Editing Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume6 Chapter4 1

===<noinclude>Dessert. </noinclude>Part 1.===

"You've been crying a lot lately."

Rosa Gigantea murmured.

"I'm sorry."

Shimako separated herself from the arms she had been leaning against. She wondered how long she had been like that. It was already starting to get dark.

"If you like, I'll stay with you until the morning."

"That's not..."

"It might do you some good. Shall we go someplace else?"

With great effort, she stood up and stretched. Perhaps thinking she had recovered, Rosa Gigantea did not lend her a hand. For that, Shimako was again grateful.

"… But, crying might be a good sign."

Rosa Gigantea went back to cutting the cheesecake into pieces with her fork and eating it. The lights in the room weren't turned on. Because it was the weekend, the guard probably wouldn't patrol this area but it would still be bad if light were to leak out. 

"It might be good for you to show some more of the weakness befitting your age, Shimako."

"My weakness"

Shimako took a seat facing Rosa Gigantea. It felt like the first time in a long time that it had just been the two of them in the Rose Mansion. They were the type of soeurs that always kept some distance as they looked at each other. 

After all, the two of them were mirrors. They could see themselves in each other. 

"If you try to shoulder everything yourself, you'll be crushed. Nobody is going to criticize you if you show some weakness. Or if they do, it just means they're a worthless human being and you should cast them aside. That's not the sort of thing friends do."

"Yeah"

She understood Rosa Gigantea's reasoning.

The people who loved her knew of the secrets hidden within her heart, so would not change their behavior towards her. So the only one worrying about it was herself. As long as she stayed calm it would be no big deal, and her world would probably open up further.

"But I can't take the next step."

"Spring will arrive very soon."

As she said this, Rosa Gigantea stood up and took a clean fork from the cutlery drawer. She then skewered a piece of the cheesecake and offered it to Shimako.

"Things will change when Spring arrives, right?"

Shimako took the offered fork and ate from it. It was sweet and sour. A hint of salt was mixed in, from her recent tears.

"Yep. The cherry blossoms will bloom. You'll meet new people."

"I first met you in Spring, Rosa Gigantea."

"Right. I first met you in Spring, Shimako."

The two of them ate their way through the cheesecake, little by little.

"Shizuka-sama tricked me."

"Shizuka? Oh yeah, what happened to Shizuka? I came here because she called me, you know."

"Yeah"

Having washed the cutlery, Shimako smiled as she dried her hands on her handkerchief.

"Her forte is surprising people, don't you think?"

"Yeah"

"A real criminal mastermind. But she's also quite considerate."

"Really?"

Rosa Gigantea shut off the space heater. As they hadn't turned the lights on, it was now almost pitch black.

"So now I finally understand."

The front gate may already be shut, in which case they would have to climb over the wall. But even that would be okay. Given the way things were going today, it seemed likely.

"What is it you understand?"

Rosa Gigantea asked her, waiting by the open door.

"The main reason for my date with Shizuka-sama."

Shimako answered as she hurried over.

"The reason?"

"So there would be no acrimony between Shizuka-sama's class and the boutons."

"Acrimony, huh"

Rosa Gigantea gently closed the door and then spoke.

"… Aren't you perhaps over-thinking this?"