Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume26 Chapter4 3

A Shortcut and Dropping In on the Way. Part 3

After parting ways with Tsutako-san and her helper, Chisato returned to the school building.

Going to the library and looking at all those books had reminded her that she'd borrowed a book from Yamamura-sensei. It was a kendo manual from when Yamamura-sensei had been in school that was written in a very easy to understand manner but was now out of print, and the library didn't have a copy.

Chisato had borrowed it a week ago and Yamamura-sensei had told her she should return it whenever she was done with it, so it didn't have to be done today. But Chisato had decided that she would definitely return it today.

She was incredibly grateful to her teacher for lending her such a precious book and she wanted to convey those feelings one way or another.

Whenever her mother borrowed something, she'd return it with a small no–strings–attached gift. Chisato wanted to mimic this behavior, to be more adult, but she was inexperienced in this sort of thing and the no–strings–attached gift was tricky. And her target this time was a teacher at her school, and her club's adviser. Even if she said it was to express her gratitude, she wasn't sure whether or not it would be accepted.

But today was different. Public gift giving was permitted today. Chisato intended to also hand over a small box of chocolates when she returned the book.

Typically, the teachers wouldn't accept presents. But Yamamura-sensei was a graduate of Lillian's, so she understood the students' feelings and didn't outright reject the gifts. Chisato had actually been to the staff room at lunch time but there had been such a crowd around Yamamura-sensei's desk that she didn't have an opportunity to jump in.

Of course, it wasn't just Yamamura-sensei — Katori-sensei and Hoshina-sensei were in a similar situation too. In general, the female high school teachers were more popular with the students, which was most unfortunate for the male teachers on this particular day.

With all that going on, she hadn't completed her task at lunchtime, and then she'd got caught up in the treasure hunt after school. On reflection, everyone probably wanted to hand over their gifts at lunchtime because they expected they'd be busy after school.

(The teachers are probably still in the staff room.)

The teachers would probably stay at school until the treasure hunt finished. So if she wanted to return the book, it had to be now. If she went as soon as the event was over, that small delay could be enough for Yamamura-sensei to leave. So even though it was in the middle of the game, Chisato took a break to go and see Yamamura-sensei.

(Yoshino-san's card has to be hidden in the library.)

She'd originally come up with a couple of possible locations. Like, Yoshino-san was a Kendo Club member, so maybe she'd hidden it in the martial arts building — under the tatami mats, or on the ceiling, for instance.

But now she'd completely ruled out those possibilities.

When all the participants had gathered in the courtyard, and Mami-san read out the rules, there were no other Newspaper Club members anywhere in sight. Chisato guessed that they were using that time to hide the cards.

There were three cards in total. But it wasn't just the cards, they'd also placed hints and warnings here and there.

How many members did the Newspaper Club have? Five? Six? Something like that. Not enough people to do anything too crazy. Since each card would be entrusted to just one or two people, it couldn't be hidden anywhere that required a lot of effort or complicated setup. Since they had such little time, it was hard to imagine them hiding it under the heavy tatami mats or on the high ceiling.

Since there wasn't anywhere she desperately wanted to look, she wasn't even slightly reluctant to suspend her search. So, for now, she headed to her classroom to pick up the book she'd borrowed and the chocolates.

There was no one in the classroom.

The treasure hunt excluded certain areas that would favor specific students, as well as places that would cause a nuisance to non-participants, like inside the toilet blocks, the school infirmary, or the principal's office.

(Right, right — inside the staff room too.)

Chisato retrieved her bag with the book and chocolates from her locker and left the classroom. The hallway, which was "in-bounds," was a lot more lively than the classroom. Everyone was holding a print-out with the map and searching high and low.

Which colored card were they looking for? Surely one of the cards should have been found by now. She was pondering this sort of thing as she walked when suddenly her eyes were drawn to a solo student walking past.

(Hm?)

Why was that? Out of all the students, she was the only one that had captured Chisato's attention.

She was wearing the same school uniform as everyone else. Carrying the map in the same way. Her body wasn't distinctive either, being neither conspicuously tall nor fat.

How was she different to the other students? What about her had caught Chisato's attention?

(Ah, that's it.)

It was her eyes.

From this distance, Chisato couldn't make out the girl's pupils, but she could tell that her gaze was fixed on a specific point. Right, it was her gaze.

Amidst all the girls whose eyes wandered as they searched for a card, she stood out because she was the only one who moved with a definite purpose.

(Where could she be going?)

Chisato found herself following the girl. The staff room was getting further and further away, but she was slowly closing the gap on her. Chisato couldn't leave until she found out where that girl was going.

Eventually, she stopped in front of the social studies prep room. After determining that it wasn't locked, she turned the knob and opened the door. That was the first time that Chisato saw the girl's face clearly.

(Matsudaira Touko … !?)

Chisato stood frozen to the spot in the hallway, before she finally remembered Yamamura-sensei and turned back towards the staff room.

As she walked, Chisato smiled to herself.

Matsudaira Touko had gone into the social studies prep room to look for a card. But that couldn't have been all it was.

She'd been so pumped up about something.