Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume30 Chapter2 1

Frivolity and Self-loathing. Part 1.

"Don't tell me you were waiting here for us?"

Yumi asked in disbelief.

"It's just a coincidence."

Yoshino-san answered sourly. When Rei-sama appeared from behind them she greeted Yumi's group of four with "Gokigenyou," but seemed to be forcing herself to be cheerful.

"I wonder if they've been fighting."

Even if Sachiko-sama hadn't whispered this in Yumi's ear, the tension that filled the two metre gap between the Yellow Rose sisters was obvious.

"They haven't changed a bit. No matter how much time passes, they're still acting like children."

That was an incredibly morally superior position for Sachiko-sama to take, considering she had been bickering with Kashiwagi-san not that long ago. But, thankfully, it looked like those comments hadn't carried to Yoshino-san's ears. Still with a sour look on her face, Yoshino-san poked her thumb over her shoulder and said:

"The impromptu gathering's still going on."

When Yumi turned around, Tsutako-san and Shouko-chan were standing right behind her. Shimako-san and Noriko-chan were also visible, a short distance away.

"It seems they caught the same train here."

Yoshino-san said. Although everyone had arrived at the amusement park half an hour after its opening time, Yoshino-san's use of the word 'seems' implied they hadn't arranged this meeting.

"Were the trains running late?"

"I didn't hear anything about that."

So, at the very least, Yoshino-san and Rei-sama's late arrival wasn't because of the trains.

"But there was congestion during the bus ride."

"Hmm."

They hadn't made it in time to catch their intended train due to the slow-moving bus and had lost thirty minutes. It all fit together. Still, as Yumi watched the Yellow Rose sisters walking away, she was convinced that something else had happened on their journey here. If the problem was only that they were late because they got stuck in traffic, Yoshino-san would be more animated, saying things like, "They need dedicated bus lanes," or, "There needs to be more buses." In contrast, gentle Rei-sama would never get upset over something as trivial as a traffic jam.

But enough of that. Yumi, Sachiko-sama, Kashiwagi-san and Yuuki each purchased a ticket with their own money.

Having said that, the decision that they should all pay their own way was arrived at only after a massive dispute. Sachiko-sama had announced, unprompted, that she would pay Yumi and Yuuki's share, since this was all so she could have her revenge. However, Yumi's parents were unwilling to stray from their principle that school students should each pay their own share, and the Fukuzawa siblings were unwilling to disobey their parents. In the end, they struck a deal where Kashiwagi-san would drive them, thereby letting the Ogasawara family cover the travel expenses (Kashiwagi-san and Sachiko-sama obviously kept their finances separate, but Yumi's parents knew they were related). Back then, neither Yumi nor anyone else in her family had imagined that Sachiko-sama would be driving.

After buying an all-day pass, they waited by the main entrance for Tsutako-san, Shouko-chan, Shimako-san and Noriko-chan to join them.

"Oh."

Surprisingly, it was only then that the White Rose sisters realized the other members were present. Shimako-san looked at her watch, then quietly said something like, "I wonder if we should go in." They probably hadn't expected to meet their friends here since they had arrived late themselves. Yumi had waved at them from the ticket counter, but apparently they hadn't noticed.

Still.

(What, what?)

A pall hung over the area, as though they were holding a wake.

There should be more energy to a gathering of ten young men and women at an amusement park on Sunday. But this group seemed to have run out of fizz, like a soda can that had been opened and then left to stand for an hour. They hadn't entered the park yet, and they were all like that. Even though they had been so enthusiastic yesterday evening.

They started by greeting each other with "Gokigenyou," although no-one looked particularly happy.

The Yellow Rose sisters were fighting about something. Noriko-chan was acting reticent with Shimako-san around. Even Tsutako-san and Shouko-chan were strangely awkward. Kashiwagi-san and Sachiko-sama were on-edge because of their bickering over traffic and driving, while the Fukuzawa siblings were exhausted from fretting over their respective seniors.

"… I suppose we should go inside."

Even though Yumi was worried about her friends, they wouldn't solve anything by standing there looking at each other. Since they had all arrived about 30 minutes late, they entered the park together, as though they had planned to do this.

"Since it turned out like this, it's a shame that Touko and Kanako-chan aren't here as well."

The amusement park date was always intended to be an optional outing, and if they happened to run into each other they could have some fun together. When they parted company last night, they hadn't been able to contact Kanako-chan and Touko had said she didn't know whether she would be able to come or not. If the park has just opened, they would have waited a while for Touko and Kanako-chan, but the park had already been open for thirty minutes so, assuming they intended to come, it was possible they were already inside.

"Surprisingly, they may have made it here when the park opened."

"It'd be nice if we met them inside."

Then let the Touko-and-Kanako-hunt begin!

"Ahh – the steam train's running!"

Yoshino-san pointed and shouted just after they'd walked though the main gate.

"You, you, and you. Let's go ride it."

As for who Yoshino-san was proposing should go on the ride with her, it was Yumi, Shimako-san and Tsutako-san. In other words, all of the second-years from Lillian's Girls Academy. By all rights, the first one to see Yoshino-san's smiling face should have been her partner, Rei-sama, but she was being completely ignored. Yumi didn't know what caused their fight, but the insinuation was quite obvious.

Noriko-chan and Shouko-chan were pulled in as well, following Shimako-san and Tsutako-san respectively. And then, just like that, Yoshino-san was in high spirits as she led the group of six.

"Yoshino. Yumi-chan's here with Sachiko."

Rei-sama was hastily chasing them, but Sachiko-sama said to her:

"It's okay. We'll all split up sooner or later, so we may as well have some fun together now."

"Indeed. The steam train looks as though it can hold ten people riding together, so does anyone mind if we join in?"

Kashiwagi-san smiled as he grabbed hold of Yuuki's arm. Yuuki shrugged himself free, saying he wasn't a child, and walked alongside Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama. Maybe older women were his type.

"Oh look, they have bicycles for inside the park."

"Ah. There's a bear riding a bike."

As they all traveled together, the conversation gradually picked up and the pall was lifted. There was no boisterous laughter, but it approached the liveliness of a Buddhist memorial service. Even Sachiko-sama and Kashiwagi-san, by keeping a buffer of other people between them, were able to soften their mood. Since it was such an insignificant quarrel, there were unlikely to be any long-term repercussions.

In that case, perhaps Yoshino-san and Rei-sama didn't want to be left alone just now. The White Rose sisters and the photography club duo didn't really understand what was going on, but since they agreed to ride on the steam train they obviously weren't looking to spend some time alone just yet.

Since the steam train could take over a hundred people at a time, it didn't take long until it was their turn. Now the problem was who would sit where. Normally, the couples that came together would pair up, ie. the White Rose sisters, the Yellow Rose sisters, the photography club duo, the Red Rose sisters and the pair from Hanadera Academy.

Occasionally they'd shuffle things around, but at present they had no way of randomly assigning lots, and no-one would want to do a show of hands for who sat where.

"Yoshino-san, what do you want to do?"

Yumi asked the most problematic person directly. Thereupon.

"It's okay. I'll sit with Rei-chan."

Was Yoshino-san's response. They way she said it made it obvious that she didn't want to be with Rei-chan, but that it was the lesser of two evils. That may be true, since she would be asked to explain if she sat with anyone else. Everyone had noticed that something was up, but Yoshino-san hadn't said a single word about their fight. It must be something she wasn't proud of.

So, they all boarded the steam train and sat down with their usual partner. Yumi was happy to be next to Sachiko-sama, but found herself glancing two seats forward to where Yoshino-san sat, out of concern.

As expected, Yoshino-san was completely ignoring Rei-sama on her left, instead looking only at the scenery through the window on her right.