Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume8 Chapter6

Towards the Light

Part 1

The sunlight was warm.

Eriko instinctively squinted the moment she stepped out of the gymnasium.

Dazzling.

Her eyes had become accustomed to the gymnasium interior and, even with the lights on, it fell far short of the radiance of a sunny day.

"Eriko-san, Eriko-san."

"Huh?"

Eriko's shoulder was being shaken by her classmate beside her. Wondering what was happening, she opened her eyes fully and the first thing that sprang into view was –

"… Yamanobe-san."

The bear-man.

"What are you doing here!?"

Eriko parted from the line of third-year chrysanthemum students when she passed by his location and stood beside him. "Here" was alongside the gymnasium, but quite a distance from the entrance.

"I'm ashamed."

Those were the first words out of Yamanobe-san's mouth.

"Ashamed?"

The line of Eriko's classmates continued on, as though nothing had happened. Those she'd told about Yamanobe-san gave her a wink and a thumbs-up.

"That's what I said. That's why I'm here."

Eriko was getting annoyed as she questioned him. At least he'd shown up outside the gymnasium just as the graduating seniors were exiting. It was obvious he hadn't attended the ceremony.

"… Did you just arrive?"

"No."

"Then why didn't you go inside?"

"Because I was ashamed."

Yamanobe-san's energetic bowing caught the eye of some students near the gymnasium entrance. They fleetingly glanced her way, but when Eriko caught their eyes they quickly turned their attention back to what was happening inside the hall. They weren't seniors lined up to exit the gymnasium. Since they were wearing armbands, they were probably part of the stage crew helping with the ceremony.

"Ha hmm."

Eriko could see the course of events that had unfolded.

"You were mistaken for a creep."

With his tattered sweater and beard, he didn't look like someone going to attend a graduation ceremony. On top of that, since he would have dropped everything and rushed here straight from Hanadera Academy, he probably didn't have proper ID either. So even if he said he'd been invited, it would have been a tough sell.

"That's why I said you should come with my parents."

The checks were rigorous because Lillian's was a girls school. So even though Yamanobe-san somehow made it onto the premises, getting into the gymnasium had proved to be impossible.

The students at reception weren't at fault. It was disappointing that Yamanobe-san had given up so easily when they asked for a student's name and his relation to her.

"When I thought about it, since I'm not family or anything, I didn't think I was entitled to enter the hall – "

"… Idiot. It's my graduation, and I asked you to come, so that more than entitles you."

Yamanobe-san seemed a bit startled by Eriko's caustic words, but in the end he nodded in assent.

"Ahh, right. That's true."

Eriko sighed, was this man really ten years her senior? But, well, she was in love, so she could let it slide.

"You should probably head off soon."

Yamanobe-san pointed to the line of students exiting the gymnasium. It was only now that he looked like a competent enough teacher.

"You're right."

Eriko meekly agreed, and turned her back on Yamanobe-san. Ahead of her was Youko. The last student of camellia class had just left the gymnasium.

She jogged a few steps, then turned around.

"Thank-you for coming."

"Not at all."

Yamanobe-san looked awkward, but he spoke sincerely.

"Congratulations on your graduation, Eriko-san."

Happiness.

Part 2

The sunlight was warm.

Youko instinctively squinted the moment she walked she walked through the doorway. There were hardly any clouds to intercept the sun's rays streaming down on her.

The seniors walked from the gymnasium back to their homeroom, where they were given their graduation certificates and report cards. Youko's classmates were all excited, not really paying attention to what their homeroom teacher was saying.

Things like, "You're considered students of Lillian's Girls Academy right up until the end of March, so make sure you behave yourselves."

And, "From April, you'll be graduates of Lillian's, so make sure you live a life that Maria-sama would be proud of."

The teacher droned on and on with these pieces of advice. But she was probably just following standard operating procedure about what to say during the final homeroom period, and the students knew this so they pretended to listen and nodded along, saying "Mm-hmm."

The Yamayurikai members assembled near the entrance to the school building.

Sachiko, Rei, Yoshino-chan. Shimako and Yumi-chan were nowhere to be seen, so it looked like first-year peach class's homeroom hadn't finished yet.

"Youko, have you got your indoor shoes?"

It looked like chrysanthemum class had been let out first. Eriko smiled as she made her way over.

"Of course?"

"No mistake there. Unlike a certain someone."

A certain someone? As Youko tilted her head in confusion, a shadow appeared behind her.

"A certain someone? You mean me?"

It was Sei.

"Listen to this, Youko. Sei left her indoor shoes in her shoe box, just like every other day."

Eriko cackled, as though she found it hilarious.

"You're laughing a bit too much."

Sei looked gloomy, her expression one of a little child that had been woken up from their afternoon nap. She had undoubtedly fallen asleep during the graduation ceremony.

"Honestly. You've just graduated, what were you thinking, leaving your indoor shoes behind? That the next person to get your locker would use them?"

Even right up to the end, Eriko wasn't about to go easy.

"Since her university's on the same grounds, she was probably just completely relaxed."

"Thanks for that. But this has nothing to do with university, it's just one of my eccentricities. Surely you know I've got a 50% strike rate for leaving my indoor shoes behind after closing ceremonies."

"No way. I don't believe it."

"I can tell you about it now, but I had to come and get them during summer vacation."

Apparently even Sei wasn't game to leave her indoor shoes in the shoe box for the entirety of the 40 day summer vacation. They probably would have festered, being left in a dark, unventilated place.

"You shouldn't speak too openly. If you say any more, you'll ruin your fans' image of you."

Listening to them talk, Youko was confused. Surely Sei's image was already pretty wobbly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Shimako and Yumi-chan appeared, accompanied by "Camera-chan," Takeshima Tsutako-chan.

They'd arranged for her to take photographs with all the Yamayurikai members, to commemorate their graduation.

Thankfully, they'd been blessed with good weather. While a photo with them all holding umbrellas might be interesting, it would also be a lot of effort.

"Where should we take the photographs?"

Once Tsutako-chan had joined the conversation, Yumi-chan stealthily pulled Sachiko aside.

(I wonder what she's up to.)

Finding this deeply interesting, Youko focused her attention on those two.

"Here, onee-sama."

Yumi-chan held a pack of tissues out to Sachiko.

(Ohh.)

Youko watched on in admiration – that must have taken a lot of guts.

Sachiko looked refreshed, probably having washed her face somewhere, but it was hard to miss her red eyes and nose. Everyone had noticed, but no-one had reached out to help the downcast Sachiko.

"What?"

Sachiko responded with aggression, probably feeling awkward after breaking down in tears in front of the entire school, not to mention the parents and guests.

"You'll feel better if you blow your nose."

"What are you – "

"It even works for dry-eye and allergies. You'll feel better, no matter what. The day before yesterday, I was feeling the same as you, onee-sama, and Shimako-san gave me a tissue, so I thought … "

"–"

Sachiko was silent, overwhelmed by Yumi-chan's intensity.

"I'll really feel better?"

As she spoke, Sachiko pulled a tissue from the pack, then blew her nose with all her might.

Chi~n.

After putting the tissue in her pocket, Sachiko's face had a wonderful expression when she looked up.

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