Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume24 Chapter1

Riding a Bicycle

Part 1

The written invitation from Sachiko-sama arrived three days after that eventful Christmas party.

"A New Year's party … "

I see. Bravo, Sachiko-sama. – That was the initial reaction that I, Shimazu Yoshino, had.

Why? Because I fully understood that this event was being done for Yumi-san's benefit.

On the day of the second-term closing ceremony, we'd had a Christmas party in the student council room, the Rose Mansion. Just as it was finishing up, Yumi-san had chased after Touko-chan as she made her way home and caught up to her outside. Then, in front of the statue of Maria-sama, she had offered her rosary, but it hadn't been accepted. In short, Yumi-san's offer of soeur-hood was rejected by Touko-chan.

Naturally, when I heard of it, I was floored. Because Yumi-san hadn't given any indication before, or even during the party that she'd do this. Well, I knew that something had happened between them in the past, but at the very least it was really sudden. My feelings were something like, "Hey, hey, why didn't you discuss this with me, your friend?"

But I couldn't make such a glib complaint to Yumi-san, already devastated by Touko-chan's rejection.

Well, it was only natural that she was devastated. Yumi-san was often "cautious," or putting it less kindly, "indecisive," so for her to take action it must have been a momentous decision. And yet, the result was a tragic defeat. Tears. Her face downcast.

Despite all this, I had no idea what to say at the time, unable to find a single sensible sentence. Trying to console her would have made it all the more painful. That's why we didn't touch upon that subject on our way home, instead cultivating happier topics to chat about. Even though we cultivated, it was impossible to get anything to bloom brightly like a sunflower. The best we could do was something modest, like the chickweed that grows on the side of the road.

But even so. After about a day or two the agitation in my heart had settled (I wasn't aware of it, but at first it was quite violent) and I started to worry about how Yumi-san was feeling. But it would have seemed unnatural if I called her for no reason (even though I had a reason), and I couldn't come up with an excuse for us to meet. I didn't even know what I'd do if we met. I thought that if I saw her face, I'd know if I should encourage her, or listen to her complaints, or badmouth Touko-chan, or cry with her. But, either way, we'd have to meet.

Then, just as I was about to spring into action, Sachiko-sama's invitation arrived.

It was probably inevitable that Sachiko-sama was also still concerned about Yumi-san. There's no way she'd leave her alone until the third term opening ceremony. And Yumi-san had visited the Ogasawara estate for New Year's this year (although intuitively it feels like last year), so Sachiko-sama may have been planning this all along, but by sending me a written invitation without any advance notice there was no mistaking that this New Year's party was actually a "Cheer up Yumi Party." And since I'd received an invitation, that meant that Rei-chan, and of course Shimako-san and Noriko-chan would probably have received one too.

I reached for the phone straight away. I now had a valid reason for calling her. Like hell I was going to miss this chance.

It rang two or three times. Either way, it wasn't long until I got a response from the other end.

"Hello."

"Ah, Yumi-san?"

Hearing that familiar voice, I completely forgot the proper protocol for calling someone's house.

"Huh?"

Hearing this response, it suddenly dawned on me. There were plenty of children that sounded identical to their parents. When I called Yumi-san's house last time, what had her mother sounded like? – I didn't have time to think about that, I had to keep going for now.

"… Uh, this is the Fukuzawa household, right?"

"That's right. And you must be Shimazu-san, no?"

From that response, there was no doubting that it was Yumi-san on the other end of the line.

"Wha~at."

I was relieved to hear she was surprisingly cheerful. Although obviously I hadn't expected she would have spent the whole three days crying.

When Yumi-san said she was planning on attending, I declared that I'd be going too. If Yumi-san hadn't been going, I probably would have held off too. Since it was a "Cheer up Yumi Party," it probably wouldn't happen if the person we were cheering up wasn't there. Of course, it was called a "New Year's Party" so it shouldn't have mattered to me whether or not Yumi-san was there, but I didn't really want to be fooling around in Sachiko-sama's house without her petit soeur there, and Sachiko-sama surely would have felt the same.

But since Yumi-san was going to be there, I was starting to get excited too. I was currently minding the house by myself so I hadn't heard directly from Rei-chan, but I made up my mind that if she said she wasn't going then I'd lasso a rope around her neck and drag her along.

After letting Yumi-san know that I'd call her again to work out some minor details, I hung up. Still holding the telephone handset, I punched in a number while looking at the contacts page in my student notebook. There was one more close friend that I really wanted to share this with. I felt that such thoughts were quite natural.

"Is this the Toudou-san residence? My name is Shimazu Yoshino and I'm a second-year high school student at Lillian's Girls Academy. If Shimako-san's there, could you – "

I did a quick rehearsal before placing the call. Making a slip-up like I had in the earlier conversation was not fitting for a student of Lillian's after all.

However.

"Beep beep beep."

Instead of hearing the phone ring, I got the busy tone.

"Aww."

I'd only been a little bit excited, but the feeling of it all coming to naught surged through me.

"For crying out loud. Who the heck is Shimako-san having such a long phone call with?"

I grumbled, setting the telephone handset down.

I didn't actually know whether or not Shimako-san was the one using the Toudou's home phone, nor whether or not it was a long phone call since I'd only rung one – those were my suppositions. But with my excitement being torn to shreds, I just wanted to complain.

I found out soon after that it was actually Shimako-san using the phone at that point, so my instincts weren't too shabby.

"But it was only about three minutes. Is that a long phone call?"

Shimako-san asked, her tone serious. She'd called the Fukuzawa household, ie. Yumi-san, before she called me.

When she received the invitation from Sachiko-sama, she'd also instinctively reached out for the phone.

The same pattern of behavior as me.

– That made me kinda happy.

Part 2

Rei-chan returned home about an hour later. The local bookstore hadn't had the reference book she wanted, so she'd had to go K station.

"Here, look at this."

Waiting motionlessly in the house was frustrating so I'd been going in and out of the entrance, and when I eventually spotted Rei-chan's bike coming up to our house, or the Hasekura house, either way, onto the property, I rushed over and handed her the red envelope that I'd already retrieved from the letterbox. The one addressed to Rei-chan.

"At that?"

Rei-chan parked her beloved bike in the bike shed and looked at what I had in my hand.

"Yeah. There's a New Year's party at Sachiko-sama's house. On the second of January. An overnight stay. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Hey, we'll go, right? Let's go, yeah?"

"… And I suppose that's what's written in this letter."

Rei-chan took the envelope from me and I waited, excited and expectant, as she used her bike key in place of a letter opener to open the envelope and then read the printed invitation in silence. And what was Rei-chan's conclusion after doing all this?

"I see."

After she finished reading, Rei-chan put the card back into the envelope and smiled.

"We'll go. We have to cheer up Yumi-chan."

"Yeah."

As expected. Rei-chan understood. And it was pretty impressive of me to understand that too.

"So then."

Rei-chan said.

"I suppose it'll be the fourth or fifth of January."

"What will?"

The tension gone, I said the first thing that came to mind. Rei-chan had suddenly said the fourth or fifth, and I didn't immediately realize what she was talking about.

"What will? When Nana-chan's going to visit."

"Nana's visit … ?"

As I said this, I thought, "Dammit."

"For the bout. We said we'd have it during the winter break, remember? She'll probably be busy preparing for the end of year, so it'll be better to have it in the new year. I can't believe you forgot, Yoshino."

"Uh, no way. I didn't forget."

Actually, the truth was "unbelievable." But that was because that conversation had taken place right in the middle of the Christmas Party, and after that there had been Rei-chan's announcement that she was going to take entrance exams to other universities and Yumi-san had been rejected by Touko-chan. So that topic had slipped my mind. No, with all those other major things going on, I may have intentionally chosen not to think about it, deciding it was fine to let it remain hazy.

But, what was up with that? Rei-chan had clearly remembered it. Like, all those other things were going on, but that was that and this was this. She hadn't even been distracted by the invitation to the New Year's party.

"I'll ask Nana. Whether the fourth or the fifth are good for her."

If Rei-chan was concerned about her promise to Nana, then I didn't have much choice. I accepted my fate.

"Okay. She told me her phone number, so I could call her – "

"No, I'll do it."

"Alright. I'll leave it to you then."

Nana and Rei-chan were going to cross blades. Why was my heart beating so hard?

It wasn't apprehension. Nor was it exhilaration.

It's a bit of a grandiose simile, but it was like I was facing the end days. Like Jesus had appeared to perform the Last Judgment, or the Maitreya Buddha had finally arrived after 5.67 billion years, that sort of thing.

It didn't change that I'd run out of time to do what I should do. But that day was undoubtedly closing in. I wasn't worried about what would befall me – whether I'd be saved or damned – but the practice, or fight, between Nana and Rei-chan would turn my world upside down. That was the hunch I had.

I'd watched Rei-chan's matches countless times before. So what was so different about this one?

Because her opponent was Nana.

I had no idea about her true strength. No, it'd be the same even if I knew Nana's approximate skill level.

Her opponent was Nana. Therefore –

"Yoshino?"

"Uh … how will get to Sachiko-sama's house?"

"How? We'll get a bus to the station, then catch a train, then walk the rest of the way. Ah – I think Sachiko might have said something about a bus between their house and the station. But I'm not really sure, I never asked her about it."

Rei-chan said, scratching her head.

"Sounds like a long trip."

"Yeah, I guess. Although it's not that far in a straight line."

"You rode your bike there last time, right?"

This was followed by a brief silence. Rei-chan broke the silence by suddenly lowering her head.

"I'm sorry, Yoshino."

"Huh, why?"

"I should have got my license, like Sei-sama. Then I could drive you – "

I had to consider what to say next.

"That wasn't what I was thinking."

Rei-chan was so busy with student council and club activities that there was no way she'd be able to find the time to go to driver training. On top of that, she was also currently studying for university entrance exams. With that said, Sei-sama had done it at some point last year. But she wasn't in any clubs, so she probably went to a driver training school during the holidays and got her license through that.

"Then what the heck were you thinking about during that silence, Yoshino?"

"Bike."

"Huh? But, Yoshino – "

"Ah, don't worry. My dad'll buy me a bike."

In truth, I hadn't had my own bike for many years.

"No, it's not that. Well, there's that too. What I'm trying to say is."

"I know. So, you'll help me, right?"

"…"

Rei-chan's face clearly showed that she thought this was going to be a pain.

"You're serious?"

"Totally serious. And it'll be way quicker than you getting your license."

Instead of responding, Rei-chan let out a sigh.

Which wasn't surprising.

It had probably been about ten years since I last rode a bike – and that had been a kid's bike with training wheels.

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