Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume30 Chapter2 2

Frivolity and Self-loathing. Part 2.

The kindergarten aged boy sitting in the seat in front of her was constantly exclaiming "Wow!" and "Cool!"

At first he was excited just to be on a steam train, which he'd only seen in picture books before (apparently), then when it started moving he took great joy in the park scenery that coalesced around them, then called out reassuringly after confirming that his parents were sitting beside him.

(Ignorance is bliss.)

As she gazed at the scenery without noticing it, Yoshino let her own deep sigh join the rushing wind. It wasn't that she found the boy annoying or foolish. If anything, it was closer to envy or nostalgia. Yoshino had been that ignorant and determinedly excited when she woke up this morning.

Yesterday, after it was determined that they would be going to the amusement park, Yoshino couldn't stop herself from getting excited. Thoughts of going on the rides with Rei-chan, and what they would have for lunch, thrilled her – so much so that she awoke before her alarm clock went off this morning.

But despite that.

(How did things end up like this?)

Yoshino desperately wanted Maria-sama to tell her how she could turn things around, so that she could grab hold of Rei-chan's arm and innocently say, "Look at that," and "Wow," like the boy sitting in front of her.

Yoshino had arranged to meet with Rei-chan at 8:10am.

Having excitedly woken up over two hours before that, she had a leisurely breakfast, tried on the clothes she had picked out to wear last night, changed into a different pair that she thought might be better, then eventually went back to the first set of clothes. Despite taking such a long time to get dressed, there was still plenty of time left over.

Because she had so much free time, she started thinking unnecessary thoughts, which led to the cracks starting to form and the beginning of her sorrow.

"Hehehe."

Yoshino thought that her brain had probably melted from excitement. Upon reflection, it was obviously a mean-spirited practical joke, but at the time she was only thinking that it would be a bit of fun. She'd had the high spirits of a child in pre-school.

Yoshino finished all her preparations for going out, then at 8:05am got back into bed and pulled the blanket over her head.

When 8:10 rolled around and Yoshino still hadn't come out of her house, Rei-chan would enter the Shimazu house, and Yoshino's room, as usual.

(Yoshino, what are you doing? Wake up already.)

Just as Rei-chan pulls down the blanket:

(Buh!)

Yoshino, already dressed to go out, would poke out her tongue.

(Geeze, Yoshino.)

(Hehehe. Did I scare you?)

The two would look at each other and laugh. – Well, that was Yoshino's plan, anyway.

Still wearing her jacket and with the blanked pulled over her head, Yoshino started to boil, but she kept enduring it. A little bit of patience is always needed before something fun.

However.

No matter how long she waited, Rei-chan still didn't appear in her room. When she lifted up her blanket to take a look at the clock, thinking that perhaps it hadn't been five minutes just yet, Yoshino saw that it was 8:20am.

"Don't tell me Rei-chan overslept?" Yoshino thought as she got out of bed, but then she heard the sound of someone walking up the stairs, so she hurriedly got back in bed.

The sound of knocking on the door was quickly followed by the door opening.

Now, come to me.

Yoshino was waiting for the blanket to be ripped off her bed. Instead.

"What are you doing, Yoshino?"

The voice she heard was not Rei-chan's.

"Mother!?"

Naturally, when Yoshino pulled down the blanket the person standing there was the woman that had given birth to her.

"Where's Rei-chan!?"

"As she was leaving, she said she'd go on ahead since you weren't there on time."

"Huh."

"Hurry up and chase after her. Really, going back to sleep after you'd woken up so early."

Explaining that she hadn't gone back to sleep would be a pain, so Yoshino said, "I'm off," and flew out of the house. As she ran towards the bus stop, Yoshino cursed Rei-chan for making her do this.

Turning the corner, she caught sight of someone up ahead. The long, jeans-clad legs that poked out of the short, off-white trench-coat were moving briskly.

"Rei-chan."

Rei-chan stopped walking when Yoshino called out to her.

"Why'd you go on ahead of me?"

Yoshino complained as she ran.

"Because you weren't there at the time we'd set. I waited five minutes for you."

Rei-chan brazenly fixed Yoshino's bangs when she caught up. Damn it. It seems her hair got messed up while she was hiding under the blanket.

"But you usually come and get me."

If Rei-chan were to say, "I'm sorry,", then Yoshino was prepared to say, "It's my fault too." But that didn't happen.

"Why are you acting so spoiled?"

When Yoshino heard that, it was like a switch was flipped inside her.

What's wrong with that? After all, once Rei-chan had graduated, she wouldn't be able to participate in their morning ritual of waking Yoshino up just in time to make it to school.

But Rei-chan didn't agree. It was probably because she was graduating that she didn't want Yoshino to rely on her anymore.

Perhaps it was due to their different positions. The one heading out on a journey wanted to cut off all ties, while the one left behind wanted to cling to them.

"Ahh!"

Rei-chan cried out. The bus had sailed past them right at that moment. There was no-one waiting at the bus stop. It didn't look like anyone was getting off either, since the bus kept on going until it disappeared from view.

"Ahh."

As she listened to Rei-chan's despondent cry, Yoshino said:

"There's nothing we can do about it now."

"There's hardly any buses on a Sunday."

Rei-chan scratched her head.

"This is your fault, Yoshino."

"What?"

Sure, she hadn't been out in front of her house at the time they had agreed to, but that just meant Rei-chan should have come and got her. It had been Rei-chan's decision to wait five minutes, then leave without her, so she had no right to blame her. Even now, it was because of a choice she had made. If Rei-chan hadn't stopped when Yoshino called out to her, instead continuing to walk along in silence, she would have caught that bus.

"… Honestly."

Rei-chan studied the timetable printed on the bus stop, then looked at her watch and sighed theatrically.

For argument's sake, let's say Rei-chan did make it here on time and Yoshino still hadn't come, would she have got on that bus?

That's cold, Rei-chan. Yoshino curled her lower-lip as she looked at Rei-chan's profile. If that's how it was going to be, then damned if she'd open her mouth until she'd received an apology.

The next bus wouldn't be here for about twenty minutes. Rei-chan didn't attempt to talk to her, so Yoshino remained silent as well.

When they finally boarded the bus, it moved at a sluggish pace. The only possible reason was that the roads were packed. Looking out the front window, Yoshino saw all makes of cars, both big and small, filling the road to the train station. Even when the lights turned green, there was no hint of movement.

"Yoshino."

Rei-chan spoke, for the first time in thirty minutes. Thinking that Rei-chan was about to apologize, Yoshino responded with, "Yes?" and turned towards her. However, the next words out of Rei-chan's mouth were:

"Don't you have something to say to me?"

– That.

"Good morning, Rei-chan."

Yoshino forced a smile.

"That's not it."

Rei-chan was waiting for something else, but Yoshino said, "That's all," and shut her out.

It's a shame, but Yoshino wasn't going to be the first one to say, "I'm sorry," today.

As she absentmindedly watched the red light on the car in front of them, Yoshino thought, "At this rate, we're not going to make it to the amusement park by opening time."