Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume33 Chapter2 3

The Green Bird and the White Flower. Part 3.

"Wouldn't you agree that Yoshino-san just loves an occasion?"

Itsue-san said as they flew down the corridor together, watching their classmates ahead of them.

"Loves an occasion...?"

"Don't you think she gets worked up whenever there's an event? She was in fine form for the athletics festival and the school festival."

Hmm, perhaps she was on to something. Prior to the autumn of her first year of high school, Yoshino-san had been forced to abstain from a lot of activities due to her heart condition. Now that her body was healthy due to the surgery, her excitement made her reluctant to step aside whenever there was an event.

In this way, the spectacle of the graduation ceremony made her rush to accept the opportunity that was offered to her. That was the explanation tentatively put forth.

(However...)

What that all it was? Yumi felt it was selling Yoshino-san short.

Was Yoshino-san in such an excited state solely because of the spectacle of the graduation ceremony?

Well, it was only reasonable that Yoshino-san should be excited because her most precious onee-sama, Rei-sama, was graduating. But she'd known about Rei-sama's graduation for a long time now, and recently she looked as though she was no longer bothered by it.

More than just excitement, it felt as though Yoshino-san was going to explode at any moment. So you'd see her chatting, or flitting around, as a way of concealing this.

They'd had countless rehearsals for the graduation ceremony, so it would be strange for her to be panicking about that now (although there's a difference in tension for a rehearsal and for the real thing, of course).

On the other hand, the evening get-togethers of the Hasekura and Shimazu families had been dour affairs in the lead up to the graduation ceremony, so perhaps Yoshino-san hadn't been able to get excited until now.

(Hmmmmm.)

There was probably something in that. Come to think of it, Yoshino-san was all aflutter about something yesterday afternoon.

"What is it?"

In front of the staff room, Yoshino-san turned around and looked at Yumi.

"Uhh, nothing?"

"You look as though you want to say something."

"No way!"

Misa-san and Itsue-san shook their heads. No-one in their class wanted to make the wrong move and risk setting off the Yoshino-bomb. They had learned that from past experience.

"Really?"

Then that was settled, and Yoshino-san put her hand on the doorknob.

"Excuse me, we've come to pick up the flowers. Oh?"

As the door rattled open, they saw that some other visitors had arrived before them.

"Oh my."

Shimako-san and Katsura-san were there. Which means they must be the second year wisteria class. Apart from those two, there was another person with them – so three people in total.

"Yoshino-san, are you and the other girls going to pin the flowers to your seniors?"

Shimako-san asked, smiling meekly.

"Well...yeah."

In contrast, Yoshino-san had been visibly knocked off balance.

The general reasons for that could be easily guessed.

Firstly, they weren't the first class to arrive at the staff room (and they hadn't even been aware that the wisteria class was already there).

Secondly, the white corsages for each class were contained within three boxes, so there was no need for all six of them to come and collect them (the boxes weren't large enough that they needed two people to carry them, and because they only contained corsages, they were light).

And those were both things that Yoshino-san had taken the initiative and decided upon (that they would wait until everyone was there, and then go to the staff room to collect the flowers).

Yoshino-san realized all of this in an instant. So she was beside herself with remorse.

"Well then, we'll be off now."

Yoshino-san clenched her fists tightly as she saw the girls from the second year wisteria group file out smartly, each carrying one of the boxes. The five other girls all thought, 'That kind of thing really doesn't matter,' but none of them were brave enough to say it.

The three boxes marked 'third year pine class' were picked up by three of the girls and they were on their way out of the staff room when this time they ran into students from the second year chrysanthemum class. There were five of them from that class. – so it didn't look like there was any reason to worry about the numbers.

"Yoshino-san, are you and the other girls going to pin the flowers to your seniors?"

The exact same words they heard a short while ago, albeit from a different person.

"Well...yeah."

And the exact same response. Yumi sensed Yoshino-san's blood boiling and confiscated the box she had been holding. Yoshino-san seemed really annoyed. If things had continued, she looked like she would crush the box and all the corsages within it.

Let's see, we were the ones who arrived at the staff room before them. And as for the numbers, there's no big difference between five and six people.

So Yumi was wondering what the problem was, when she saw that Yoshino-san was looking only at one person in particular. In fact, it would be no exaggeration to say she was scowling at someone.

(Ah.)

That's it. That person over there was Tanuma Chisato-san.

Chisato-san, whether she intended to or not, was extremely good at rubbing Yoshino-san the wrong way. They were both in the kendo club, and had been a couple for the Valentine's Day dates. Yumi had seen them together on several occasions, but they never really seemed compatible – .

"… so that means you're also handing out the flowers then, Chisato-san."

Yoshino-san was visibly displeased as she said this.

"That's right."

A grinning Chisato-san answered. Incredible. As though she hadn't noticed Yoshino-san's glare.

"Oh, okay."

Glare-glare-glare-glaaaare.

The second year chrysanthemum group were in charge of the third year chrysanthemum group. Chisato-san was responsible for Rei-sama's class. It was clear that this was the cause of Yoshino-san's displeasure. There was nothing you could do to influence which class you were put in, but even so, Yoshino-san was undoubtedly asking herself why she couldn't have been in the chrysanthemum group.

Rei-sama's onee-sama, Torii Eriko-sama, had been in the third year chrysanthemum group. And Rei-sama had been in the second year chrysanthemum group at that time. Because of that, they fought alongside each other in the same colored headbands during the athletics festival and, on the day of the graduation ceremony, the petit soeur was able to pin the flower to the chest of her onee-sama.

"Do you want to stand in for me?"

Once more, that Chisato-san said something that could never happen. Whether or not she meant it as a joke, Yoshino-san wasn't laughing.

"I'm fine. Let's go, Yumi-san."

As Yumi was thinking that she didn't really want to get mixed up in all of this, Yoshino-san grabbed her arm with incredible strength and dragged her out into the hallway.

On the way out, Yoshino-san stopped and turned around, perhaps having changed her mind.

"I'm fine with not standing in for you. You're going to the third year chrysanthemum group as a representative of all the students enrolled at this school. In other words, you're already acting as a stand in for me."

It was said with such force and finality that it didn't allow for any comeback. Even so, Yumi was moved by those words.

A representative of all the students enrolled at this school, huh?

Such a nice thing to say, dear friend.