Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume34 Chapter8 2

One Pair. Part 2

While they said they would help, the behavior of Kohaku and Meiu confused Nako more often than not.

“Our father works in England. That’s why we don’t live together”.

That day the “cooperation” started with those words.

While Nako was walking around the school grounds, before she knew it, the girls were already walking by her side. The school building’s hallways, the courtyard, or the reading room of the library, the location was different each time. In any case, when no one was around, they would join up. When a class ended, during breaks, they never came to the staff room to talk to her.

By the way. Today, after the rain stopped, we were walking around the sports field track. There was a light rain starting and stopping ever since the afternoon, so even the sports clubs that usually had activities outside shut themselves in the gymnasium.

“I see. Your dad is busy, isn’t he”.

School is a place where many children are looked after. And it’s not rare for them to have a complicated family background, so it’s not surprising that some children have only one parent these days. Not overreacting, Nako brushed off Kohaku’s words.

“But actually, he’s in Japan. He lives in Tokyo. Daddy has a different family, so he can’t be with us. Mommy also died, and it’s hard to go meet him while worrying about what his other wife might think”.

“…………”

Thereupon, Nako gave up on trying to settle the topic with an “I see”. However, what would be suitable to say in this situation, she had no idea at all.

As if reading what was inside Nako’s heart, Meiu said,

“We didn’t say that to be pitied”.

Kohaku continued,

“That’s right. In mother’s place we have our grandma, we have a big house, and we live a comfortable life with the money daddy sends us”.

“And that leads to our main point”, they both laughed.

“In order to convince us that he lives abroad, daddy constantly sends us letters. But, from England”.

“Through a friend that lives in England. That’s why the stamp is England’s and a postmark from a London post office is also put on it. Pretty thorough, don’t you think?”

Upon hearing “letter from abroad” keywords, Nako stopped in place.

“Could Hida-sensei be in Japan, mhm?”

Nako had told Kohaku and Meiu about the postcard. Because she didn’t see the point in concealing it or lying about it to them.

I surely wanted to see their reaction.

Without showing them the actual item, just telling them the fact that a postcard arrived.

At that time, the girls answered, without any surprise, “well, no matter how much we search, we can’t find Hida-sensei’s corpse”, and laughed, as if amazed. Though, that was why Nako didn’t say to stop their “cooperation”. Nako understood that the “acceptance” hadn’t yet come.

“Not necessarily”.

The two also stopped, and looked at Nako.

“We’re not saying that Hida-sensei is in Japan. But, we are thinking that we don’t know whether he is in Spain or not”.

“I get it. It would have been better if the postcard also included the news that happened on the day it was dated”.

Kohaku’s eyes, Meiu’s eyes, they said that the postcard can’t be trusted.

That’s right.

For example, give Kazuya a pictured postcard, and have him address it and write an inoffensive message on it. Then, if later someone else added a date to it and posted it from Spain, he wouldn’t have to also really be there.

If we go further down this line of thinking, ultimately, Kazuya wouldn’t even need to still be in this world by that point.

If before dying he had written several postcards similar to the one that Nako had originally received from Spain, until they ran out, he could wear the guise of still being alive.

But, who the heck would do that? For what purpose could anyone possibly need to do this?

I don’t understand.

Nako had no idea why someone would need to make her believe that Kazuya was still alive, nor who that someone could be.

Stupid. Doesn’t this assume that Kazuya is already dead?

It’s always like that. When talking with them, I’m dragged into some labyrinth, whereupon they let go of my hand.

Yesterday I was taken to the basement of the middle school building. The day before that I was closed in the greenhouse. They also whispered me the name of the teacher that kept the keys to the shelves with poisonous substances in the science classroom and that didn’t get along with Kazuya.

While she did have doubts about this kind of cooperation, she couldn’t reject them. When school would end, she would even wait for them to show up.

“Kyaa~”

On a branch above their heads a wild bird flew off, shaking it. Kohaku and Meiu were wide-eyed, the bird, as big as a pigeon, flapped its wings chasing them non-stop. And Nako was observing the two the entire time.

The raindrops falling on their heads sparkled like pearls ornating their hair, enhancing their beauty more and more.

"**"

One morning, as soon as Nako came to school, senior teacher Kanegon took her to the corner of the staff room.

“There is a problem. Shimizu-sensei”.

“Yes?”

She usually arrived 15 minutes later than Nako. It seems she had something to talk about this day, so she hurried up and waited for Nako. There still were almost none of the other staff members.

“It’s Kuga Kohaku and Meiu. Yesterday after school ended, you went to the courtyard together with them, correct?”

“Yes”.

Nako nodded meekly.

A teacher and students. However, she didn’t think there was anything to be a reason for condemnation in walking together. Not only with walking with Kohaku and Meiu, but even, for example, with joining students in eating bento in the classroom during the lunch break, or joining in on the recreational activities to warm up the body.

“Didn’t I say not to get involved with these two? I said that for your own sake, you know”.

Kanegon was speaking on and on with blood in her eyes. I understood that she was serious, but I didn’t want to be told not to get involved without being given detailed reasons as to why, so I couldn’t just swallow it up with an “okay, understood”.

“My class doesn’t have a class today, that’s perfect. This morning and after classes I will host the homeroom alone. And you, please, calm down”.

Kanegon left me those words, took the second year’s wisteria class’ attendance book and walked out of the staff room.

“…………”

There was still a lot of time before homeroom. Being exposed to the cold air of the hallway, she will probably cool down and come back sooner, right?

Before that, Nako walked up to the only other female teacher. The one that told her about the case of Kohaku and Meiu’s hairstyles a while back. Her name was Hatano.

There still were almost no people in the staff room, and she was unnaturally holding and reading a textbook in front of her face. It was obvious she was straining her ears to listen in on the conversation between Nako and Kanegon.

“Did something happen?”

Nako enquired. The thing about getting involved with Kohaku and Meiu, why would warning about it be for Nako’s sake? Maybe she knows.

“No. Nothing that I know of”.

She spun on the chair once, turning her back. Nako chased after, peering into her face.

“Please tell me”.

Nako did not give up, it was the only way to make Hatano-sensei open her mouth.

“Kanetaka-sensei is very pleased with you. That’s why”.

“That’s why?”

“She doesn’t want you to be made to repeat the fate of your predecessor, right?”

Predecessor. Upon hearing that word, Nako’s heart started beating faster. The one called her predecessor was none other than Kazuya.

“What fate? Didn’t he just stop showing up one day? Did something happen before that?”

“That is the extent of what will come out from my mouth”.

Hatano-sensei stood up from her seat, escaping. At that very moment several teachers had entered the staff room with idle chatter, so Nako too decided to not press for more.

"**"

She was told that she didn’t have to attend homeroom in the morning or after classes, so after her sixth period class Nako put on her only coat and ran out of the school. Great aunt Sasai’s house was two bus stops away.

During lunch break she placed a request to pay her a visit after school ended. Nako could not help feeling that she would have heard something about this.

“Before Kazuya disappeared, did something happen?”

“What is it? You have such a scary face”.

Nako broached the subject as soon as she stepped through the front door, and her great aunt was speaking as if poking fun at her. She seemed to have guessed what Nako’s business was. Asking Nako to “just sit down, please”, she led her to the living room, where Nako dejectedly sat herself down on the sofa.

“A few days before aunt said that she was worried about Kazuya. Surely he wouldn’t just skip work, so could he be missing? The school put the blame on the aunt, because she is the guarantor. I can’t help but think that something else took place”.

“Did you hear something about Kazuya?”

“No”.

Nako shook her head sideways.

“But, I have a feeling”.

“I see”.

Great aunt took out a pack of cigarettes, took one out and lit it with a lighter. After unhurriedly smoking half of it, she exhaled smoke and spoke.

“He wouldn’t just skip work or anything of the sort, Kazuya resigned”.

“Eh?”

Nako could not believe her ears.

“Just before he disappeared, a scandal rose up. Well, all sorts of things happened, but somehow it was all to be resolved with voluntary resignation. Kazuya only said he would come back to pick up the forms the next day, and that’s where we are now”.

“That’s…”

He had reasons to disappear. Is that correct? However, as expected, I couldn’t believe it. It felt like I was listening to some different person’s story.

“That’s why. I wondered if he committed suicide somewhere, of course, I was worried. Since that was the case, they had no need to publicly declare that he was going to resign, so they kept it under wraps and quietly brought in a successor. But, he just traveled abroad. Really, he has no consideration for others”.

“What scandal?”

When I asked the question, great aunt took another smoke of the cigarette and then roughly pressed it into the ash tray, putting out its light with a soggy sound.

“It seemed to be molestation of students”.

“No way”.

Nako smiled without thinking. However, great aunt had a serious expression on her face.

“It was a student from his class who lodged a complaint to the head teacher of the year. Kazuya also confessed to that”.

“……I can’t believe it”.

“Feeling up the body, kissing, it seemed to be something like that. In the family he always held himself like a serious young man, but ended up as a foolish one”.

Great aunt’s story turned out to be nothing but unpleasant to Nako. Even though, she did gain an understanding.

The reason why great aunt was so obsessive about Kazuya’s successor being a woman.

“Who lodged the complaint?”

Nako leaned forward. Could it be a student she takes care of during her lessons? Could it possibly be someone from the second year wisteria group?

“What good will knowing do you?”

“I will hear out your side of the story. Why would Kazuya do something like that, there must be some kind of mistake!”

In my agitation I stood up, great-aunt only adjusted her glasses, seemingly telling me to sit back down. When I kept standing in spite of that, she quietly called out my name, “Nako”.

“I can talk with you about this, calmly, but I can’t tell you which student it was”.

Those words brought her to her senses. Indeed, Nako was very angry at the moment. It wasn’t the attitude of someone looking for an honest conversation.

I will put off getting angry and collecting my thoughts. Nothing can be started without first gathering information.

“I’m sorry for losing my composure”.

Bowing once and sitting herself back down on the sofa, she reopened the conversation.

“Even if the student exaggerated when recounting the events, or it was a misunderstanding, Kazuya was still careless”.

“But”.

“You could say that, to some extent, the student was just bad luck. Her father is a famous member of the parliament whose name anyone would recognize. The school also received huge donations from him. That’s why no one spoke up to defend Kazuya”.

“So that’s how it is”.

If that’s the case, maybe Kazuya admitted to committing the crime without actually committing it. However, it’s completely absurd that Lillian students would be treated differently depending on who their parent is.

“If you understand, please don’t get involved”.

Why is it that great-aunt is saying the same thing as Kanegon.

“I’m going back”.

Nako stood up from her seat. It was already a long visit, and it didn’t seem like she would be able to get any more information from great-aunt.

“Where to?”

“To school. I have some things left to do”.

After leaving great-aunt’s house, Nako ran back to school. The home room ended a while ago, and the cleaning must also have concluded already. From the tennis court she heard a nice “sukoon” sound of a ball bouncing.

Without entering the school building, Nako ran full speed to the back of the school. It’s the reverse of what usually takes place. Nako was searching for Kohaku and Meiu.

She once asked them about it. How were they able to find her so quickly? They tilted their heads, seemingly in confusion, and replied, “somehow”.

At that moment Nako understood that “somehow”. With something like conviction that they would be there, Nako rushed over.

"**"

Deep in thought while running, she saw a figure of a person at the side of the fence making leaf compost.

However, instead of the usual pair, only one figure could be seen.

But, she didn’t pay it any mind. Even if the two weren’t together, one would suffice. Nako calmed her breath and approached. The girl was standing to the inside side of the fence and looking down at the large quantities of leaves laid in the square hole in the ground.

She didn’t notice it last time she was here, but there is a gate in one part of the fence for going in and out. Nako opened it and came in.

“Which one?”

I asked with my back facing her.

“What is?”

I didn’t know whether this girl was Kohaku or Meiu, I turned around and asked again.

“Which one was Kazuya’s lover?”

“You’re asking about a lover?”

She exhaled through her nose with laughter. However, Nako was not laughing.

“He is not the kind of person who would try to force a girl to do something against her will”.

I had a sudden realization after listening to what great-aunt told me. I can say it with certainty. The student that lodged the molestation complaint, was it Kohaku or was it Meiu? Which one?

That’s right. With which one of them was he mutually in love with? And then, when the relationship was discovered, Kazuya took all the blame.

“Without being told that it’s okay, he kissed, wouldn’t you call that forcing oneself onto another?”

The word “kissed” momentarily blew her top. However, she told herself that she could not get worked up now, and continued the conversation.

“Was it with you? Or was it, perhaps, the other one?”

However, the girl did not answer Nako’s question.

“That’s the kind of person sensei’s beloved Hida-sensei is. Men are such dirty and selfish beings. All talk, no sincerity at all”.

She just kept going on about what she wanted to say, but Nako patiently and firmly asked.

“So, which one are you? Kohaku-san? Or Meiu-san?”

“Shimizu-sensei, I love the likes of sensei. If you don’t know something, just honestly say you don’t know, right? That’s why I can’t help but want to tell you”.

This girl, that could be either Kohaku or Meiu, stood facing Nako head on, locked her arms behind her back and pressed her body firmly against Nako’s.

“I love you. Meiu and you are different. Not just as one of the twins, I am in love with you the individual. That’s what he said to me here while embracing me like this”.

“Eh……?”

Nako’s heart was beating quickly. Was it because it felt like it was Kazuya who was embracing her and whispering sweet things to her, or was she feeling passion for this beautiful girl herself, she didn’t know.

I didn’t know. But I didn’t want her to notice how fast my heart was beating. And yet, why couldn’t I shake her off and separate her from my chest?

“The person that reported being sexually harassed, was it you?”

Nako barely managed to put those words together.

Did she hand over as a molester the man that spoke to her of love, this girl? No, it could have been the other one. These two are so similar that it’s impossible to tell them apart.

“Hida-sensei seemed to think that Meiu complained to the other teachers. A little trick to destroy the relationship between Kohaku and Sensei, he said”.

“Was he wrong?”

Upon hearing Nako’s words the girl chuckled.

“It’s the same either way”.

“The same?”

Perhaps to her Kohaku and Meiu were the same. However, regardless of how she viewed them, the matter of who filed the complaint must have been of great importance to Kazuya. Depending on the answer the whole world could be flipped upside down.

“Here he embraced me thusly and spoke those words to me. I have to resign from school. We can’t meet anymore. So, why don’t we go together? If you stay with Meiu like this, you will be ruined”.

“So why didn’t you go together?”

Didn’t Kohaku try changing her hairstyle to differentiate herself from Meiu? Supposing separation from Meiu is what Kohaku desired, Kazuya, her lover, could be the one to get her away from this world.

“I don’t get it. Why?”

Nako’s murmurs spoken over the shoulder were met with a little strained laugh.

“There’s no way that would work”.

She let go of Nako’s body, and almost at the same time a different voice came from behind her.

“That’s right. She is Meiu, she”.

“Eh”.

Turning around, there she was, it’s unclear for how long now, Meiu, no, that’s Kohaku, stood there by herself.

The one that just appeared referred to the one that was already there as Meiu.

However, from what I have just heard, Kazuya was in love with Kohaku. And Meiu said that Kazuya was embracing her.

“That means-”

Kohaku slowly came over and stood next to Meiu.

“…… I got it. Kazuya confused the two of you, didn’t he?”

Nako cautiously confirmed, and the two of them nodded.

“Right. And after talking such a big talk. But he only told us apart by the hairstyle”.

What that was done for, I didn’t know. But Meiu appeared in front of Kazuya after cutting her hair the same way as Kohaku’s. Kazuya didn’t know Meiu cut her hair that way. That’s why he thought that Meiu was Kohaku and ended up suggesting they run away together.

“My goodness……”

With that, he betrayed Kohaku.

Kazuya, while going on about “you two are different”, turned out to be much worse than the people who gave up from the outset, unable to distinguish between the two. It’s hard to imagine the despair Kohaku must have felt when she saw her lover embracing someone who had the exact same face as her. With that, couldn’t one say that Meiu was treated as the same?

“So?”

Nako asked the two.

“What happened to Kazuya?”

After giving them all those expectations, Kazuya had torn their pride to shreds. What happened after that?

“Did you kill him?”

“We did not kill him. But…”

“Just like that,” Kohaku said, as she pushed Nako in the shoulders with all her might.

“Ah”.

It was a surprise attack. Her fall was broken by the leaves she fell with her back squarely on top of, and when she stood up, she saw she was on top of the leaf compost. Before she knew it, she was surrounded by damp fallen leaves.

“Shimizu-sensei loved Hida-sensei, right? So I only did the same thing as on that day for you”.

“On that day?”

She must be talking about the day that Kazuya disappeared, right?

Meiu came first, and just as the two of them were embracing, Kohaku appeared. Is what Nako just experienced mirroring what Kazuya went through on that day?

“Where is Kazuya?”

Nako stood up from the leaves she fell onto, looking up at the two standing at the edge of the hole. Both her hair and her coat were covered in soil and leaves, but she didn’t care.

“We do not know”.

“We only saw him falling there”.

A cold stare was returned.

“No way”.

Nako frantically began shoveling the leaves from under her feet with her bare hands. Kazuya fell here. And after that, what happened? No way he could still be under —.

As she was desperately digging, she heard a loud laughter from above her head.

“What a lovely sensei”.

“You really are magnificent”.

Leaving her with those words, the two turned their backs to her.

“Wait”.

Nako, after crawling out of the hole for making compost, desperately chased after them. From the pain in her right leg she concluded that she twisted it when she fell, so she couldn’t run. As if to make fun of that, Kohaku and Meiu ran away flapping like butterflies. It was as if they were teasing her, urging her to come to them.

Having advanced down the ginkgo tree lined path, the two came in front of the statue of Maria-sama , stopped, and turned around.

They smiled sweetly at the Nako who had been chasing them.

Be they angels or demons, she didn’t care.

They were so beautiful, Nako could do nothing but just stand there.

"**"

“Okay, I will take attendance now. Aikawa Kimi-san”.

Having opened the attendance book, Nako called out.

“Here”.

From the middle row, a lively voice responded.

“Itou Masako-san”.

“Here”.

The voice to my right, a little faint. Seems to be having a slight cold.

The cold is spreading. There are five empty desks this morning. The students wearing masks also stand out.

Nako, who had sprained her right ankle, was scolded by being called “careless” and having “bad health management” the next day, Kanegon was also down with the cold. That’s why, unexpectedly, Nako, the assistant homeroom teacher for the second year wisteria class of high school, lead the homeroom like she used to.

A few days had passed. Even though Nako’s leg had healed, she seized her after school walks around the school grounds. Of course she didn’t even get close to that place where the leaf compost was collected.

“Ogata Mitsuko-san”.

Thinking about it, it was a hole shallow enough for Nako, a woman of an average build and height, to slip out of very quickly. Even if Kazuya, who is fairly tall, were to fall down there, there is no way he wouldn’t be able to get out on his own. Even for a moment, why would she even consider the possibility of his dead body being buried there?

“Kayama Sachiyo-san”.

But, supposing.

What if it wasn’t just a simple push?

It would be impossible for one high school girl, but two of them could handle one adult male… No, there is no way.

But lately, whether he lived or died, Nako realized that she has become indifferent.

“Kinoshita Rie-san”.

Yesterday, another postcard came from Kazuya. I think this one was from Egypt. However, more importantly, he didn’t write a single word.

But if Kazuya is alive and well, I can kind of understand that too.

Nako won’t speak to anyone about that day. She didn’t write about Kohaku and Meiu in a diary or a notepad either.

That’s why, even if I were to die tomorrow, my feelings for them would remain a secret from everyone, right?

If anyone knows what’s going on inside my heart, it’s Maria-sama that watches over us.

“Kuga Kohaku-san”.

Today Nako also continued taking attendance as if nothing happened.

“Kuga Meiu-san”.

From both sides of the classroom, it felt as if a pair of jewels were staring at me.

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