Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume30 Chapter5

What Kind of Groups?

Part 1.

Yoshino-san emerged from the exit of the teacup ride and was almost carried by Rei-sama over to where Yumi and the rest were waiting.

"Don't worry about her. She's just woozy."

Rei-sama informed them, then escorted Yoshino-san away. Judging by the direction they were heading, they were probably going to the restroom.

"Let's leave this to Rei."

Sachiko-sama said.

Indeed, they wouldn't accomplish anything by all following after Yoshino-san, asking "Are you okay?" And that's probably the last thing the sick person wanted too. Yumi was incredibly worried about Yoshino-san, but chose to resist the temptation to chase after her.

"Rei-sama really was keeping a close eye on her, wasn't she."

Neither Tsutako-san nor Shouko-chan had noticed anything strange happening with Yoshino-san. It was only as they were leaving the ride, when they noticed Rei-sama wasn't with them, and they heard Yumi saying, "I wonder if she's okay," that they realized something was happening.

"A message."

Yuuki returned, a bit unsteady on his feet. His mind and body looked like they had taken severe damage from the double-punch of being spun to exhaustion on the teacups followed by Yoshino-san collapsing right in front of him.

"It is as follows: I won't be going on the roller-coaster today, so you should go ahead without me."

"Huh?"

"A message for you, from Yoshino-san."

"Ah, okay."

It wasn't really like they'd promised to go on the rides together, but apparently Yoshino-san's earlier invitation of, "Why don't we go on one of the rides? Come on, Yumi-san," was equivalent, in her mind, to a promise.

"Sounds good. Why don't you go and do that now, Yumi. Given how she was looking, Yoshino-chan probably won't be back for a while. The same applies to you too, Tsutako-san and Shouko-chan. I'll wait here, so if there's any other rides you want to go on, you might as well do that now."

The two photography club members excused themselves and left. Since they were heading towards the lake, it seemed unlikely that they were planning on riding the roller-coaster. As she watched them walk away, Yumi idly thought that Tsutako-san looked somehow different to normal. Although there probably wasn't anything wrong with her health, since she seemed to be enjoying herself immensely on the teacups with Shouko-chan and Rei-sama.

"Come on, you too Yumi. I'll look after your bags."

"But."

Yumi was still worried about Yoshino-san, and didn't want to leave her onee-sama either. However.

"That's an order."

Based on Sachiko-sama's tone of voice, Yumi knew she wouldn't tolerate any dissent.

"Okay."

Yumi left her bag with her onee-sama, taking only her handkerchief and her all-day pass.

"Well, shall we go?"

Kashiwagi-san lightheartedly offered his arm to her but Yumi chose not to acknowledge it, instead turning her back on him.

"Yuuki... I suppose this would be a bit too much for you."

"Sorry."

Earlier, her brother had been enthusiastic about going on the roller-coaster this time around, but now he remained seated on a nearby bench, looking on with a listless expression. Given how things had turned out with Yoshino-san and the teacup ride, it was fairly obvious that he was willing to call it a day at this point. It would be unfair to make him go on the roller-coaster after all of that.

"I'm heading off."

Yumi bid her onee-sama farewell, then turned towards the roller-coaster entrance. Kashiwagi-san once more offered her his arm, which Yumi completely ignored.

"You don't have to be shy."

"I'm not shy. It's just embarrassing, doing something so pretentious."

The amusement park was a dream country, a fairy-tale country, but it was still unmistakeably a part of Japan. It wasn't like a formal dance, where it was customary to link arms. There were some couples who had reluctantly given in to holding hands, but she and Kashiwagi-san were not a couple.

Kashiwagi-san didn't appear even slightly discouraged by Yumi's response, or her labeling of it as pretentious.

"I can't help it. I've been raised since birth to be a prince."

"Of the ginkgo-tree country," Yumi thought to herself.

A child looked at Kashiwagi-san, as though he were something unusual. Well, that was true. A gentleman walking along, leaning slightly, with his elbow jutting out.

"Yumi-chan, you've grown so much."

Kashiwagi-san said, maintaining his odd pose.

"The way you said that, it seems somehow wrong."

Yumi coldly rejected him.

She was under no illusion that Kashiwagi-san was especially interested in her, but it was uncomfortably similar to how Hikaru Genji saw the young Murasaki in 'The Tale of Genji.' Not understanding the subtle nuance, the person in question smiled and said, "Wrong, huh." In this way, his breeding and his looks made him incorrigible. Yumi increased her pace, leaving the prince behind. She didn't really care if she wasn't with Kashiwagi-san on the ride. She could ride the roller-coaster by herself.

Still, stride length counted for a lot, and Kashiwagi-san soon caught up and was walking alongside Yumi. He wasn't making that odd pose, so perhaps he'd given up on that.

"Is there something, specifically, you're trying to say?"

But it looked like he was still continuing on with their earlier conversation.

"Like before. Really, you wanted to stay with Sacchan and wait for Yoshino-san to return. But you put yourself in her position and decided to go on the roller-coaster."

"Sachiko-sama's position?"

Yumi had intended to ignore his remarks, but was unable to do so once her onee-sama's name had been brought up.

"Yoshino-chan was probably worried that you would forgo the attractions and just wait there for her. That's why she gave that message to Yuuki, to prevent that from happening."

"…"

"Last time around, Sacchan fell ill midway through your amusement park date, and had to retire. Robbing you of your fun time. This time around, the same thing happened to Yoshino-chan. And you responded in a way that would please Sacchan. Of course, that's how Yoshino-chan wanted you to act too."

Yumi hadn't actually thought about it all that deeply. She'd just been following her onee-sama's orders, which seemed the correct thing to do. But maybe that had been part of her motivation, and she hadn't tried to self-analyze.

"Not really. I just wanted to go on the roller-coaster."

Yumi lengthened her stride, trying to get away from Kashiwagi-san. If it was true, then it was annoying that Kashiwagi-san was able to articulate it.

"Ahh but I find that petulant, childish side of you so cute, Yumi-chan."

"Give me a break."

Was there something he wanted to say?

Could he be flirting? No, Kashiwagi-san was supposed to be gay. Wait, was it that, or did they say he was bi?

Either way, if that was supposed to be flirting, then Yumi thought it seemed rather forced.

"But there's no way of stopping you from maturing, Yumi-chan. It's sad, but I have to recognize that there's also some good things to come of it."

"Huh?"

Yumi was completely lost. She was fairly certain that he wasn't flirting, but it seemed awfully close. Seeing her confusion, Kashiwagi-san smirked slightly.

"Basically, you asked me if there was anything I wanted to say, and I want to express my gratitude to you, Yumi-chan."

"Gratitude?"

"About Touko."

Touko.

So that's it. It was easy to forget, but Kashiwagi-san was actually Touko's cousin.

"But I didn't – "

Do anything deserving of gratitude. They had become soeurs, but only because they both wanted it. So it wasn't something that Kashiwagi-san should be thanking her for.

"You did. I wasn't able to save her. But you subdued her wild spirit, and melted her stubborn heart."

When Kashiwagi-san was talking seriously about someone he cherished, his face looked like a rough sketch of a stone statue. The stone statue and the smug look, they both belonged to the same person but they seemed like different people, leaving Yumi confused about how to deal with him.

"Since she's become your petit soeur, Touko's heart seems to have settled. And I put that down to you having a steady heart, Yumi-chan, and holding onto her tightly."

"Settled?"

Yumi tilted her head in confusion. For some reason, that phrase got stuck in her head.

"… Ah."

That was it. It was the true shape of the 'solidness' that Sachiko-sama and Shimako-san had both mentioned a few days ago.

Settled.

Yumi wasn't too sure about this 'steady heart' business, so much as it could just have been that she wasn't on-edge recently. Which may have been why Sachiko-sama pushed against her behind the gymnasium.

"Did I, by chance, hit upon something with that phrase?"

Kashiwagi-san peered at her, smiling, the stone statue now completely hidden.

"That's a secret."

"Well then, why don't you take my hand as thanks."

"No way."

The line for the roller-coaster had just come into view, so Yumi ran off ahead, knowing full well that Kashiwagi-san would soon catch up to her.

As thanks, Yumi decided to allow him to sit next to her on the roller-coaster, and to scream really loudly.

Part 2.

Yuuki's body had more or less recovered by the time Rei-san and Yoshino-san returned.

"Sachiko-sama, I'm deeply sorry for making you worry."

Yoshino-san faced Sachiko-san as she apologized. Yuuki could hardly believe his eyes. Incredibly, she had skipped over to meet them, twirling the jacket she was no longer wearing around in her hands.

What kind of magic had been used to bring about a full recovery in Yoshino-san? From listening to her conversation with Sachiko-san, it became apparent that she had spewed. Although Yoshino-san hadn't phrased it quite that crudely.

"And you too, Yuuki-kun."

Yoshino-san said, turning towards him.

"I'm sorry. For lots of things."

The predatory look she had had in her eyes when she grabbed Yuuki by the arm right before he was about to go on the teacup ride and the possessed look she had had about her as she continuously spun the teacup's wheel had both completely disappeared. Yoshino-san smiled sweetly, looking like a completely different person.

"It's okay. It looked like you were going through some tough times yourself, Yoshino-san."

Yuuki was relieved to see that the stormy atmosphere between Rei-san and Yoshino-san had dissipated.

The foundations were strengthened by adversity, or, rather, their petty squabbles vanished when something important came up.

After all, they hadn't actually been fighting, but there had been a cloud over them. And everyone else had been dragged into it. A certain amount of collateral damage was to be expected.

"Where's Yumi-san?"

Yoshino-san asked Sachiko-san, as though she had just noticed that Yumi wasn't around.

"She went to the roller-coaster with Suguru-san."

"Oh, really? That's good."

Upon hearing Yoshino-san say, "That's good," Yuuki also thought, "That's good." If Yumi were still here then it would have meant that the meaning of Yoshino-san's message had been lost.

After sitting down on the bench in the gap between Yuuki and Sachiko-san, Yoshino-san said:

"I'm feeling kind of hungry."

(Huh?)

"I want to get something to eat."

(Huh!?)

Was it normal for someone who had just vomited up the entire contents of their stomach to want to fill that space so quickly? Wouldn't it be better to give the stomach a rest for a little while? At any rate, she had recovered quickly. Too quickly.

"Wait here, I'll go find you something easy to digest."

Rei-san said, then walked off. Were there any limits to her tolerance? Yuuki watched Rei-san's shrinking figure with respect.

"Yuuki-san. Is it alright if I ask you to watch over our bags?"

Hearing his name called, Yuuki spun around. He was being asked to watch over their bags, which meant –

"Yoshino-chan and I are going to go for a short walk. We won't be long."

"… Okay."

Judging by the puzzled look on Yoshino-san's face, this was something that Sachiko-san had decided on her own, not something that they had discussed.

"Well then, I'll leave these to you. Let's go, Yoshino-chan."

Regardless, it was a request from a senior. Yoshino-san followed along, even though she looked unsure.

"Wait. Wouldn't it have been easier for me to leave instead?"

By the time he'd realized what had happened, Sachiko-san and Yoshino-san had already left their bags with him and started walking. Left behind, the teenaged boy evaluated his situation objectively and slumped his shoulders.

Alone, sitting on a bench, looking after three women's bags and one women's jacket. If there were just one person's worth then it would look like he was watching over his girlfriend's belongings, but there were three bags. There was no easy explanation.

So then, would it be better to be embarrassed by the situation (as seemed proper), or to act defiant and adopt a, "Yes I'm looking after three women's bags. So what," attitude? If Kashiwagi-sempai were in his position then he'd probably respond with, "It's tough being popular," but there was no way Yuuki would be able to pull that off, so it was useless as a point of reference.

Yuuki slowly surveyed the area of the park around him. Everyone was so wrapped up in their own enjoyment that they didn't spare a single thought for the teenaged boy sitting alone on the bench. Much less what he was looking after – .

"Ah!"

Yuuki called out. Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he had seen the fleeting likeness of someone he knew.

"Uh, uh, uh."

It was just for an instant. And then they'd disappeared behind one of the buildings. But he was fairly certain it was them.

"Wait!"

Yuuki stood up, ready to give chase. If he were to dash off now, he was certain he'd catch up to them. After all, his quarry was a girl who was simply walking along.

"Ah."

But three bags and a jacket were literally weighing Yuuki down.

"Ah – geeze."

Sachiko-san had told him to mind their bags, so there was no way he could just leave them behind.

What to do, Yuuki. How will you weather this crisis!?

"No choice."

Fukuzawa Yuuki made his decision and started running.

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