Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume34 Chapter2 4

*****

When we took attendance in morning homeroom, Chinami-san would enthusiastically raise her hand and say, “Yes!” when it’s Hibino Chinami-san’s turn. Unfortunately, the teacher, who could neither see nor hear Chinami-san, would mark a line across the attendance book and say, “She’s absent,” but occasionally forget to do so and move on to the next student, “Fujita Akiko”. At those times I would wonder if Chinami-san’s “Yes!” managed to slip through.

I found myself alone more often than ever. Chinami-san was always close, but I can’t talk if someone’s nearby. My classmates were concerned about me being isolated and would always talk to me about anything, but I was not lonely. When my homeroom teacher called me into the staff room and used the word “bullying”, I reflected on my actions a little and tried to talk to my classmates during short breaks, but I still went outside the classroom and spent my lunch break with Chinami-san.

When I engaged in small talk with someone else, Chinami-san would always get angry. Chinami-san was there too, so it wasn’t like we were secretly gathering, but that wasn’t Chinami-san’s logic.

“Terasu-san’s mean”.

Sometimes she would hit me with her tiny, thin hands, and sometimes she would just run away, sniff and cry.

“I don’t want Terasu-san to get along with other people. Terasu-san is the only one I have”.

At that time, I thought, “Huh?” At the beginning, Chinami-san said, “I was speaking so that only Terasu-san could hear”, but was that not the case? By chance, the voice reached me, and by chance I was the only one who could see her. If so, it was natural to be worried. If I were to blend in with my classmates and forget about Chinami-san, no one would notice her anymore. She would become a “non-existant person”.

I said “I’m sorry” and hugged the bitter summer orange Chinami-san. Chinami-san started getting mad, screaming “Let me go, you idiot!”, but eventually she calmed down and fell asleep in my hands.

Chinami-san’s round body was light green at first, but it gradually turned redder day by day, and was now a faint pink colour.

I guess I like Chinami-san. Appearance doesn't matter. Just because she is a different shape doesn’t mean she’s a hindrance. Even if the face looks a little scary, it can be said to be “charming” once you get used to it.

If Chinami-san feels lonely, she doesn’t need to talk to other people. I started to really think like that.

That’s why I didn’t join any clubs either. My classmates told me that the quickest way to get a “grand seour” was to join a club, but I didn’t have any particular desire to be close to a senior student.

The first midterm exams were over, and I got pretty good marks in all my subjects. Maybe it was a good idea to make another notebook for Chinami-san. During the exam, Chinami-san was rolling around on her chair. Naturally, no exam papers were handed out to her on her desk.