Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume14 Chapter4 5

Finding Me. Part 5

The following day.

After cleaning, Kanako-chan paid a visit to Yumi's classroom and asked her, "Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. It's been a while since we last talked."

Yumi immediately agreed and went with her. Kanako-chan had suddenly stopped appearing after the pastry incident.

Kanako-chan walked in silence. At first Yumi thought there was somewhere specific she was heading for but that didn't seem to be the case.

Well, maybe there had been somewhere she was aiming for but she'd had to change plans because there was already someone at that spot, or it didn't seem conducive to a quiet conversation, or something along those lines. They walked together from the courtyard to the back of the school then circled around the gymnasium.

It was after school on Saturday.

The weather was fine.

The students that were staying into the afternoon had already spread out around the courtyard and the rest of the school grounds to enjoy their lunches.

There were plenty of students heading home, as well as some classes still cleaning – perhaps because their homeroom had gone over time. If they waited just a little while they'd be sure to find some place suitable, but given Kanako-chan's concerned expression it didn't seem like they'd be able to idly while away the time.

Consequently, Yumi led her to the old greenhouse. Hardly anyone visited that spot.

Kanako-chan's face finally softened slightly when they reached that secluded location.

The outside looked as dilapidated as ever but the inside was surprisingly tidy, and the roses and other plants were all growing strong and healthy. Just who was it that took care of all of them?

"Was there something you wanted to discuss?"

Yumi asked quietly. Then, without any introduction, Kanako-chan pleaded:

"Please don't go to the Hanadera Academy school festival tomorrow."

"Huh!?"

Yumi had plenty of things she wanted to discuss too, but this topic of Kanako-chan's was completely unexpected. So she was dumbfounded when Kanako-chan broke the ice with, "Don't go to the school festival."

"I don't mean to be rude, Yumi-sama, but you're not yet a Rose, so it should be fine if you don't go."

"Well, that's true, but."

Officially, Hanadera Academy had only requested the assistance of the three Roses. Technically, the boutons did not have to attend.

"From what I heard, Ogasawara Sachiko-sama didn't attend last year."

"Hasekura Rei-sama did."

"But doesn't that just show attendance is voluntary? If you said you didn't want to go, then you wouldn't have to go, right?"

"It's not like that."

It was hard to explain but it wasn't as simple as that. While Yumi was searching for words, Kanako-chan asked her directly:

"Or do you want to go?"

Since she was being so straightforward, Yumi perversely found herself wanting to investigate.

"Why don't you want me to go, Kanako-chan?"

The response she got was unexpected.

"That place is dangerous."

"Dangerous?"

"Because it's full of boys."

"Huh?"

Kanako-chan spoke as though it was a safari park or a zoo. Like, "That place is dangerous because it's full of carnivores."

"Boys will be after you, Yumi-sama."

See, like that.

"Huh?"

"Because you're so cute."

"…"

It was a somewhat baffling explanation. Basically, it went something like this:

Boys schools were full of boys, so they were dangerous. Therefore, she shouldn't go to the Hanadera Academy school festival.

"You're unguarded, Yumi-sama. It may be innocence, but you don't show any wariness when a boy calls out to you. Boys are so dangerous that you always, always, have to be on guard."

Kanako-chan emphasized, clenching her fists tightly.

"So you followed all the boys I came into contact with?"

"Huh?"

"Yesterday, you followed Kashiwagi-san after I split from him at M station, didn't you?"

Yumi asked.

"… I don't know what you're talking about."

"My brother followed you from the train station. He said a tall girl with long hair followed Kashiwagi-san back to his house, then turned around and retraced her steps."

"… Why?"

Kanako-chan turned away and fiddled with her hair.

"Why are you believing some boy's words instead of mine, Yumi-sama?"

"He's not some boy, he's my brother."

Hearing this declaration, Kanako-chan hung her head in shame and muttered almost inaudibly.

"Because I was worried."

"You followed them because you were worried? Were you also watching me because you were worried?"

Kanako-chan didn't respond to Yumi's question. Her silence proving that the student with the long hair in the background of Tsutako-san's photos was her after all, it wasn't a coincidence nor was it a case of mistaken identity.

"A while ago, you followed members of the Hanadera Academy student council too, didn't you?"

"How could I allow it? That … that tranny was clinging to you. Ambushing you at the Lillian's school gates."

Turning defiant, Kanako-chan resorted to harsh language.

"Don't call him that."

"But he is a tranny. Weak as he may be, it doesn't change the fact that he's male."

Hearing her spit this out, Yumi finally realized. That Kanako-chan just might –

"Do you not like men?"

"I hate them. They're the worst animals of all."

Given this declaration, it seemed Kanako-chan really did hate men.

Kanako-chan apparently had the same hatred of men as Sachiko-sama.

No, hold on.

In the face of Kanako-chan's outright loathing of men, Sachiko-sama's "man hatred" didn't really stack up.

Perhaps what Sachiko-sama had was closer to a "man phobia." She froze up whenever one approached her unawares, but she definitely didn't see men as the enemy. She just wasn't inoculated against them and panicked sometimes.

"I'm sure there are some horrible men, but they're not all like that."

"Maybe not, but the vast majority are."

Kanako-chan asserted confidently. This seemed to be quite ingrained.

"But still, men and women, we're all human – you should have learned this during health class. Even you must have a father, right?"

"I do not."

"Uh … o-okay."

"That man is no father."

"–"

Every family had its own circumstances, so she didn't want to pry too much.

Hating men in and of itself meant there must be a reason behind it. Whereas it usually didn't require a reason to like them – wait, who was it that said that?

"But Kanako-chan."

Roughly half of all humanity were men, so if she rejected them entirely she was narrowing her own world. Of course, Yumi wasn't about to say she should force herself to like them. But it was a bit sad that Kanako-chan would just cast them aside "because they're men." She was much, much more pitiable than all the men she'd cast aside up until now, and all those she'd cast aside in the future.

"You too, you're going to stand up for men, are you Yumi-sama?"

Kanako-chan laughed coldly.

At that point Yumi thought that perhaps Kanako-chan was transferring her anger against someone else onto her. The way Kanako-chan said, "You too," stuck in her ears for some reason.

"Yumi-sama. Please, enough already. Arguing about boys just doesn't suit you."

"Doesn't suit me?"

"Right. You have to stay your usual angelic self forever, Yumi-sama. Don't look upon those filthy boys, remain a pure maiden eternally. Smiling in Maria-sama's academy."

Kanako-chan closed her eyes in rapture. However.

"That's impossible."

Yumi spoke clearly.

"Why?"

"I like this school, so I'd like to stay here forever. But I'm going to grow older whether I like it or not, and as I grow older all sorts of things will change."

"I'm talking about the present, not the future."

"Even so. I'm my own person, with my own personality. I'm glad that you worry about me, Kanako-chan. But I've said that I'm going to Hanadera, and I can take responsibility for myself, and make judgments appropriate for my age."

"But that's not what I desire."

"Not what you desire … ?"

It was getting harder to understand what Kanako-chan was talking about. What had she meant by that last remark?

"What I'm looking for is the Rosa Chinensis bud that waits patiently in the greenhouse until the day it blossoms. The perfect, radiant flower that's been provided with water and nutrients and kept at a constant temperature, that's untouched by the cold, open air or insects. When I first saw you, I just knew that you were so pure that you were a fitting embodiment of Lillian's Girls Academy. So, please, stay here and bloom into a beautiful flower. There's absolutely no need for you to look outside."

"I'm not the exemplary person you think I am, Kanako-chan."

More like a dandelion - far more mundane, not particularly rare, and the only thing slightly noteworthy was how easily it could take root.

"It's not just me, I'm sure everyone else looks at you the same way, Yumi-sama. The one fit to be Rosa Chinensis' petit soeur. The one everyone adores … !"

"But I'm telling you, you're wrong."

"So you've been fooling everyone then?"

"Huh?"

"Because it was you yourself that gave us that impression in the first place. If you say it's wrong, then so be it. But please, act in a manner befitting your image right to the very end. Don't do any rash actions that aren't like you. Don't say such ill-suited words."

After this spray of nonsense, Kanako-chan's face crumpled and large teardrops stained her cheeks. Looking at that tear-stained face, Yumi wondered why Kanako-chan was crying.

Since Yumi was the one under attack.

She was being unilaterally condemned, even though she didn't understand the charges against her.

"Please don't betray everyone's expectations."

Kanako-chan shrieked then dashed off. However, the exit was blocked by someone that had appeared unbeknownst to them.

"That's quite the cruel thing you said."

Yumi opened her eyes when she heard that haughty voice. Standing there, like in a dream, was her beloved onee-sama.

"You started liking her of your own accord and followed her around. But when you found out she didn't live up to your ideal, you lashed out at her. Did you really think anyone would accept your logic?"

"Onee-sama … "

From behind her, Yumi couldn't see Kanako-chan's expression. But she'd never seen Sachiko-sama looking as stern as this before and her voice was both filled with anger and completely cold.

"Stop acting so conceited. The world doesn't revolve around you."

Sachiko-sama roared, and Kanako-chan couldn't muster a single word of objection.

Sachiko-sama stepped to the side, allowing enough room for one person to fit past her, and Kanako-chan ran out of the greenhouse.

The stress was suddenly gone from Yumi and she crouched on the ground as her legs gave way.