Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume10 Chapter8 5

Sweets. Part 5

After watching raindrops flow down the glass window for a while, Yumi washed the tea cups and left the Rose Mansion. Since they'd left their bags there, eventually Shimako-san and Noriko-chan would return, but she didn't wait for them.

She opened her blue umbrella and walked with her eyes to the ground. She chose a different route to usual because she didn't want to go past the place where the hydrangea were blooming.

If the flowers had changed color since this morning, she didn't think she'd be able to get back on her feet.

"Yumi-chan."

As she walked along the path lined with ginkgo trees, someone unexpectedly called out to her. When she turned around to confirm who it was, that person rushed over to her.

"Let me share your umbrella."

"Sei-sama!?"

It was Shimako-san's onee-sama, Satou Sei-sama. Apparently she'd been taking shelter from the rain near the university's side entrance, waiting for some unsuspecting prey to wander by. And Yumi was the one that she captured.

"I'll bet you have plenty of friends that would share their umbrella with you."

As she gasped in amazement, Yumi held her umbrella out to cover Sei-sama.

After quickly wiping her wet blouse with a handkerchief, Sei-sama suddenly laughed and snatched the umbrella's handle.

"But it only started raining just recently. It wasn't raining when my friends went home."

"So did you stay back for some reason, Sei-sama?"

"Mmm. Well, it's no big deal, but – "

After taking a quick look back at the high-school buildings, Sei-sama asked:

"There's nothing happening with Shimako, is there?"

"Shimako-san?"

Yumi looked puzzled, wondering why she was asking. Sei-sama, who had previously said, "I've graduated so you shouldn't rely on me," had stayed around because she was worried about her petit soeur.

"Yesterday at lunch, someone who looked like Shimako was seen around here. I skipped out on classes yesterday, so I only heard about it this morning. She's not the sort of girl to just go aimlessly wandering around by the university section. So I was thinking maybe she wanted to see me about something."

So Sei-sama had apparently decided to wait around and ambush Shimako-san. Yumi didn't know how long it had been since Sei-sama's classes had ended, but she'd been waiting since before it started raining. She'd chosen a place where she could keep an eye on the high-school students heading home, and would head home once she'd taken a look at her petit soeur.

Yumi thought that Shimako-san was quite fortunate. She had a kind onee-sama who, despite having graduated, still cared for her. Yumi was jealous, and it felt like she was going to cry, so she hurriedly looked away. If she suddenly burst into tears, Sei-sama would think she was weird.

"If you're after Shimako-san, she's probably sheltering from the rain somewhere with Noriko-chan…"

"– Then that's okay. I'll go home with you, Yumi-chan. Just to the train station, anyway."

Yumi nodded, and they walked together. Apologies to Shimako-san, but she'd decided to borrow Sei-sama for a little while. Just by having Sei-sama with her, Yumi felt like she could return to the normal 'Yumi-chan.'

She'd been helped by Sei-sama in the past too. It was just before Valentine's Day and there had been some minor altercation with Sachiko-sama. Yumi had hidden in the old greenhouse and Sei-sama came to see her.

Back then, what was it that Sei-sama had said to her? How could she bring it to the surface? Yumi couldn't remember what it was. It was a memory of the distant past.

" – What?"

Sei-sama said, after they'd made it to the front gate.

"Huh?"

She said, "What?" Yumi hadn't said anything immediately prior to that, so she answered with a question. Then Sei-sama said something quite unexpected.

"You can tell me what's on your mind, just let it all out. I'll listen as thanks for letting me share your umbrella."

Yumi hadn't been aware that she'd let anything show on her face since they'd met. But this person obviously knew. Even if she didn't know exactly what was happening with Sachiko-sama, she would figure it out easily enough.

While she was still working out how to respond, Yumi silently looked up at Sei-sama's face.

"Are your present troubles caused by the girl with the hair rolls?"

"… How did you know?"

"Sachiko came by a little while ago. Although she didn't notice me."

As Yumi had suspected, Touko-chan was with Sachiko-sama. Since they hadn't noticed Sei-sama, they were probably happily chatting away.

"They weren't sharing an umbrella."

"That's not – "

"Yeah, it is."

Even so, Yumi was a bit relieved to hear that they hadn't been sharing an umbrella. Even though she herself was sharing an umbrella with Sei-sama. It was quite self-centered of her.

Even at the bus stop, while waiting for the bus, Yumi couldn't 'let it all out.' If she talked about it with Sei-sama, maybe she'd feel better. However, by talking about it, Yumi felt like she'd fall into self-loathing.

This was something that she should solve on her own. She couldn't rely on someone who'd graduated forever.

Sei-sama didn't ask if anything had happened either. She'd merely said a single sentence, while smiling with profound benevolence, like Maria-sama.

"Yumi-chan, don't abandon Sachiko."

I'm the one that's being abandoned – As Yumi swallowed those words.

The lights of the bus illuminated them in the rain, as they saw it making its way towards them.