional faith in her friend.

However, Rosa Chinensis scoffed at Yumi's words.

"It's not trust."

"Huh?"

So blunt.

"That's not to say I don't trust her. But I'm really worried. Because, when I saw her yesterday, she'd turned back into apathetic Eriko."

It was almost like Rosa Chinensis was saying that she wasn't worthy of the title Rosa Foetida. But Yumi was still optimistic, because she could sense the affection between them.

"Apathetic?"

Tsutako-san asked, her interest growing. 

The stress seemed to be abating from Rosa Chinensis, enough so that she could finally laugh.

"Remember how she was during the Yellow Rose Revolution? It's barely been six months and again she's becoming equally useless. What could make her behave like that?"

What could make her behave like that? None of them could find an answer to that question.

The bell rang.

Rosa Chinensis said, "See you later," and started walking down the stairs towards her classroom. She stopped halfway, apparently remembering, turned around and handed the bundle of photographs to Yumi.

"Her sickness this time is a bit more serious than an ear infection or impacted wisdom tooth. I don't think it will be cured anytime soon."

"But Rosa Foetida said there wasn't anything wrong with her body."

She had definitely said this when Yumi found her near the oval.

"Yumi-chan, sickness doesn't just refer to a problem with the body."

"Rosa Foetida … has a mental illness?"

Rosa Chinensis started with, "I wouldn't say that," then leaned over and whispered in Yumi's ear, before gliding away down the stairs.

Yumi played back the words that Rosa Chinensis left her with.

"Have I seen love … ?"

Two disparate points were joined together by a very delicate line.