Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume9 Chapter6

When the Cherry Blossoms Fall

Part 1.

Shimako-san was behaving strangely.

Yumi noticed it not long after the new first-years had entered into high-school. Three or four days after, perhaps.

"Ooh."

She had no idea why. Shimako-san liked looking at and eating cherry blossoms, so it seemed unlikely that she'd be allergic to them. There was already one person like that, Yumi's onee-sama Ogasawara Sachiko-sama, and that was more than enough. Besides, her symptoms were a little different.

"Why are you yelping like a little dog?"

Appearing in front of Yumi's desk with her trademark twin ponytails was Shimazu Yoshino. Probably returning from the toilet, the floral handkerchief she was holding was wet in places.

But Yumi was a wordless little dog. She was silent, like a shih tzu or maltese dog.

"Huh?"

Yumi felt a momentary sense of cognitive dissonance, wondering why Yoshino-san was there. Noticing this, her sharp-eyed friend got a strange look on her face and grumbled.

"… Yumi-san, can you please stop looking so surprised every time you see me in the classroom."

"Oh, you noticed?"

Yumi tried forcing a smile to hide her embarrassment. But Yoshino-san wasn't even slightly fooled.

"You're too easy to read. Also, I've noticed you looking around for Shimako-san."

"You've got me."

"Get it together, Rosa Chinensis en bouton."

"Hahaha. I'm not used to that name either."

The name Rosa Chinensis en bouton was the only thing magnificent about her, because she just couldn't get it together. And because she herself was aware of this, all she could do was laugh feebly.

Take yesterday as an example, when she'd been guilty of the monumental blunder of heading to the first-year peach group classroom when she arrived at school in the morning.

"Hard to believe, hey."

Yoshino-san muttered, her eyes narrowing. She was Rosa Foetida en bouton. That alone gave her a certain presence, if seen from the right angle.

So that was it.

When April arrived, the first-years naturally became second-years. This hadn't felt even slightly real to Yumi, and she alone had been warped backwards in time.

This was the second-year pine class. The room that Sachiko-sama had been studying in until recently.

It was the first time in the thirteen years since kindergarten that Yoshino-san had been in the same class as her.

Shimako-san, who'd been in Yumi's class in first-year, was in second-year wisteria class. Sadly, they were in different classes this time.

Well, okay. It left the door open to meeting new people.

"Oh ho. Rosa Chinensis en bouton is a springtime fool."

Someone jumped into their conversation, after listening in for who knows how long.

(– Why's she … ?)

"Gah, Mami-san."

Despite being taken aback, the lights soon went on for Yumi and she grabbed hold of the girl's arm.

"Don't put that in an article!"

Shimako-san could get lost in thought and still maintain her dignity, but it would expose Yumi as a natural ditz. Which would not be acceptable for the person known as Rosa Chinensis en bouton. While Yumi knew she hadn't smoothly inherited Sachiko-sama's image, it would be too depressing to Sachiko-sama to have her petit soeur destroy all her past accomplishments.

"I wonder what I should do."

"Please don't print it."

"You owe me one."

Yamaguchi Mami, age 16, left giggling.

Did she part her hair on the side, held in place with a hair-clip, to highlight her lack of vulnerability? Her hair was swept back behind her ears, leaving her news gathering antennae fully open. Her onee-sama, newspaper club president Tsukiyama Minako-sama, had taught her to be ready, because she could run into newsworthy material anytime, anywhere. But, for some reason, Mami-san seemed even more resolute than Minako-sama.

"Ahh."

Yumi sighed. She had no luck at all, being put in the same class as the future head of the newspaper club.

On top of that.

Click.

"Thanks for that gloomy face."

While Yumi may have become accustomed to it, the photography club's ace, and current vice-president, Takeshima Tsutako-san was also in her class.

"I'll call it, "The Melancholy of Rosa Chinensis en Bouton." Will you let me show it at the school festival if it comes out well?"

"… Give me a break."

There was no such thing as privacy in the second-year pine class.

"We'll talk later."

Yoshino-san whispered into Yumi's ear then walked away. Tsutako-san hid her camera and quickly returned to her seat too.

The teacher for their next subject had been spotted walking down the corridor. She was also in charge of educational guidance, and an incredibly difficult teacher, so everyone reacted quickly.

In this manner, with both annoyance and pleasure, Fukuzawa Yumi's new school year began.

Part 2.

"Shimako-san's changed? In what way?"

Yoshino-san asked. At the bathroom basin, as she scrubbed with a sponge.

"Like she's dejected, or she's got no energy."

Yumi's cleaning duty for today was to polish the rectangular mirror above the basin. That and empty the bathroom bin.

"Dejected. No energy. And?"

Moving her hand, Yoshino-san urged her to continue. There was no reason they had to hold this conversation here, but there was the pseudo-paparazzi in the classroom and they could only have it in the Rose Mansion when Shimako-san herself wasn't there, and since they were in the same cleaning group it just turned out this way.

"During recess yesterday, I called out to Shimako-san when she was looking out the hallway window, but she didn't notice me at all."

"Hmm."

"True story. Whenever she has free time, Shimako-san goes to the back of the school building alone to look at cherry blossoms. Katsura-san from wisteria class told me today."

Squeak, squeak. Wielding a wet cloth in one hand and a dry cloth in the other, Yumi polished the mirror. The mirrors in the student toilets at a girls' school were under closer scrutiny than the classroom blackboards. Cloudiness or traces of water were to be avoided as much as possible.

"Cherry blossoms … I see."

Yoshino-san gave an exaggerated nod, showing her understanding.

"What, what?"

Yumi frantically asked. Was it comprehension or deduction? Either way, slow people had to desperately run to keep up with their perceptive friends.

"The cherry blossoms played an important role in Shimako-san and Sei-sama's first meeting."

Scrub, scrub. Yoshino-san spoke the name of Shimako-san's onee-sama, who had graduated in spring.

"Really?"

Polish, polish.

"That's why they went back to the place from their memories, beneath the cherry tree, for the rosary ceremony. Didn't you know?"

Scrub, scrub, scrub.

"I see … "

So that's why Shimako-san was beneath the cherry tree … as Yumi was considering this, a question suddenly bubbled up.

"But they became soeurs in fall, right? Just before myself and Sachiko-sama."

Polish, polish, polish.

"It's just the place from their memories. Whether the cherry tree was blossoming or not wasn't the question."

"Their memories … "

They both stopped working and looked up. There was only the ceiling and fluorescent lights there, but for a moment they felt they could see the cherry blossom tree branches in full bloom that Shimako-san was looking up at.

"Even now, she may be immersed in her memories."

"Maybe you're right. She could be trying to bury the loneliness caused by her onee-sama's absence."

Shimako-san herself had said it in the past. "When my onee-sama graduates, I'll have nothing tying me to the Yamayurikai."

"Because Rosa Giga … no, Satou Sei-sama's left."

Maybe she was spacing out because she'd lost sight of her reason for being in the Yamayurikai. Or maybe she was worried about something.

"The cherry blossoms will fall soon. I wonder what will happen then."

"Who knows. At they very least, your onee-sama, Sachiko-sama, should cheer up."

"… I guess."

"When Sachiko-sama's not feeling well, it seems to throw you out of rhythm. It's no fun being with her, right Yumi-san?"

"No way, it's always fun."

Because they hardly ever spent time together. Nowadays.

There was barely time to take a breath after the successful completion of the graduation ceremony before they were assailed by waves of end-of-year exams. Yumi had expected they'd do something fun during spring break, but, as usual, there had been no such invitation forthcoming. She'd even boldly called Sachiko-sama's house a couple of times, but unluckily they'd been out each time. They may have taken a long trip, because there was no return phone call from Sachiko-sama either.

That was how the short spring break ended, bringing them to the present.

"Huh!? Y– "

Yoshino-san raised her voice and Yumi hastily moved to cover her mouth. – But just as she was about to do this, Yumi remembered she was still holding the two cleaning cloths, so changed her tactic to holding both sides of Yoshino-san's face like tongs picking up bread. The sound that had escaped from Yoshino-san during her momentary indecision echoed oddly around the bathroom.

"You did nothing for White Day?"

Yoshino-san's face, changed into a handball ball, groaned, "Unbelievable." That word had been appearing an awful lot recently. Yoshino-san's common sense and Yumi's common sense were quite different. Particularly with regard to the way soeurs should be.

"It's fine. More or less. We had our date for Valentine's Day."

"Valentine's Day is Valentine's Day, White Day is White Day. Geeze, what is Sachiko-sama thinking?"

"… Probably nothing."

At the very least, nothing about Yumi. Her depression about the cherry blossoms was probably something like hay-fever. The symptoms were flu-like. But it wasn't an allergy, so there wasn't any specific medicine for it.

It affected Sachiko-sama's mood, and she'd become lethargic, irritable, and tired. Exhausted of all physical strength. So all Yumi could do as her petit soeur was pray that the cherry blossom season would end soon.

In truth, Yumi would have been happy with this Sachiko-sama. Even just for a day during spring break, like on their first date, just being together. She would have been happy with that.

"Anyway, Yumi-san, let's just keep a watch on the situation until the cherry blossoms fall."

Yoshino-san used her own strength to escape from Yumi's grasp and breathed a sigh of relief.

"If Shimako-san returns to her usual self when the cherry blossoms fall, then all's good. Otherwise, we'll have a talk with Rei-chan and Sachiko-sama, assuming she's recovered by then."

"… Alright."

Yumi thought that that was all they could do too.

Sounds about right.

Cherry blossoms.

The first thing to do was get rid of the cherry blossoms.

The face looking back at her in the polished mirror still looked a tad uneasy.

* * *

As she was taking the trash bag to the rubbish collection area around the back of the school building, Yumi unexpectedly spotted Shimako-san.

"Shima … "

She started to call out, but stopped.

Just like Katsura-san had said, Shimako-san seemed to be there in body but not in mind, as she staggered along beneath the cherry trees like a sleepwalker.

Cherry blossoms swirled around her, as though Shimako-san herself was scattering them.

Shimako-san caught them in her palms, closing her eyes from time to time, showering her entire body in the petal snow. For just a moment, Yumi saw the face of the previous Rosa Gigantea, Satou Sei-sama, overlaying Shimako-san's. Yumi couldn't help but think that Shimako-san was thinking of her onee-sama.

That was why she couldn't call out to her.

Because Shimako-san was sad, and still too beautiful. Yumi couldn't intrude into her private world.

The cherry blossoms would fall soon.

What would happen to Shimako-san then?

Shimako-san walked towards the auditorium, as though she was chasing cherry trees that hadn't yet lost most of their flowers.

Yumi hurried over to the rubbish collection area, left the trash bag and quickly returned. When she got back to the spot she was earlier, Shimako-san was nowhere to be seen.

Yumi could guess where Shimako-san had gone, but she didn't intend to chase after her. When she reached the front of the auditorium, she kept following the path to the right.

On the far side of the hedge, the vivid colors of street clothes kept drawing her attention.

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