Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter4 3

Finding Me. Part 3

Tsutako-san was sitting in her classroom seat after school and sighing.

"What's the matter? You're not going home?"

"Ah, Yumi-san. Good timing … or bad, maybe."

Yumi had been in the Rose Mansion working on school festival related tasks but they'd reached a break in their work, so she'd returned to the classroom to pick up something she'd forgotten.

They'd had PE today, so she had to take her PE clothes home. The days were still warm despite it being September and she didn't dare leave her sweat-stained shirt and leggings in her locker for two days.

"What's up?"

There were a number of photos on Tsutako-san's desk. She was probably in the middle of sorting them, since they were spread out face-up like a deck of cards. Because Tsutako-san took a lot of hidden-camera photos around campus, it wasn't that unusual to see her like this.

Sorting them by person, or by those that were okay to publish and those that weren't, or by those that would inevitably be torn up. The way she divided them changed depending on the occasion.

"Oh, are all of these photos of me?"

Yumi picked up a few to have a closer look. About ten photos of Fukuzawa Yumi, all taken without her notice.

"That's right."

Tsutako-san never tried to talk her way out of these situations.

She had indeed taken them. She wouldn't publish them if you didn't want. She would give you a copy if you wanted one. But they were such good shots that you should share them with the world. – That's how these conversations generally went.

"I was thinking about the school festival when I took these photos of you. For the photography club's display."

"But why me?"

"Because it was a huge success last year. That giant panel of you and Sachiko-sama. So I thought I'd rely on the Red Rose soeurs again this year."

"Hey."

So was that why she'd said, "Good timing or bad?" But at this point Yumi couldn't see what was "bad" about it.

"So what's troubling you, Tsutako-san?"

"Do I look troubled?"

"Totally."

Since she was sitting alone in the gloom of an unlit classroom, her arms folded and sighing deeply. Even if she wasn't troubled, she was thinking deeply about something difficult.

"What is it? Is there a problem with your subject?"

"Yumi-san is cute. Wonderful as always."

"… Is that so?"

Tsutako-san would often praise her even though Yumi thought she looked plain and clumsy in the photos. Although, if pressed, she'd admit that recently she'd come to realize that Tsutako-san liked those sorts of photos. Instead of photos of everyone saying "Cheese" and looking at the camera, Tsutako-san preferred ones where the subjects were looking off into the distance, or nonchalantly going about their daily lives.

"But when did you take these?"

As well as the ones at school, there were some that looked like they were taken while she was commuting to or from school. Ones were she was walking side-by-side with Sachiko-sama in front of the train station, or talking excitedly with Shimako-san at the bus stop. Although, as expected, there weren't any of her lying in bed with her stomach growling, nor any bath scenes.

"Yumi-san is fine."

Tsutako-san repeated.

"Then what's wrong?"

"You don't know?"

"Don't know what?"

She tried to remember earlier photos she'd been in but couldn't see how they differed to these. Of course the situations and the times were all different. It didn't seem like there was any significant improvement or decline in the photographer's skill either.

"It's not so obvious in the first few."

Tsutako-san gathered the photos into a bundle then sorted them and placed a couple in front of Yumi.

"But by this point it should be incredibly obvious."

"Huh?"

Tsutako-san pulled out three "incredibly obvious" photos and lined them up on the desk. Then.

"Ah!?"

Even someone as slow as Yumi could see it clearly. She'd completely missed it when casually looking over them, but with them laid out like this the problem became apparent. Then once she'd worked it out, she took another look at the "not so obvious" photos and while the problem didn't stand out it was indeed there too.

"– So you see, I can't display these."

Tsutako-san said.

"It's a shame but I'll have to destroy the negatives. It'd be a disaster if the newspaper club got their hands on these."

"What a waste."

"Yeah. Although, I didn't notice it until I developed them. Since you didn't seem to know about it either, maybe nobody would notice if we played dumb and displayed one of these at the school festival."

But Tsutako-san would know. Yumi would know too. If one of the photos was on display, they'd probably be irrationally irritated by the problem.

"I could trim them down to just you."

"No, there's no need."

Up until now, Yumi had received a copy of most of the photos Tsutako-san had taken of her, but this time she held back.

Holding a photo that was trimmed down to just her, she wouldn't be able to keep herself from thinking about the world left behind. That said, she had neither the talent nor the nerve to take responsibility for the dozen or so photos that Tsutako-san had decided to destroy. To say nothing of the wisdom required to make the right decision.

"It's kinda scary."

"Looking at it from your point of view, it is a bit."

Tsutako-san gathered the photos and put them in an envelope.

"It ends for me when I destroy these, but what will you do, Yumi-san?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe you'd have been better off not knowing."

"No, it's alright. Thanks."

Yumi picked up the bag with her PE clothes and walked unsteadily out of the classroom.

Should she talk to Sachiko-sama about this?

(I know I shouldn't hide things from onee-sama when I'm talking to her.)

But she didn't want this to get blown out of proportion. On top of that, she still hadn't sorted out her own feelings.

Tsutako-san's photos. Was there a chance it was just a coincidence?

(A dozen coincidences?)

Could that sort of thing happen?

In the photos, her hair was tied with a variety of ribbons. That was definitive proof that they were taken on different days. And yet, in each of them, that shadow behind her –

On her way back to the Rose Mansion, Yumi looked over her shoulder a number of times.

Maybe there was someone there.

The dozen photos were causing a disturbance in Yumi's chest.