Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume9 Chapter2

Falling Cherry Blossoms / Exam Failure

Part 1.

"Oh, isn't that Noriko-san over there?"

"Huh?"

Hearing her name called, the young girl that had her eyes on the ground as she walked along the path lined with ginkgo trees turned around. Her short bob-cut hair swayed gently like a murmuring brook.

"Gokigenyou."

There were three girls wearing the same uniform as Noriko. Standing there, smiling amiably.

"You're by yourself? If you'd like, we could walk to class together."

"… Umm."

Noriko thought, "This is bad."

Despite instinctively turning to look at them, Noriko had absolutely no idea who it was that had called out to her.

"Well, it's only been four days since the entrance ceremony. It's probably too much to ask that you've remembered our names?"

"Hah … "

Obviously she couldn't respond to the smiling girls with, "Actually, I don't even remember your faces." Instead, Noriko adopted the same expression as them and started off with, "Gokigenyou everyone." Since they called out to her, they were probably in the same class.

"Forgive me, I haven't been able to memorize everyone in the class's name just yet."

"That's understandable. Noriko-san took the entrance exam to come to Lillian's from another school."

The three girls then politely introduced themselves with, "I'm Touko," "I'm Atsuko", "I'm Miyuki."

"Touko-san, Atsuko-san, Miyuki-san."

As a courtesy, Noriko recited the names of the three girls. Appending the honorific "-san" to their names was the standard at this school, although she still wasn't quite used to that.

(Touko, Atsuko, Miyuki. Touko, Atsuko, Miyuki. Touko, Atsuko, Miyuki … it's not happening.)

Their polite self-introductions would probably be wasted effort. Because, by tomorrow, Noriko would surely have forgotten this incantation.

(It's because they all look the same.)

They each had different faces and hairstyles, but the overall impression was still the same.

With their old-fashioned uniforms and the same polite manner of speaking, they were all innocent, kind-hearted, adorable angels.

(Although since I got in, they mustn't check your parents' income or pedigree.)

Looking around, all she could see were well-mannered, upper-class daughters.

"Now, Noriko-chan. Shall we go? Come on."

"Hah."

Having been stared down by the angels, Noriko could only follow along behind them.

"Ever since the entrance ceremony, I've been thinking I'd like to get to know you better Noriko-san."

Said the girl with ringlets hanging past her ears, who had called herself Touko. It was a retro hairstyle that wasn't all that common on the street but it didn't look out of place at all here, perhaps due to the antique design of the school uniform.

The problem was the uniform.

The cloth that was matte black with just a drop of green, the ivory sailor collar with a line through it, that was something. But low-waist dresses weren't that sought after these days. Add to that, it was rare that skirts were kept beneath the knee, making it something of an endangered species. Completing the set was three-fold white socks and black leather ballet-style shoes, it was just – .

(Where is this place? What century is it in?)

As she walked, Noriko idly gazed at the row of girls. None of them were grappling with the endangered species question, they were just wearing the clothes. Until now, nobody had ever been rude enough to consider the possibility of redesigning the uniform.

(However.)

As she lumbered on, Noriko plucked at the hem of her pleated skirt.

It looked as though she was the only one that thought that, no matter how she looked at it, the uniform didn't suit her. But that was probably all in her mind.

I'm different to those girls.

Noriko knew full well that she was the exception.

"At the entrance ceremony, Noriko-san, you gave the welcome as the the new students' representative, didn't you?"

When Noriko raised her head, waiting there were Touko's sparkling eyes. It looked as though their conversation wasn't over yet.

"The welcome … what of it?"

She chose her words with care. Until she fully understood what type of place this was, she should take care not to stand out.

"Nothing, it's just that you draw attention to yourself by virtue of being the one who gave that welcome."

Touko smiled at Noriko's odd expression as she tried to decipher those words, then gently adjusted the shape of Noriko's ribbon.

"A disheveled ribbon would draw even more attention."

"?"

"It would be bad if you were cautioned by an older student."

– She seemed to be a meddler.

The path through the ginkgo trees meandered from place to place. The girls stopped right at the point where the path forked.

There was a small fenced garden at this location.

In the small garden there was a small pond, and surrounding it a small grove, with a pure white statue of the virgin Mary right in the middle. Welcoming the students as they arrived from the front gate.

"Maria-sama. Please watch over us today as always, so that we can live our life properly in accordance with God's teachings."

In front of her, Maria-sama smiled with a profound benevolence as the innocent angels beside her wholeheartedly offered up their prayers.

(Please forgive me, Maria-sama.)

Noriko imitated her three classmates and joined her hands in prayer. Then, deep in her heart, she felt regret.

(Honestly, someone like me isn't qualified to stand before Maria-sama.)

When she opened her eyes and gently looked up, Maria-sama was simply looking back at her, and no reply was forthcoming.

"You were praying quite earnestly there, Noriko-san. What were you discussing with Maria-sama?"

The smiling faces of those innocent girls brought on even greater feelings of guilt.

"Ah. Um, I was praying that I'd quickly become accustomed to school life."

Noriko answered, with a strained smile.

"My! Maria-sama will surely look after you."

The three angels agreed, their shining eyes showing not even a trace of disbelief.

( … Ah, a bed of nails.)

Would she be able to survive three years at this place? Noriko surreptitiously sighed.

Even though her school life was only just beginning.

Part 2.

– Reverse "Hidden Christian."

That was the masochistic nickname that Noriko had given herself.

(My hobby's viewing Buddhist statues, yeah.)

In her spare time, she'd visit Buddhist temples and admire their statues. But that wasn't the sort of thing you could say out loud at a Catholic school.

There was no image of Kannon inside the statue of Maria-sama.

A long time ago, persecuted Christians would pray before statues of the virgin Mary shaped to look like the goddess Kannon, but she wasn't even close to being that devout. Noriko was simply charmed by the beauty of the shape of Buddhist statues.

The cherry trees were visible from the windows of the first-year camellia group classroom.

Since they'd been in full bloom on the day of the entrance ceremony, the branches were now quite bare. But even so, when the wind blew, there was a scattering of petals like the first flurries of snow.

The sister in charge of religious education was telling a story related to the bible scriptures.

(If it hadn't been snowing that day … )

Noriko would ponder this from time to time.

Speculating that she wouldn't have been here.

Another place would have been made for her, not here, and that place must be her proper location, right?

The snow of roughly a month and a half ago combined with the somewhat refined hobby for a 15-year old girl had changed the course of Noriko's life.

– She'd lost out in the fiercely competitive entrance exams.

She hadn't tasted a setback related to studying. She was more than confident that she could conquer the high-school entrance exams. She got a passing grade on all the mock exams for her first-choice school, and her homeroom teacher had given her the seal of approval, saying she'd definitely pass.

So why was it that she was currently here? For no other reason than that on the day of the entrance exam, she wasn't able to make it to the examination hall. All the seals of approval in the world didn't count for anything if you didn't take the test.

On the day before the entrance exam, Noriko was in Kyoto.

That day was the one day every twenty years that a certain temple made their statue of Kannon viewable to the public. – Once in twenty years. If she let that chance escape, she'd be 35 by the time it came around again.

She didn't even think about it. Chiba and Kyoto were close enough for it to be a day-trip.

However.

(As they say, going's easy, it's the coming back that's hard.)

Unfortunately, bullet-train services were suspended due to heavy snow. So, the only option she had was to accept the offer she'd already received to attend Lillian's Girls Academy.

"Nijou-san, are you listening?"

"Ah, yes."

The sisters didn't get angry, even when the students looked out the windows.

Maria-sama's always watching over you. That sort of thing was all they'd say.

"There's also Chapter 15 in the Gospel According to Luke."

It was the story about a shepherd with 100 sheep, asking if he'd leave behind 99 sheep to search for the one that had gone missing. The Bible was overflowing with parables.

The sister was still lecturing as she spread her arms wide.

"The Lord will not abandon those who seek his assistance. Let us pray together. For God is pleased when we guide his lost little lambs."

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