Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume11 Chapter6 2

Visitor. Part 2

About a dozen people had gathered in front of the staff room.

"Ah."

Yoshino-san spotted Yumi and raised her arm.

Just like the other times, students other than the one called had spontaneously gathered at the designated location.

Taking a rough survey of the people in front of her, there was Rei-sama, Shimako-san and Noriko-chan. They'd probably hurried over when they heard "Fukuzawa Yumi" called. It felt like they'd all dropped everything to come here.

As she looked at each of their faces, Yumi thought, "They're good friends alright."

Touko-chan was nowhere to be seen. Although Yumi hadn't really expected Touko-chan to be worried about her. Still, she was a bit disappointed by her absence. Well, it was after school on Saturday, so perhaps Touko-chan had gone home already. Even if she was still on campus, it was possible that she was somewhere where she couldn't hear the announcement – .

Setting that aside for now.

Yumi had no idea whatsoever why she had been called here, and while she was still trying to figure out what sort of expression she should have, a group of students encamped near the door to the staffroom made their way over to her. The mood wasn't right for a greeting of "Gokigenyou," so they simply bowed to their target.

( … Thanks for everything.)

The newspaper club's Mami-san and the photography club's Tsutako-san could always sniff out when something was happening, and as expected they had both gathered here.

The rest were probably just curious onlookers. They had their backs to her, so they hadn't noticed that Yumi had arrived, clumped together in a circle like a dumpling.

"It's Yumi-san."

One of them noticed her and whispered to the others, and the dumpling fell apart in the twinkling of an eye. Like the blossoming of a flower bud, a single young lady appeared in the center. That person was –

"Rosa Chinensis!?"

"Gokigenyou, Yumi-chan. It's been a while."

She was wearing a dark suit that blended in with the Lillian's school uniforms, so Yumi hadn't noticed someone in street clothes mixed in among the group. It was indeed Rosa Chinensis. Well, more accurately, it was the former Rosa Chinensis, Mizuno Youko-sama, magnificently taking center stage like "The Birth of Venus," as she turned to Yumi and smiled.

"Wh-what on earth brings you here!?"

Yumi rushed over to her. Youko-sama slowly moved forwards to meet Yumi. Youko-sama really felt like an adult, perhaps due to her light makeup. It seemed unbelievable that until just three months ago they had worn the same school uniform.

Her muted matte pink lipstick coated lips informed Yumi:

"I came to see you. I'd like you to come with me."

"Huh? But I was called to – "

Yumi pointed at the staff room right beside her, and Youko-sama smiled wryly.

"Took you a while. I was the one that asked the teacher to do that. It seemed the quickest way to catch you."

"Wh-wh"

"Why? Because I'm in a race against time."

Youko-sama spoke quickly.

"Hey, Yumi-chan, if you could help Sachiko, would you?"

"Yes."

Yumi didn't know what was going on, but to the question of whether she would help Sachiko-sama, the answer was always an unconditional yes.

"Then come with me."

Youko-sama took Yumi by the hand, opened the door to the staffroom and informed them:

"Teacher, Fukuzawa-san's here, thanks for all your help."

"Okay."

One of the teachers called back from inside. Apparently she'd made full use of her status as a former pupil and Rosa Chinensis to convince the supervisor and broadcasting club to summon Yumi. That was the ever-practical Youko-sama.

"Here, Yumi-san."

They set off walking down the corridor and Yoshino-san popped out in front of them and held out a schoolbag.

"Youko-sama said she was taking you away, so I rushed back to the classroom and got it."

It was indeed Yumi's schoolbag.

"Thank-you."

As she took the schoolbag, Yoshino-san gave Yumi's hands a quick squeeze.

"Good luck. Tell me all about it later."

"Okay."

It felt like Yoshino-san's power flowed into Yumi's body.

Yumi didn't know where Youko-sama was taking her, but it was to help Sachiko-sama, so she gladly went. If her hard work could help Sachiko-sama, then she'd work as hard as she could.

"Youko-sama, come and visit us again sometime."

"Next time, stay a little while longer."

The students that had previously been surrounding Youko-sama reluctantly waved and said their goodbyes. Yumi felt like she'd seen them somewhere before, so perhaps they were the former Rosa Chinensis' fan club, enthusiastic devotees of Mizuno Youko-sama.

Youko-sama looked back over her shoulder and waved briefly in response. But that was all. There were no lingering farewells, as soon as she took hold of Yumi's hand she moved quickly to leave the staffroom behind.

Youko-sama was silent as they descended the stairs and walked along the first-floor hallway. She kept walking, not saying anything about where they were going or why Sachiko-sama needed Yumi's help.

Even when they split up, Yumi going to her shoe box and Youko-sama going towards the visitor entrance, all she said was, "Well, I'll wait for you outside." She didn't seem angry, but she wasn't the usual brimming-with-confidence Youko-sama that Yumi knew.

When they rejoined in front of the visitor entrance, Youko-sama said nothing and started walking quickly.

Yumi felt like she'd only seen Youko-sama's face from diagonally behind for a while now. Perhaps it was due to the angle, but her expression looked quite stern.

"Umm."

Unable to endure the lengthy silence any further, Yumi started speaking.

"What?"

Youko-sama didn't stop walking, instead turning only her head as she questioned Yumi. Seeing her eyes for the first time in a while, Yumi bowed her head deeper than before.

"I'm sorry."

"What on earth for?"

As expected of Youko-sama, she stopped on a dime, turned and asked the question.

"You told me to take care of Sachiko-sama, and I – "

"Ah."

Should that response from Youko-sama be taken to mean that she knew the current state of affairs between Yumi and Sachiko-sama, or was there a certain amount of conjecture involved? Maybe she hadn't understood everything.

"I'm sure Sachiko's at fault."

Youko-sama said curtly as she resumed walking.

"But."

Yumi followed after her.

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't some grandiose commandment. If two people are only joined together because someone else tells them to, it will never work out. Things fall apart when it's their time to. I say that intentionally too."

Things fall apart when it's their time to. The impact of those words reverberated around Yumi's heart.

"So even if we say that you ran out of patience with Sachiko, I think that was unavoidable. But right now, I want you to come with me. And I want you to help Sachiko."

Youko-sama ran her hand through her short hair and smiled thinly.

"Even after graduation, I'll probably be her big sister for the rest of my life. That's why I've become used to doing such foolish things for her. Entering my alma mater, using the PA system for personal reasons, and now forcing a junior to accompany me."

"Ah."

Yumi had finally hit upon something.

"Don't tell me Kashiwagi-san too … !"

There was no need to hear her response. Youko-sama had dragged Kashiwagi-san into this. Even though he wasn't romantically interested in Sachiko-sama, Kashiwagi-san probably cared for her deeply, so would have happily lent a hand to help Sachiko-sama.

"What happened?"

Sachiko-sama must be in dire straits to force Youko-sama and Kashiwagi-san to take action. But Youko-sama wouldn't tell her anything. The only thing she said was:

"All I'll say is that, right now, you are the one thing that Sachiko needs most in this world."

When they reached the statue of Maria-sama, Youko-sama said to Yumi, "Go ahead and pray," then gave her a gentle nudge forwards.

"And you?"

"I'll pass for today. I prayed earlier today, elsewhere. Don't mind me, I'm just not in the mood."

"… ?"

Yumi didn't really understand, but knew they were in a rush, so she hurried over to the statue and prayed.

For Sachiko-sama to be saved.

She made the request not knowing why Sachiko-sama needed saving.

As always, Maria-sama said nothing and smiled.

But that was fine. Having her watching over them like that was enough to bring comfort to Yumi.

"I look displeased, don't I?"

Youko-sama asked, after Yumi had run back to her.

" … A little."

After she answered honestly, Yumi thought, "Ooops," but she couldn't take back the words she'd said. However, Youko-sama smiled.

"It's okay. I am displeased. It annoys me that I couldn't do anything for Sachiko, despite how much I care for her. Like I was nothing. I adore you Yumi-chan, but I'm also feeling a little bit jealous … it's complicated."

"Jealous?"

"Right. You're a big-shot. And I'm jealous of that."

In contrast to her words, Youko-sama gently embraced Yumi's shoulder as they walked together.

"Yumi-chan, do you love Sachiko?"

"I do."

"Okay. That's good."

Somehow, it felt like she'd had that same conversation with someone else recently.