Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume25 Chapter6
Fortunate Interview
Part 1
The new week brought annoying rumors.
"… student council elections."
"I knew Touko-san would … "
"She's so reckless."
Each individual whisper was quiet, but when they were all added up it made them easy to hear. The excited chatter about last night's TV shows, so loud it could be heard out in the hallway, was far less irritating.
That said, if she were asked if she'd rather be insulted directly, then she'd probably say no, since that came with its own set of problems. If she got fed up with pretending to ignore them, she could always confront them directly.
(So moronic.)
If only recess would end soon. Touko turned a page of her book. And with that, she felt depressed that her own time was going to waste.
If the words on the page had made their way into her brain then she wouldn't have called it a waste of time, but she couldn't just shut out everything and concentrate on her book when her name was being whispered around.
So, regardless of whether she took in the words or not, when her eyes reached the last row of text she turned the page. By keeping up her, "I don't care at all about the rumors," act, Touko was at least able to retain some of her pride.
(Ah.)
Noriko returned to the classroom and walked past Touko's desk. After the election, she would look at Touko as though she had something she wanted to say, but she hadn't yet said anything.
Has she finally given up?
That was to be expected. Touko was just paying for her own mistakes.
She was frankly amazed that Noriko was still willing to be seen with her.
She still felt an empty hole in her chest.
Touko understood that this was her reward for picking apart the threads that bound them together, one by one.
Why was it that she always did this sort of thing?
If she was just a bit more honest, she probably wouldn't hurt herself and others as much.
"Hey, is that any way to be talking about one of your classmates?"
The loud voice coming from behind her brought Touko back from the hole in her heart to the first-year camellia group classroom.
"Aren't you ashamed about getting together to spread malicious rumors?"
The moment she realized that the conversation was about their behavior towards her, Touko instinctively turned around. Expecting Noriko to be the speaker.
But she was wrong. Noriko was sitting at her desk, a short distance away, also staring in amazement at the center of the commotion.
"Don't you think it's a bit late to be the good little girl? Last week, you were saying you wanted Touko to lose the election too."
The maligned students hit back, not backing down. The two arguing parties had, indeed, been in agreement last week. Attacking Touko, ignoring Touko, they were both the same thing.
"What was it that you said again?"
Pressed by her former comrades, the classmate who came to Touko's aid acknowledged her own crimes as she responded:
"While I may have called her reckless, Touko-san gave it her all in the election. You must have seen the effort she put in too? All on her own? It was incredible. It made me feel ashamed of myself. I asked myself, as her classmate, why didn't I help her? Why didn't our whole class unite behind her?"
Then, from within the group of gossipers, a couple of voices piped up, endorsing this opinion with, "Me too." There was internal discord.
"Look, I like Touko-san as a person. But if she wanted our support, shouldn't she have discussed it with the class before running off and nominating herself?"
"Isn't that a problem with our class not providing the right environment for such a discussion?"
"Oh, so now you're saying that we're the problem?"
The argument between the two factions gradually started to heat up. Even though Touko herself had never wanted this to happen.
If she'd wanted them to argue, it would have been over some other topic – having the fight be about her made it more of a nuisance.
Fed up with this, Touko turned to face the front and found someone standing in front of her desk.
"Unforeseen repercussions are a pain, aren't they?"
Kanako-san smiled, gently shifting her long hair so it didn't spill onto the desk. She was tall at the best of times, and Touko was seated, so she was quite the imposing sight.
"What do you know?"
Touko responded. Kanako-san's know-it-all air was a bit annoying, but it was ten, no a hundred times less annoying than the people arguing behind her.
"Nothing. But you're making that face. You were annoyed that someone would speak out like that. And now you're fed up with it."
"That's quite observant of you. I'm impressed."
Touko said with just a touch of sarcasm. Implying that Kanako-san must have a lot of free time, to be able to study each and every person's face.
But Kanako-san completely missed the sarcasm. Or maybe she got it, but chose to ignore it.
"Well, since you're complimenting me, I'll let you in on something. When you're reading a book, it looks more realistic if you subtly vary your pace every so often."
"Huh?"
"Normally, you'd stop when you got a kanji character mixed up, or you'd have to re-read some difficult passages, right?"
Indeed. Basically, she was telling Touko that she'd seen through her "reading a book" act. Kanako-san grinned and walked back to her own seat.
"That was informative."
With a nod, Touko closed her book. In truth, she didn't have to put a bookmark in there, but she thought that it made it look more realistic.
The argument behind her continued until the bell rang and their teacher entered the classroom.
Part 2
After school.
She went to the clubhouse for the first time in a while, and in the drama club's clubroom she spotted the club president.
"Ah, Touko-chan."
"… Gokigenyou. I apologize for my prolonged absence."
"It's fine, don't worry about it. Ah, it's a shame about the election."
"No … "
Touko glanced at the calendar hanging from the wall to confirm her suspicions. As she'd expected, there were no club activities scheduled for today.
The club president was seated at a desk, writing something. It could probably be summed up as "solo overtime." Touko only got a quick look at the document, but it seemed to be some form that had to be submitted to the Yamayurikai council.
None of the rooms in the clubhouse were all that big. For the larger clubs, it wasn't possible to fit all their members in the room, so they used classrooms or gymnasiums for club activities. The drama club was one of those clubs – their clubroom was used as an office and a storeroom.
"Well, regardless of the result, it's the experience that's important. Even when you've forgotten about it, it may still prove useful to you at some point. You'll be able to broaden your acting skills."
"Like, in a political drama?"
Touko smirked – there weren't many high-school plays around that theme.
"Sounds good. How about a role as a female senator?"
How about it? Touko didn't respond, she simply nodded and said, "Hah."
"All sorts of things were decided while you were away, Touko-chan. I wanted you to hear about some of it prior to tomorrow's club activities, so I'm glad we met today."
The club president stopped filling out the form and set it to one side on the desk.
"The drama club has decided to put on a performance for the Third-Years' Send-Off, but – "
"President."
Touko interrupted her.
"I came here today to get a resignation form."
It was better if someone about to leave the club was not informed of their future activities. She'd planned on saying goodbye properly after filling out the resignation form, but with things the way they were she had to say something.
" … What are you saying?"
The club president stood up, the color draining from her face.
"So you see."
She cast her gaze across to the cabinet in the corner of the room, which should hold the resignation forms. It should be in either the second or third drawer, alongside the "application to join" and "participation in a training camp" forms.
"I don't understand. Does this have something to do with your loss in the student council election?"
As she said this, the club president nonchalantly moved in front of the cabinet. Surely she wasn't thinking that the first-year club member in front of her would force her way over to the cabinet and snatch a resignation form, so she was probably just trying to hide it from Touko's sight.
"No, it's for personal reasons."
She probably wasn't going to accept such a vague explanation. Typically, people would say it was for personal reasons when the actual reason was hard to say.
But, if she was asked if there was something concrete preventing her from doing club activities, Touko wouldn't be able to offer a clear answer.
She liked to act.
But, right now, practicing acting was hard on her. Her father wanted her to live her life as she pleased. But doing what she wanted made her feel guilty, like she was tearing her family apart.
And now her mother was mentally unstable on occasion. Touko wanted to reset things, and think them over more carefully next time.
But she couldn't quite find the words to express that.
"If you're not getting along with some of the older club members, I have some ideas about that."
"Huh? Ideas?"
It was hardly the first time that she wasn't getting along with some of the other members. But, alas, those seniors she didn't get along with weren't enough to make Touko leave the club.
"There's not much time before the third-years' send-off, so we've decided to split into three groups and perform three short scenes. You and me are doing a two-person play. What do you think? Doesn't that sound exciting?"
"Uh … yeah."
Even though she planned on resigning, she was still getting a little excited. It wasn't just about this two-person play – deciding on a new program always got her heart pounding.
It was like setting some ingredients down in front of a chef and saying, "Why don't you make something with these?"
And then the rehearsals.
She liked the rehearsals too. Repeating the same scenes over and over, until she didn't know whether she was the chef or the ingredients, then serving it up in the actual performance as a piping hot meal. Here you go, eat my magnificent dish.
"Right now, I'm looking for a script that will suit you. One that will let you showcase your acting ability to its utmost – that's the sort of play I want us to do."
The club president's eyes shone as she spoke, and looking at her Touko thought, "She and I are the same." She loved drama, and was always focused on doing whatever it took to put on a good performance, doing whatever it took to ensure both the audience and the cast enjoyed themselves. That was probably why she got along with someone as socially maladjusted as Touko herself. Of course, she had her own talents too.
"You're doing all this for me … "
But it would all be in vain if Touko resigned.
"Touko-chan. Even after I've stepped down, I want you to show up and participate in the drama club."
"Uh … ?"
"I plan on taking entrance exams next year, so I'll be stepping down relatively early. When that happens, you may find yourself isolated within the club. So I thought that the day may come when you'd talk about quitting the club."
The club president let out a long sigh.
"Even on your own, you should have a part to play. Even if it annoys the other club members, you shouldn't have to hide your talent. That would be our drama club's loss, and I think it would be such a shame for you too. It'd be better if you were the next club president, and pulled everyone forwards. You could leave the boring management stuff to someone else, and focus on planning and production. Or devote yourself entirely to acting. However you want it to be. But stay in the club, and act. There's so much that the other club members can learn from you. That's why I don't want you to quit."
(Ahh – )
Even though she'd come to the clubhouse determined to quit, her heart was thumping with excitement at the vision of the future that the club president was painting.
How good would it be if that came to pass?
But it probably wouldn't turn out that well. Touko's relationship with the other club members wasn't particularly good by any standard. Even if the current second-years stepped down at the same time as the club president, it wasn't like it would all be settled then. She didn't have a wonderful relationship with her fellow first-year club members either.
Given that, this was a dream. An ephemeral dream, given to her by Maria-sama, as she resigned from the club.
"Therefore."
The club president said something completely unexpected.
"Be my petit soeur."
"Huh?"
Despite Touko's surprise, the club president kept talking.
"If you're the club president's petit soeur, you won't be as easy a target, right? Even next year, after I've stepped down, you'll still be the petit soeur of the former club president – the effect won't wear off that quickly."
Her speech came to a halt, as though it had been cut off mid-way through, or completely drowned out.
"But, I."
In that moment, Touko had no idea how to respond. She had never once considered the possibility of the club president being her onee-sama.
Looking at a floundering Touko, the club president suddenly smiled and asked:
"Fukuzawa Yumi-san?"
"Mm … "
"I thought as much. You like Yumi-san, don't you?"
Touko couldn't answer that question.
"I can tell, because I'm always looking at you the way you're looking at Yumi-san."
Not answering was the same as providing an answer. Even so, Touko was afraid of putting it into words, of expressing that outwardly.
"Yumi-san's a wonderful person. So I thought it would be great if you could become her petit soeur and find your happiness that way. That's why I've never said anything until now. But every time you get close to Yumi-san, you get hurt and back away. It's strange. Even though she's always unarmed, never holding a knife or anything like that."
That was exactly right.
Yumi-sama wasn't at fault. Touko would flail around with the weapons she used for self-defense and end up slashing herself and shedding blood. And on occasion, she'd hurt her opponent too.
"I'm sure the problem lies with me."
"I know. It's true. If you don't change, you'll never be able to walk with Yumi-san."
She had no way to respond to that. There was no need to either.
The club president wasn't chastising Touko, or urging her on. She was simply looking at it from a step removed, and saying what she thought.
"But if it were that easy to change oneself, no-one would ever suffer."
The club president smiled. Touko smiled too. That was true.
But Touko didn't really know if she actually wanted to change herself.
"It's so painful watching you suffer."
The club president put her arm around Touko's shoulders and pulled her closer.
"Just forget about Yumi-san already. I'll look out for you."
Touko closed her eyes in that gentle embrace.
Life would probably be easier if she agreed. Nothing to worry about, nothing to yearn for. She would probably be able to lead a quiet life.
"… Touko-chan?"
However, Touko quietly extricated herself from the club president's inviting arms.
"I'm sorry."
She couldn't decide right now. There was no way she could choose the club president just to cut off all contact with Yumi-sama.
"I see."
The club president sighed, "I figured as much." Then she turned around and took a piece of paper out of one of the cabinet drawers.
"Here."
She was holding out a club resignation form.
"… President."
"Don't misunderstand me. I'm not saying I recommend this, or even that I approve of it."
When Touko was reluctant to accept it, the club president folded the B5-sized piece of paper in half and forced it into her hand.
"Think of it like a charm. Then, when you feel up to it, carry it with you and come to club activities. You'll feel a bit better knowing you can quit at any time, right?"
Then the club president added, "I'll be waiting for you," which Touko gratefully accepted.
"Of course, you don't have to be mindful of me. When you want to use the form, use it. Although I'd be overjoyed if you didn't. But there are all sorts of "personal reasons.""
Then the club president sat down in her chair, and picked up the form she'd been working on earlier.
Touko bowed deeply and left the clubhouse.
Since it looked like the club president wanted to be alone – her face down, concentrating on the paperwork.
In that case, Touko thought that the sooner she disappeared the better.
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