Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume9 Chapter9 3 (section)

===<noinclude>Behind the Scenes of The Maria Ceremony Inquisition. </noinclude>Part 3.===

The ceremony took place with no teachers or nuns present.

The high-school division of Lillian's respected the independence of its students, so the student council generally operated without adult supervision.

(Oooh, this takes me back.)

Yumi peeked in through the doorway, her excitement building.

It was the afternoon following the priest's morning mass. There were approximately 200 first-years assembled in the chapel, already seated in their six class blocks. Exactly one year earlier, Yumi had got her first glimpse of her onee-sama when she was playing the organ, and was immediately drawn to her. Although at that time, she'd never imagined that one year later she would be Rosa Chinensis en bouton.

"Why are you sneaking around?"

Yumi turned around when prodded, and standing there was Sachiko-sama, having made the leap across the year-long gap. On her chest was a dazzling, deep crimson, rose corsage. Unfortunately, it was not the flower Rosa Chinensis, nor was the white one Rosa Gigantea, or the yellow one Rosa Foetida. Although no matter the flower, it could only look better when Sachiko-sama was wearing it.

"Your rose is crooked."

Sachiko-sama adjusted the salmon pink corsage attached to Yumi's breast pocket as she gently chided her petit soeur. It didn't seem much changed from before, but it was probably subtly different  to her onee-sama. Or maybe it was just that she had to be doing something to calm her nerves.

"Yumi."

"Yes?"

"… No, never mind."

Sachiko-sama had started to say something but then stopped. Her hands seemed to be shaking slightly. Perversely, Yumi felt relieved when she saw her onee-sama anxious or hesitant. Seeing that side of her peek out from time to time made her all the more human, which made Yumi happy.

"You look really pretty, onee-sama."

"Huh?"

Yumi gently wrapped those shaking hands with her own.

"Let me get a proper look at you."

"… Alright."

Just as Sachiko-sama was giving her permission to look, the sound of a shutter clicking echoed around them.

"Tsutako-san."

"Personally, I'm more interested in you Red Rose soeurs."

Tsutako-san peeked in through the door and said, "There."

"More interested? Than what?"

"Mami-san's orders. She said it was vital that I got shots of Shimako-san and Nijou Noriko. And that she wanted to use the good ones in the "Lillian Kawaraban.""

"… That Mami-san."

Yumi looked over at Mami-san, standing some distance away with a salmon pink corsage attached to her chest. Even so, her deductions had led her quite close to the truth.

"Well, it's fine. She'll keep quiet during the welcoming ceremony, like she promised."

Mami-san waved gently, smiling. Formidable. Really, if she turned into an enemy, she would be a scary opponent indeed. 

"Sorry I'm late."

Just before their scheduled start time, Shimako-san and Yoshino-san arrived in the chapel. The piano score for "Ave Maria" had gone missing somewhere inside the Rose Mansion, and they'd spent the lunch break looking for it.

Of course that was because Yoshino-san had intentionally hidden it, and then found it at an opportune time, in accordance with their scenario. Why did she do that? Because their plans would go awry if Nijou Noriko and Shimako-san met during lunch and discussed the juzu.

"Shimako-san was talking about playing it from memory, without the score. I had a heck of a time trying to stop her … it was a bit nerve wracking."

Yoshino-san whispered, as she glanced sideways at the white rose pinned to Shimako-san's chest. 

Even though they were only just at the start, or not even there yet, the scenario was starting to unravel at the seams due to various ad-libs and accidents.

Although, reality never goes exactly to plan.

Would they really be able to pull this off neatly? The start time arrived as Yumi was worrying about this.