Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume32 Chapter9 7

The Ribbon's Path Part 7.

Sachiko-sama and Rei-sama had split up after leaving the clubhouse.

They may have started heading back towards the classroom together but at some point Sachiko-sama had said something like, 'I have things to take care of,' and made her way to the old greenhouse alone.

How long Sachiko-sama had stayed in the greenhouse was unknown but it seemed as though she had borrowed the Japanese white pine's seat and daydreamed. Perhaps, like Yumi, she had been thinking back to that day.

It didn't seem as though Sachiko-sama had any particular tasks she wanted to do in the old greenhouse. If forced to give it a name, just 'coming to the greenhouse' itself was probably it.

Yumi made a guess. Sachiko-sama was probably following the path of her memories.

A year ago, Sei-sama had said her goodbyes to her classroom.

And Youko-sama had tried to experience everything she possibly could.

And Eriko-sama had blasted Yoshino-san with every little thing she wanted to tell her, and the classmates were having their party in the classroom, and the seniors in the photography club had a commemorative graduation photograph taken – everyone had their own ceremony that needed to take place for them to be comfortable with graduating.

In that case, where would she be going next?

Yumi started walking. Without a plan. Letting her feet take her wherever her feelings did. It was probably the same method her onee-sama was using. Although she wondered if that was okay.

What would she do if she met her onee-sama?

After all, she probably wanted to be alone. To have Yumi walking with her would probably be a bother.

(Even so)

Yumi had the ribbon. So she felt like she was being called to. That was why she started looking for Sachiko-sama, and she couldn't let her resolve be broken.

Yumi walked along, looking at the school buildings to the right and the library to the left. Walking along the path that continued to the sports grounds.

But rather than continuing to the sports grounds Yumi took a turn to her right.

The gymnasium seemed kind of lively because the teachers were still there getting things ready for the graduation ceremony. The chairs had been arranged yesterday by the first year students but there were still plenty of things to do. The red and white curtains, the program of events, the national flag and the school flag all had to be put up, as well as numerous other minor tasks.

"A bit to the left, and a bit lower."

"Oh, isn't that upside-down?"

"Here's the documents from last year."

A small window had been flung open near the stage and Yumi listened to the conversation that came flowing out. It seemed as though there were a number of students mixed in with the teachers. Probably people that had agreed to help in return for meal tickets from the noodle shop.

In direct contrast to the hustle and bustle inside, the back of the gymnasium still had the same serene atmosphere as always.

"I guess she's not here."

Since they hadn't arranged to meet behind the gymnasium today, Yumi wasn't really expecting Sachiko-sama to be waiting there. Still, Yumi looked down and smiled. In the small gap between the gymnasium and the store-room, there was a section of ground with a thin layer of dust on it. And there was another set of tracks beside Yumi's brand new ones. Yumi went over to have a look, and placed her foot down next to one of the existing tracks – the shape was almost identical.

Not only that, but when comparing the size of the tracks to her own shoe size, Yumi saw they were exactly the same.

"The culprit's shoe size is 23cm."

It was a fairly ordinary shoe size for girls, but amongst the Rose families there was only one person other than Yumi that had such a shoe size – who else but Ogasawara Sachiko-sama.

Having seized on the culprit's shoe size was proof enough for Yumi. As she was walking back to the front of the gymnasium, Katori-sensei emerged from inside.

"Oh, there's Rosa Chinensis en bouton too."

Katori-sensei said upon seeing Yumi. That was a different greeting to the 'Fukuzawa-san' she usually used. And what was with that 'too' at the end? It was said with quite some emphasis. Yumi had all kinds of questions remaining, but the first thing to do was to acknowledge the greeting.

"Thanks for all your hard work."

"Not at all. I'm beat. If you'd like, why don't you help out. There's cake and soft drinks."

"Cake?"

That's not meal tickets from the noodle shop.

"I'm on my way to buy it right now."

Katori-sensei held up the black purse she had in her hand.

"But it's only going to be from the convenience store. And because there's so many people, I'll probably have to go to a number of stores."

She seemed enthusiastic about walking out the main gates to the convenience store that was opposite the wall and buying out their entire selection of cakes.

"How extravagant."

"It's because we have a sponsor."

"A sponsor?"

"Atsumi-sensei strained her back, so she wasn't able to be of much use. If she tried to do too much, she wouldn't be well enough to come to the graduation ceremony tomorrow. So she gave me her purse and said to make use of it. Ahh, but this is a secret. Don't tell anyone else."

Well, it probably wouldn't be good for a teacher's reputation if everyone knew that they bought their way out of problems. Still, it was unfortunate for Atsumi-sensei who was suffering from lower back pain, so Yumi thought she could keep this under wraps.

"So, what are you going to do?"

She was probably asking whether or not Yumi would assist them in their work.

"I would just get in the way."

Yumi politely refused.

"You soeurs are so cold. That's exactly how Rosa Chinensis refused."

"I'm humbled."

Yumi finally understood why she had been addressed as 'Rosa Chinensis en bouton,' and why the 'too' had been there in their initial exchange.

"But, sensei. Ignoring me for the moment, my onee-sama has a leading role in tomorrow's ceremony. Why would you be scouting her to help with the – "

"Ahh, that's right."

Katori-sensei clapped her hands together, as though she had just remembered something. Atsumi-sensei's purse got in the way, but she still produced a decent sound.

"I still feel like it wasn't all that long ago that Ogasawara-san entered into high school."

In other words, what Katori-sensei was saying was that as you get older, the years seem to go by even quicker. Since that was how Yumi was feeling now, it made her dizzy to think what it would be like when she reached Katori-sensei's age.

"It's a lonely thought, isn't it."

"Yeah."

Although Yumi agreed, she didn't feel as though she was completely alone.