Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume32 Chapter9 6

===<noinclude>The Ribbon's Path </noinclude>Part 6.===

Yumi felt like she was chasing the footsteps of her onee-sama.

Once Sachiko-sama had been seen in a certain place she didn't go back, no matter how much time had passed. Like a criminal avoiding the scene of the crime.

But when Yumi went to Milk Hall it was already shut and there was no-one inside.

Well, that happens too. Yumi cleared her head, pulled herself together and thought about where to go next.

No-one had said anything about Sachiko-sama going there, but since Yumi had come this far she decided to stray from the path and walk over to the old greenhouse.

Yumi noticed that the air temperature was slightly warmer than outside as soon as she stepped inside. Because the weather had been nice today, the sun's rays had probably warmed the interior of the greenhouse. It felt like it was May inside.

Yumi didn't know who it was, but somebody took good care of the plants, which gave the space a relaxing atmosphere. There was no sign of anybody in there. The 'pixie' that looked after this place had probably gone home by now too. 

Yumi walked slowly, then stopped when she reached her destination – the place where the 'Rosa Chinensis' shrub was planted.

During her first year of high school, on the day before the school festival, Yumi had followed after Sachiko-sama as she ran away in tears and eventually caught up to her here. That was the first time Yumi had been inside.

(Back then.)

Thinking back, Yumi smiled fondly. It must have been a terrible experience for the ginkgo prince, Kashiwagi-san, first being slapped and then being pushed over onto the ginkgo nuts. And that terrible experience had been caused by Sachiko-sama and Yumi. But after so much time it was just a funny story. It felt like they had come a long way since that day.

(That's right.)

Back then, Sachiko-sama had been sitting on one of the ledges inside the greenhouse. Yumi had shifted a potted plant from beside her, and sat herself down.

(Right about here.)

Turning around, the ledge from that day was still there. Sachiko-sama wasn't there, but there was still a space for two people to sit beside each other.

Feeling nostalgic, Yumi moved closer to the ledge. That day, as they sat next to each other, was the first time she felt as though their souls had connected.

"Oh...?"

Looking closer, Yumi saw traces of something that looked like a circular stain on top of the ledge. There was a section about 15cm in diameter that looked darker than its surroundings, as though it had been wet. It was right in the center of where they had sat on that day.

The mark seemed familiar. Yumi saw a similar stain when she lifted a potted plant on the next ledge over, although the size was different. Which meant that a flower pot had been placed there recently. And not just an empty flower pot, one that had soil and a plant growing in it since it had been watered thoroughly, so that the water reached the roots. 

"Wah."

Yumi cried out instinctively when a pill-bug suddenly appeared and crawled up the side of the flower pot. It was probably equally surprising to the pill-bug. 'I'm sorry,' Yumi mumbled as she put the pot back in its original position.

(At any rate.)

Yumi looked around restlessly. Where was the flower pot that had been there earlier?

She quickly found what she was looking for. The flower pot that had previously been on the ledge was on the floor about 50cm away from her feet. The base of the pot matched the size of the stain on the ledge.

The plant contained in the pot had leaves that looked like those of a pine tree. It didn't seem to be a bonsai, since it was in a standard ceramic pot and there didn't seem to be much done by way of pruning. Instead the plant had been allowed to grow freely to a height of about 30cm. Stuck in the soil was a plastic tag that read 'Japanese white pine,' so it looked like it was a relative of the pine tree.

It was a bit heavy and Yumi strained to lift the plant and place it on top of the mark. Taking a step back and looking at it, both the visual impression and the impression on the ledge were a perfect match.

Yumi was convinced that the plant had been on that ledge until about an hour ago. No, it probably would have dried in under thirty minutes. 

Who had moved this plant, and for what reason?

"Onee-sama…?"

Yumi looked at the potted plant. This wasn't the Rosa Chinensis shrub, but it was definitely whispering to her:

Sachiko-sama was here, Sachiko-sama was here.

"Thank-you. And sorry for moving you so many times."

Having returned the plant to its original position, Yumi left the greenhouse.