Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume22 Chapter3.2

Section 2

Where Yoshino thought she would go to greet Nana, she instead met Sachiko-sama.

Sachiko-sama was bringing along Touko-chan and Kanako-chan.

"Gokigenyou, everyone."

Yoshino was the first to welcome the visitors. Great great, the two of them had finally arrived. Now the conditions for introducing Nana were set.

"Gokigenyou, Rosa Foetida en Bouton."

"Gokigenyou, Yoshino-sama."

Kanako-chan greeted them perkily, while Touko-chan greeted them mildly. Somehow, she had managed to bring a "I was dragged along" attitude in with her. She held hands with Kanako-chan and Noriko-chan, and was simply talking with the two. No, they weren't holding hands -- at least Kanako-chan's grip wasn't. It was to prevent Touko-chan from running away.

"Where are you headed Yoshino-chan?"

Sachiko-sama asked.

"Just to grab someone."

Yoshino wasn't willing to reveal just who she was yet, and Sachiko-sama didn't ask.

"I see. Thanks for the hard work then. Is everyone there already?"

"My Onee-san is there, and Shimako-san, and Yumi-san, oh and Noriko-chan too. Ahh, but they've all been in a group for a while now I guess."

Sachiko-sama nodded, then spoke as if she suddenly had thought of something.

"Well, if you see Tsutako-san, could you say something to her for me? Tell her that if she doesn't pick up the pace a bit, the party will start without her."

"Sure thing."

said Yoshino, as she began walking again. Though Yoshino didn't really think she'd meet Tsutako-san anywhere.

Right now, Tsutako-san had probably dragged someone in front of the Maria-sama statue, and had begun taking a flurry of pictures.

The Closing Ceremony, after all, came right before a long vacation, and so many girls would be found about the school falling into the bonds of sisterhood. Especially around this time of the year, with Christmas and the end of the year coming up, it is as if all the girls' bottled feelings would come gushing out.

She knew, because she had seen several such instances since she had come to school.

For that matter, why had Sachiko-sama known that Yoshino wasn't really looking for Tsutako-san?

Yoshino walked inside the middle school building, and found it deserted.

Yoshino-san opened the classroom door, and found Nana sitting there, by herself.

"I'm sorry. Had you been waiting a very long time?"

"I had."

Nana, who had inserted herself into a library book, had brought along a coat and even a handbag, not because she had been ready to get up and go at any time, but because a single step into the classroom made Yoshino realize how cold it was.

The heater had shut off, so it obviously had been a while. The hallways too had been cold, but because Yoshino had been walking quickly, she hadn't noticed. But sitting in a large room, alone, in a chair, obviously made the room feel cold.

"Have you been here since the end of homeroom?"

"No. I went to the mass to kill some time."

"Yoshino-sama did notice me."

"Ah, ..... um okay."

Even if Yoshino had recognized her, she wouldn't have said anything, and so one couldn't really call Yoshino disinterested. Rei-chan had been sitting right next to her, and so if Yoshino had called out to Nana, then everything would have come to a head right then and there, and Yoshino's big plan of introducing Nana to Rei-chan at the Christmas Party would have been a failure. Plus, Rei-chan had seen Nana at the <Hotel in the Middle of the Forest>.

"No, you were right, you hadn't seen me. The middle school girls wanted to keep a distance from the high school Onee-samas, and chose to quietly behind them."

"Oh, really?"

Yoshino had never been to a mass in middle school. Before she had undergone the heart surgery, Yoshino would have never even dreamed of choosing to stay in a cold place for long periods of time. Of course, she hadn't been able to go to very hot places either. But this past of Yoshino's seemed to her like some time long ago, in a faraway place.

"Shall we go?"

"Sure."

"Nana picked up her bag, and opened her coat."

"Ah, I'm nervous."

It was Yoshino who said it, not Nana.

"Why are you nervous, Yoshino-sama?"

I'm the one who should be in this situation, Nana seemed to say as she inclined her head. These words that Yoshino had just uttered in haste refused to go away.

"Um. Well, uh, you know. I have to take you there with me. I was thinking about how I should introduce you, and that sort of thing."

"Is that sort of stuff really that hard?"

It was an innocent, neutral question, uttered blandly. A question of pure poison, thought Yoshino. The only kind of answer she could give in this situation is one that had no substance to it.

"No, it isn't, but...."

Yoshino smiled uselessly.

No matter what happened, at least Yoshino had finally found the way she would introduce Nana to Rei-chan.

It would be a competition. She'd tell them to compete. Following the tradition of Rei-chan's kendo, Rei-chan's opponent will be this middle school student.

"It's not something I'm really worrying about. Just a what-should-I-do kind of thing."

But the rest of the people awaiting their return to the Rose Mansion wasn't Rei-chan. Plus there was no-one else there who even had an inkling of experience with kendo. Those people would judge for themselves what kind of person they thought Nana to be.

For example, if Yoshino-chan promised to Nana that Nana would be her prospective soeur, then the situation would resolve nicely. It was the easiest way to introduce her to everyone else.

Nana was the middle school girl that Yoshino liked the most. The problem was, Yoshino really couldn't find any other words to describe their relationship.

The reason she was nervous was because she didn't know how the others would react.

The reason she was nervous was because she didn't know why Nana was coming.

"Hm? You're nervous about a what-should-I-do thing ...?"

But a feeling so close to Yoshino's heart was something Nana had no way of knowing.

"Well, I'm just asking but, why wouldn't you be feeling nervous?"

It would obviously be weird for Yoshino to be nervous in this situation, but that was because she knew this about herself. And anyway, Yoshino wanted to find out the reason.

"The Rose Mansion is a place where all Middle School students want to come close to. It's where the high school student council meets, is it not? It's naturally a place where you have to keep your guard up."

It seemed as if she was talking about the distinction between Home and Away matches.

"It doesn't really seem that way though."

"But it is, so that's why I wouldn't be nervous."

"I see. So it's just an argument for argument's sake."

"Yup."

Nana said without any pressure. Yumi both envied and hated Nana for this. Because Nana had no intention to be nervous, she had no other goal but to attend the Rose Mansion's party.

That was why when Yoshino had called Nana up over vacation and asked her hesitantly whether she wanted to come to the party, she immediately accepted. At the time, Yoshino had thought nothing of it.

For Nana, the party at the Rose Mansion would be nothing but another one of her many parties.

"Let's go."

Yoshino said once again.

She said it more to encourage herself, than to tell Nana something.

Ike Ike, Go, Go.

And so the starting pistol went off. And later, it would feel as if she had seen the finish line ahead and had begun running too quickly.