Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume34 Chapter2

Chinami-san and me

I worked so hard to get into high school, but I failed miserably right from the start.

Free from studying for entrance exams and of course with no homework, I was enjoying the spring break, spending every day hanging out with my friends from middle school. But then I caught influenza, which I must have gotten somewhere during that time, and was absent from school from the first day.

The entrance ceremony was a chance to meet my classmates with whom I would be studying in the same classroom for the next year, and I wanted to attend even if I had to crawl, but my mother persuaded me to give up, saying that it would be a shame to spread the disease to my classmates with whom I would be studying in the same classroom for the next year.

I wouldn’t be able to bear the thought of being treated like a pathogen for a year because of that, and I wouldn’t like being given a strange nickname like “Influenza-san”.

So when I recovered and tried on the black uniform I had always wanted and went to school, I was shocked to find the student sitting next to me was missing. Of course, my virus didn’t spread.

“Chinami-san has gone overseas for treatment. I was keeping this for Terasu-san and was told to give it to her when she comes back”.

My classmate handed me a notebook.

Thanks to the injections and medicine, the high fever from the flu went down in about three days, but my family doctor, who had been taking care of me since I was a child, was slow to prescribe me medicine, and it was already ten days after the entrance ceremony that I went to school for the first time. Meanwhile, the orientation was over and the classes had already started.

Apparently, the kind person sitting next to me, Hibino Chinami-san, had made the notebook for me. In the notebook, information about all the subjects taught was written down. It wasn’t filled with only study-related material; it was fun and included pages with teachers’ self-introductions and, in some cases, even caricatures.

“I’m really glad you came to school today, Terasu-san. Chinami-san asked me to continue this, but I’m not as good at writing or drawing as Chinami-san”.

Hiroe-san, sitting in front of me, who must have opened the notebook and looked inside, added with a laugh.

**

My classmates warmly welcomed me back even though I was absent.

Of course, at Lillian Girls’ Academy, a prestigious school for rich girls, not a single student would call me by a silly nickname like “Influenza-san”. Actually, no one here has a nickname. If you are in the same year, it is a standard to call them by their first name with the “san” honorific.

Now, I received the notebook and decided to continue the work that my classmates had been asked to do by Chinami-san.

Maybe, since I am attending classes now, it is no longer necessary? What are you talking about? Starting today, this notebook will become a notebook for Chinami-san, who is currently absent.

“May I help you?”

Some people from my class asked me, but I told them “It’s okay”. After all, Chinami-san made the notebook for me by herself, so there was no reason why I couldn’t do it, and more than anything, I wanted to do it by myself.

Because it seemed like it was my turn to sit there. This is like an exchange diary between me and Chinami-san. Although we haven’t met yet, Chinami-san is my first friend from high school.

As I was filling the notebook, I imagined all sorts of things about Chinami-san.

“Chinami-san? Yes. She has short hair and a round face. But she is thin and has thin limbs. Her skin looked pale, but now that I think about it, maybe she was sick and had a bad complexion. Also, she has a yaeba .”

When I asked, Hiroshi-san told me that. She has a round face, is thin, has a pale complexion, short hair, and has a yaeba – even having these fragmentary features, it is still difficult to create an image of the girl. If anything, it would be easier to imagine her by learning what celebrity she resembles. Hiroshi-san seemed to be unable to come up with any good ideas.

“If I had to say, she looks like my cousin.”

“…………”

Unfortunately, I have never met Hiroe’s cousin, and I don’t think I will have the chance to meet her in the future either.

“Quiet and elegant, serious and reliable.”

This was clear from the neatly written letters in the notebook. And, if I may, the illustrations are great too.

The comical illustration titled “Terasu-san’s imagined image” drawn in the margin of the notebook was several times cuter than me, but the arrangement of her hairstyle and facial features was exquisite, and the overall impression was very similar to me, considering it was drawn from imagination.

***

“Terasu-san. Would you like to join us?”

As I was about to leave the classroom with my lunch in hand, a classmate called out to me.

“Thank you. However, the weather is nice today, so…”

I wanted to eat outside, so I waved and walked out into the hallway.

It’s not like I really wanted to eat outside. It feels nice to eat lunch in the sun this time of year, but just being outside means there are bugs and the wind brings in dirt and small leaves.

And the answer to “would you like to join us?” should be “Yes” or “No”. “The weather is nice today, so I can’t eat with you guys” is a strange response. There is no way to be sure that the girls who invited me won’t eat outside. There is also the option of eating the lunch together outside.

“Is that so? Okay, see you later.”

My classmates didn’t force me. And after a while they would probably ask me, “Would you like to join us?”

I was often alone.

Ten days after the entrance ceremony, the class committee was decided, students ate lunch together, and students in the same clubs got together, so the friendship groups were pretty much already formed. Because of this I was a late starter and was unable to find my place or position, so I just drifted around the classroom.

By some prank from God, my last name is Watanuki and my attendance number is last. If we had to pair up in order of the list, Chinami-san was absent and the class size was odd, so I was the “extra one”.

(Ah~. Why can’t Chinami-san come back to school sooner)

I was thinking this during a boring class with not much writing on the board, and just as I was sighing, a voice reached me at the exact same time.

“Did you call me?”

If I get a reply to these thoughts in my heart, even if it’s a coincidence, I’d be like, “What’s that?” So before I could even think about such reasoning, I turned my head in the direction of the voice.

Of course, there was no one in the empty seat to my right.

I gave a wry smile and went back to my boring class. An old teacher is writing out mathematical formulae with a piece of chalk. Copy it into your notebook first.

There is no way it’s Chinami-san. Her teacher had just told her this morning that the surgery she had overseas was successful and that she would be back in two weeks.

However, just as I was convincing myself that I had probably just been hearing things, the same voice came again.

“Are you ignoring me?”

This time I heard it more clearly. I looked around Chinami-san’s seat. However, no one in front of me or to my right (our seats are in the last row, and the left seat is mine) turned towards me and showed me, “I was the one who spoke up just now”. On the contrary, it seems that no one even noticed the obvious “Are you ignoring me?”

What does it mean? Then.

“That’s right. I am speaking so that only Terasu-san can hear”.

Who is?

“Here, here”.

Going “koko-koko”, is that a chicken?

Judging by the way they were waving their hand, they were definitely the person who had been speaking to me for a while now.

(…………)

No, I wonder if it is okay to call them a person.

Sitting on Chinami-san’s chair and looking towards me was a light green, spherical object that at first glance appeared to be about the size of a summer mandarin orange. It had large eyes with little pupils, and a large mouth with jaggered teeth like a carnivorous dinosaur, and thin, short arms and legs. The hair was just sitting there like a tomato stem.

“Uh…”

It looked like something you might see for a mascot for a local government or event, but, honestly, I wouldn’t call it cute.

(Chinami-san……?)

I seemed to ask in my mind. The reason I thought so was because that was definitely Chinami-san’s seat, and I was thinking about her earlier when she responded with “Did you call me?” From the preceding interactions I knew I could convey my feelings without saying anything.

“Hmm, well, yeah”.

A vague reply came from the mouth of the pale green sphere. Since I asked if it was Chinami-san, the answer should have been a YES or a NO.

So for now I’ve decided to call her “Chinami-san”. To distinguish her from “Chinami-san” I’ve decided to refer to her in katakana.

It was lunchtime, so I went outside with Chinami-san in my right hand and my lunchbox in my left. The courtyard was too crowded, so today I went out to the grounds.

“Hey, Chinami-san.”

Even when I spoke to her, Chinami-san didn’t reply. She just ran around the slope of the bank that rose up all around the track, yelling.

When I gave up and started eating my lunch, she suddenly climbed onto my shoulder and started watching my chopsticks move. It’s a little heavy, but I endure and continue eating my lunch. Chinami-san came close to me, so it would be bad if I let her go. When I put it like that, it sounds like I’m talking about a firefly that has finally landed on a branch in front of me, but that’s how I really feel.

However, Chinami-san didn’t leave even after lunch break ended. Sitting on Chinami-san’s chair, pretending to listen to the lecture. I continued taking notes for both of us, occasionally glancing sideways. If Chinami-san was Chinami-san, I wouldn’t have had to continue writing her notebook, but it must be extremely difficult for her to hold a mechanical pencil in her small, slender hands.

****

The next day, and the day after that, Chinami-san continued to exist.

Chinami-san freely changed size depending on the situation. During gym class, she became as small as a bean and stuck herself behind my ear. During lunch brakes, she swelled up to the size of a large watermelon and took naps with me in the shade of trees.

“Hey, Terasu-san, have you read the new Cosmos Book Collection book yet?”

Sometimes, when she felt like it, she would bring up such topics with me. We didn’t just talk about books, but also about fashion magazine articles, TV dramas, and even who were our favorites in idol groups.

Most of the time, the ideas for these talks came from trading magazines that my classmates had read during breaks that day. Yet, Chinami-san would talk about these things as if they were something she came up with. At times she would proudly stick her non-existent nose up in the air and make a face that said, “How is that?”

While thinking, “I’ve heard this somewhere before,” I answered one by one, “I’m going to buy the new book when I have some pocket money, so please don’t tell me what it’s about,” “I like pink pants more than blue skirts,” and “In Pink I like the guy on the right who is good at dancing more than the guy singing”.

Then Chinami-san would laugh with a “gya-gya-gya”. When she asked for my opinions and preferences, she never shared anything about herself in return. On top of that, she didn’t seem to be that interested in what I have to say. She just found it amusing that I responded to the topics she brought up.

When imitating her classmates’ tone of voice, Chinami-san seemed to be very careful to pronounce her words like a high school girl, but usually her normal voice was cracked and muffled, yet loud and strange. But hey, she looks weird so maybe that’s just how it is.

In a way, the way she ran around screaming, bounced around like a ball, and occasionally kicked me, all fit her appearance perfectly.

But the reason I couldn’t dismiss Chinami-san as just a monster was because she continued to attend classes.

Although she didn’t take notes, she always stayed in her seat in the classroom, and when I moved around the classroom, she followed me by either hanging on my shoulder or sitting in my pocket.

I’d heard that Chinami-san went overseas to receive treatment for her illness, and she must have undergone surgery there that changed her appearance to this.

It is unclear whether the operation was a success or a failure. However, even though her appearance was far removed from that of a human, she never seemed unhappy as she flew around cheerfully and said whatever she wanted.

*****

When we took attendance in morning homeroom, Chinami-san would enthusiastically raise her hand and say, “Yes!” when it’s Hibino Chinami-san’s turn. Unfortunately, the teacher, who could neither see nor hear Chinami-san, would mark a line across the attendance book and say, “She’s absent,” but occasionally forget to do so and move on to the next student, “Fujita Akiko”. At those times I would wonder if Chinami-san’s “Yes!” managed to slip through.

I found myself alone more often than ever. Chinami-san was always close, but I can’t talk if someone’s nearby. My classmates were concerned about me being isolated and would always talk to me about anything, but I was not lonely. When my homeroom teacher called me into the staff room and used the word “bullying”, I reflected on my actions a little and tried to talk to my classmates during short breaks, but I still went outside the classroom and spent my lunch break with Chinami-san.

When I engaged in small talk with someone else, Chinami-san would always get angry. Chinami-san was there too, so it wasn’t like we were secretly gathering, but that wasn’t Chinami-san’s logic.

“Terasu-san’s mean”.

Sometimes she would hit me with her tiny, thin hands, and sometimes she would just run away, sniff and cry.

“I don’t want Terasu-san to get along with other people. Terasu-san is the only one I have”.

At that time, I thought, “Huh?” At the beginning, Chinami-san said, “I was speaking so that only Terasu-san could hear”, but was that not the case? By chance, the voice reached me, and by chance I was the only one who could see her. If so, it was natural to be worried. If I were to blend in with my classmates and forget about Chinami-san, no one would notice her anymore. She would become a “non-existant person”.

I said “I’m sorry” and hugged the bitter summer orange Chinami-san. Chinami-san started getting mad, screaming “Let me go, you idiot!”, but eventually she calmed down and fell asleep in my hands.

Chinami-san’s round body was light green at first, but it gradually turned redder day by day, and was now a faint pink colour.

I guess I like Chinami-san. Appearance doesn't matter. Just because she is a different shape doesn’t mean she’s a hindrance. Even if the face looks a little scary, it can be said to be “charming” once you get used to it.

If Chinami-san feels lonely, she doesn’t need to talk to other people. I started to really think like that.

That’s why I didn’t join any clubs either. My classmates told me that the quickest way to get a “grand seour” was to join a club, but I didn’t have any particular desire to be close to a senior student.

The first midterm exams were over, and I got pretty good marks in all my subjects. Maybe it was a good idea to make another notebook for Chinami-san. During the exam, Chinami-san was rolling around on her chair. Naturally, no exam papers were handed out to her on her desk.

******

Even after the rainy season began, I continued making the notebook for Chinami-san, even though it may have been pointless to make it. There were so many different subjects packed into one book that the pages were about to run out. I was thinking I need to buy a new notebook, and one day after school my homeroom teacher called me to the staff room. I was tired of hearing her say, “try to fit in with the class” again and again, but she said she wanted to see Chinami-san’s notebook.

“Hmm. I see. That’s well done”.

The teacher flipped through the pages and praised the content.

“At first it was written for me by Hibino Chinami-san. It was easy to understand, so I just tried to imitate it-”

“But still. This is a neat notebook. Well done”.

There was no need for the teacher to praise me. I made the notebook for Chinami-san, no, maybe for my own satisfaction.

“Could you lend it to me for a bit?”

The teacher said.

I was thinking about starting the second notebook soon, so I said, “That’s fine”, and decided to leave it in the staff room. The teacher said, “Well then”, and handed me a brand new notebook instead.

“Watanuki-san. I hope Hibino-san comes back to school soon”.

I bowed silently and left the staff room.

Hibino Chinami-san will come back to school?

I didn’t really understand what that meant.

When I returned to the classroom, Chinami-san was waiting for me on top of my desk. She just asked “What were you talking about?” and then stared at me quietly.

She has been feeling a little down lately.

Is it because of the humid weather this season? I didn’t fully understand Chinami-san’s lifestyle, so I didn’t know if this theory was correct. If you just looked at the colour of her round body, it was red and shiny, and looked healthy.

“Bye-bye, see you tomorrow!”

I put the notebook the teacher gave me into my bag, waved goodbye to Chinami-san, and headed home.

The usual ritual.

Obviously, Chinami-san didn’t follow me home. I had no idea what Chinami-san was up to between “Bye-bye” and the next “Good morning!”

Will she be at school forever? Will she go home anyway? If it is a home, then where is it? Is it Hibino Chinami-san’s house, or does Chinami-san have another place to sleep? Like her lifestyle, Chinami-san’s private life was also a mystery to me.

*******

The next morning, when I got to school, Chinami-san was trembling in her chair.

“What’s wrong?”

I tried asking quietly in front of my classmates, but there was no response. It’s not that my voice wasn’t heard. Chinami-san had the ability to read my thoughts even without me saying anything out loud.

But it didn’t seem like she was ignoring me.

It felt like she didn’t have time to respond and didn’t have a clear answer to “What’s wrong?”

“The nurse’s office…... is out”.

Only I could see Chinami-san. If I took the nurse here, she would think I was crazy.

I was at a loss. My friend seemed unwell, but I couldn’t do anything to help her.

Without telling me the reason, Chinami-san just kept shivering violently during class, and during the break she ran up and down the classroom. It looked as if she was trying to escape something and was looking for a place to hide.

That’s how she spent the morning and then it was time for lunch.

I still ate lunch alone most of the time, but now that the rainy season was in full swing, I would often open my lunch box alone on my desk. Of course, if it’s raining, you can’t have lunch outside.

After the fourth class, Chinami-san was running around on top of the lockers and under the podium, occasionally bumping into the glass windows, but then she suddenly stopped like a toy with a broken beanbag, and looked towards the hallway.

As I was watching, wondering what it was, the next moment she came running straight towards me, like a toy with a fully wound spring.

“What is it?”

“Hush”.

Chinami-san put her slender fingers in her large mouth, grew to the size of a pickled plum and ate the egg omelet that was just between my lunch chopsticks and slipped into the empty space.

At that time, I was only interested in Chinami-san. So I was completely unaware of the commotion that was happening in the classroom.

“Terasu-san, Terasu-san”.

A member of the group of people eating their lunches together at four tables pushed together in front of me turned around and called out to me.

“Eh?”

I looked up, wondering if I was needed for something, but I quickly realized that wasn’t the case. She motioned me with her eyes to look around the front door of the classroom. As instructed, I turned my head in that direction and saw a student standing there surrounded by several classmates.

“Oh”.

When our eyes met, she walked slowly towards me, showing off her fangs. Coincidentally, she followed the same path that Chinami-san had just taken.

“Terasu-san”.

She stopped in front of me. As I stared at her in shock, she asked me to check again.

“You are Watanuki Terasu-san who took these notes for me while I was away, correct?”

The notebook that was handed to me by my teacher yesterday was in front of me. My and Chinami-san’s exchange class notes.

My head was all confused and I was starting to lose confidence in myself, but I was sure that my name was correct, so I nodded just that once.

Since Chinami-san was the only one I was taking notes for, this person must be Hibino Chinami-san. Even without the deduction, I knew exactly who it was the moment I saw her.

I knew it, but I didn’t understand it.

Chinami-san has returned to class. My classmates are excited.

I looked inside my lunch box.

So, what about Chinami-san, hiding there, holding her breath? Wasn’t Chinami-san Chinami-san?

“I actually came in the morning, but I had been absent for a long time, so I had to go to the staff room, the student guidance room, the nurse’s office, and other places in the morning to listen to the teachers’ lectures”.

As she spoke, Chinami-san attached her desk to mine.

“I will resume classes this afternoon. However, I will be observing the PE class for a while. Oh, and can we eat lunch together?”

After she was completely ready to eat, she said it as if she had just remembered, so I nodded slightly. I tried to find a reason to refuse in front of Chinami-san, but I couldn’t find one.

“Ah, found it”.

Chinami-san picked something up from my lunch box.

“Oh”.

It was Chinami-san.

“Uwah, let go”.

She squirmed and screamed, but Chinami-san didn’t care and just shoved her into her mouth. It happened in an instant and I couldn’t stop it.

Munch, munch, thump.

I can’t believe it. Chinami-san ate Chinami-san.

“Thank you for the meal. As Terasu-san recommended, the cherry tomatoes are very sweet”.

“Huh?”

Did I recommend it?

Moreover, Chinami-san seems to think that she has eaten a cherry tomato.

Hmm, were there cherry tomatoes in my lunch today?

Now that she mentioned it, I guess that’s true.

What should I do? I’m starting to find it harder to trust my memories.

“As a token of my thanks, please try my mother’s special cream croquettes”.

“Here you go”, said Chinami-san, handing me the lunch box.

After making sure the croquette had no arms or legs, I put it in my mouth and swallowed it.

And that was it.

Next to me, Chinami-san would sometimes laugh “gya-gya-gya” loudly with her mouth open.

Translator's Notes

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