Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume28 Chapter8 3

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Thinking back, she'd long had a weakness for rarities.

Whenever she was wondering what to do, just before she frankly asked herself, "Which one of these would be best?" she'd instinctively reach out for the item of which there was only one of at that place.

If, for instance, the choice was being made because a visitor had brought a selection of cakes then there was no problem, because there would be none left afterward anyway.

But with things like clothes and shoes, the residual effects were bothersome. Countless times she'd returned home only to find that the clothes she'd bought didn't suit her at all. Or like that time when she'd been depressed for a couple of days after she found out that another girl in the neighborhood had the exact same item, despite it being the only one in the store when she bought it. That was the first time she realized there was a possibility that a store might only have one of an item in stock because it was really popular and almost sold-out. That particular item of clothing had been shoved deep into her closet, never to be worn.

It was a moral lesson. Just because something had a different appearance didn't mean she should leap at it. Better to ignore the superficial attractions.

Eriko tried to persuade herself of this as she continued on from yesterday, standing beside the school gate and watching students arrive.

You can't judge people based on their appearance. – It was as though that saying was coined just for her current predicament.

Nonetheless, when that boyish looking first-year from yesterday appeared, Eriko left her position and tottered after her. It was much earlier than when she had met Sei yesterday. The first-year wasn't running today.

Eriko followed her, leaving a gap of about ten metres between them. That girl prayed in front of the statue of Maria-sama for just a bit shorter length of time than yesterday.

Even though she knew it was foolish, Eriko stared at that girl's fingertips. But, unfortunately, the thread that she saw yesterday morning was nowhere to be seen.

Well, what had she been expecting? Eriko let out a sigh as she watched the first-year walk away. Then, as a matter of course, she prayed to Maria-sama before walking across to the school building.

She didn't feel like evaluating any more first-years that morning.

She had to collect herself.

Later that day, after finishing her lunch in the classroom, Eriko headed towards the school library carrying the notebook she had borrowed from her onee-sama. The notebook containing the list of eligible first-years.

She hadn't really felt like reading it last night at home, so it had remained in her school bag.

It had popped into her head just as she was thinking that she had to calm down, but obviously there was no way she could take it out in the classroom. It would be a major drama if one of her inquisitive classmates asked, "What's that?" On the other hand, going to the Rose Mansion was also out of the question, since one of the Roses might show up.

But in the library no-one would pay any attention to someone sitting in the reading room with a notebook open. It was a space used for writing reports, doing homework and studying for exams, both during the lunch break and after school. No-one there had time to worry about what anyone else was doing.

The only seat that was free was adjacent to an aisle, so Eriko sat down and switched on the reading light. On the other side of the aisle was a bookshelf, so people would occasionally wander past. This was a bit concerning, but there was nothing she could do about it.

"Well then."

Upon opening the notebook Eriko found a listing of about twenty girls. Each page covered a single person, listing their class and club activities. There wasn't a photograph, but to compensate for this they had listed any obvious physical characteristics, such as long hair, short stature, or a mole on their cheek.

The amount of information in each girl's profile varied too – some went as far as listing their best subjects and favorite foods, while other profiles only contained a name and a class. She scratched her head in confusion about why the Roses had put some of the girls in this list of favorites.

Included was one profile where Eriko just had to read the girl's name and her face immediately sprung to mind. But that was only because the girl was somewhat of a celebrity, not because Eriko held any special kind of affection for her.

She flipped through the notebook, looking over each profile in turn, then closed it. That one particular first-year was not included in the list.

Eriko didn't actually know that girl's name. But if she had been in the list then one of the profiles would have mentioned 'boyish looks' as a characteristic.

"I thought as much."

Eriko muttered softly, then quickly closed her mouth. The student in the next cubicle, probably a third-year, looked up from her giant reference book and shot her a warning glance.

(Oh brother.)

Students studying for exams were such an annoyance. She decided to move elsewhere, so as not to be even more of a bother, turned off the overhead light, and was just getting up from her chair when she cried out again.

"Erk."

This time around, her neighbor looked at her with a blatantly annoyed look on her face, but Eriko didn't notice. Her eyes were fixed on the student that had, just at that moment, entered into the aisle adjacent to her cubicle.

(It's her … !)

Eriko had only just stood up, but she parked her butt down in the seat again.

(Why is she here?)

Her heart was racing.

That girl was a high-school student, after all, so there was nothing strange about her being here, inside the high-school library at lunch time. But the timing was just too convenient. That was what had surprised Eriko, and was probably why her lingering heart palpitations wouldn't stop.

Even though she knew she had done nothing wrong, Eriko re-opened the notebook and used it to cover her face from her nose down. Everything above that, in other words her eyes, needed to be left uncovered so that she could track that girl.

Unaware that she was being watched, the boyish first-year walked calmly from bookshelf to bookshelf. It was obvious she wasn't just browsing aimlessly because from time to time she'd stop and remove one or two books from the shelves. After completing a fairly lengthy circuit, that girl ended up clasping a stack of about ten books to her chest.

(Cooking book, historical novel, teen girl's novel, athletics manual … )

Eriko frowned, noticing the incongruity of her choices. She couldn't read the titles but it was easy enough to deduce the genres based on where that girl had been standing when she'd picked up a book.

(On top of that, ten books. That's got to be a joke. Will she head straight for the loan counter?)

Eriko watched fondly as that girl easily carried the mountain of books and did exactly what her internal commentary suggested, even though students weren't allowed to borrow that many books at a time.

As expected, that girl didn't make it past the loan counter without incident. After exchanging a few words with the student library attendant that girl turned back, carrying about half the books.

(I knew she'd get shot down.)

Eriko was unable to tell what that girl's selection criteria was, but after returning some of the books to the shelves she completed the check-out procedure and left the reading room carrying five books.

This time around Eriko stood up and actually left her seat. The student beside her gave a theatrical sigh of relief, but that wasn't worth dignifying with a response.

"I can't believe she did that, even though it says right here in big letters – "Five books per person.""

Luckily, the library attendant was an acquaintance of Eriko's, so she struck up a conversation, pretending to gossip.

"Ahh, you mean that first-year just before?"

The library attendant laughed, saying, "You saw that, huh?"

"Well, she said she was borrowing them using somebody else's student card, but I had to refuse anyway."

"Someone else's card?"

"Apparently they were for a sick friend who was absent today. But it still would have been against the rules."

"A sick friend… "

If she hadn't been refused then that girl would probably have taken those five books to her sick friend's place after school. It made sense that only a neighbor would trust someone enough to give them their student card and ask them to do this.

"But if she was telling the truth, wouldn't it be okay to put five books on each card? After all, if the card's owner had been well, they would have been able to borrow the books themselves, right?"

Eriko inquired, but the library attendant responded immediately with, "That wouldn't have been possible."

"Why not? Don't tell me you know the names and faces of every student at Lillian's?"

"Not even close. Well, it was a nice try, but the sick girl would never have been able to pull it off."

Before Eriko had a chance to ask why, the library attendant continued.

"After all, it's easy enough to check that someone's wearing the right uniform."

"Huh?"

"You see, the sick friend's student card was for a middle-schooler."