Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume23 Chapter3 3

Stopping in Along the Way. Part 3

"Whoa … "

Noriko-chan said as she looked up at the tall, sturdy gates.

"You're sure this isn't a park?"

Everyone probably had the same reaction when they first visited the Ogasawara family, because their estate was conspicuous even for the exclusive residential area it was in.

"It's not to scale on this map."

She tapped the piece of paper. Indeed, their destination was marked by a small rectangle, labeled as "Ogasawara" with an arrow pointing to it. It probably would have looked messy if she'd outlined their entire estate, so she'd only marked out the position of the entrance. Yumi had quickly cottoned on to this, since she'd been there before, but Noriko-chan didn't seem to realize until she got there. She'd been saying things like, "It's strange that she didn't put her neighbors on the map," and, "It looks like she's surrounded on both sides by a parking lot, or a municipal garden."

In contrast to that.

"This is your first time here too, right, Shimako-san? You seem to be taking it in quite calmly."

"Not at all. I'm too surprised to speak."

"But your house is pretty big, isn't it onee-sama?"

From what Noriko-chan was saying, it seemed as though Shimako-san's house was just one part of the rather large temple grounds.

"But that's the temple. Our family's private space is rather modest."

So rather than being their private property, it was the parishioners', a place for locals to gather, that sort of thing. It wasn't a tourist attraction, but the building was quite old so a lot of work went into preserving it, and there were always people coming and going, so from time to time it felt like living in a borrowed place. It seemed like it was quite tough.

Looking at her watch, it was three minutes to twelve. Since they took their time because they were a bit lost, Yumi calculated that the 20 minute one-way trip had taken closer to 30 minutes.

She'd heard that when visiting someone's house you should arrive five minutes late, but she wasn't sure if that referred to when you arrived on their property or when you took off your shoes and entered into their house. It wouldn't make much difference for a normal house, but the gap was a couple of minutes at the Ogasawara house.

They were a bit early, but it'd be strange to hang around on the sidewalk too, so Yumi pressed the intercom buzzer.

"Yes?"

Was it Sachiko-sama or Sayako-oba-sama? A refined lady's voice answered.

"This is Fukuzawa Yumi. I have Shimako-san and Noriko-chan with me."

"Welcome. I'll open the gates so come inside. Rei and Yoshino-chan are already here."

The correct answer was Sachiko-sama. Sayako-oba-sama probably wouldn't refer to Rei-sama as "Rei," without an honorific.

The door opened automatically and the trio stepped onto the Ogasawara estate, still feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Inside was a forest.

No, that was obviously a metaphor. A single road traced a gentle curve through the tall trees. Like it was hiding what was at the end of it from outside. Exiting the forest, they saw the front of a large house.

"I'm not even surprised any more."

Noriko-chan said. Indeed. Sachiko-sama's house was so far removed from a normal house that it would be exhausting to react to each and every thing. After a certain amount of surprise, it was better to just accept it as "that's how it is."

In the car-park on the right, two bicycles were parked in an empty spot.

"I wonder if those are Yoshino-san and Rei-sama's."

They both looked to be shiny and new.

Maybe they'd both bought replacements for the new year. How extravagant.

They set that idle speculation aside and made their way to the building's front entrance.

According to protocol, the next step was to ring the doorbell. Since she'd visited a couple of times before, Yumi thought she should take the initiative and perform that role.

"Umm."

That's right. She pulled on the chain in front of her.

(… It's heavy.)

After feeling a bit of resistance, she heard the sound of a small bell ringing, announcing the presence of Yumi and friends to those inside.

"Welcome."

It was Sachiko-sama that came to greet them.

"Happy New Year."

The trio offered their greeting. It wasn't like they'd rehearsed it, but their voices were in perfect unison.

"Happy New Year."

Sachiko-sama was wearing a light-blue komon kimono with a stepping stone pattern. Her maroon haori jacket was the same as last year. Her long hair was loosely braided and held up with an ornate hairpin.

"Now, come inside."

Sachiko-sama gestured at the row of slippers and Yumi's group took off their jackets and said, "Pardon our intrusion," then removed their shoes.

Yumi had a quick glance and saw that Yoshino-san's and Rei-sama's shoes were lined up next to theirs. From her position, she couldn't see any men's shoes. It looked like it really was women-only. Even though they were related, it seemed as though Kashiwagi-san had been excluded after all.

"Here, Yumi-sama."

Before they started walking down the hallway, Noriko-chan offered her the shopping bag filled with souvenirs from the shrine food stalls.

"Ah, thanks."

Such a scrupulous junior, in every possible way. The future looked bright … although, she was already reliable.

Walking ahead of them, Sachiko-sama spoke softly, so that only Yumi could hear, saying, "Your New Year's card arrived on New Year's day."

It was such a minor thing but Yumi was overjoyed to hear that it had arrived on time.

Why was it so? She felt comfortably pleased, like she'd been secretly passed some sweet cotton candy.

They were led to a traditional Japanese style room, the location of their New Year's party.

There were glasses, drinks and food spread out across the two low tables, so it was already quite party-like.

"Ah, Happy New Year."

Rei-sama said, noticing the three newcomers.

"Happy New Year."

Her outfit was a blue sweater over a white shirt with plain jeans, which was closest to Yumi's casual look.

"Happy New Year. Oh, Shimako-san's wearing a kimono."

Yoshino-san said, having rushed over when she heard the exchange of greetings. She was wearing a gray and cream checked pantsuit, which was an unusually boyish style.

"Sayako-oba-sama~. Yumi-san's group has arrived."

Yoshino-san called to outside the room, in a hurry to get the greetings done.

"Sayako-oba-sama asked me to tell her when you arrived."

Yoshino-san was comfortable enough to call her "Sayako-oba-sama," even though it was their first meeting. Well, Sachiko-sama's mother was very easy to get along with.

"Did you ride here, Yoshino-san?"

"Yeah."

"Both your bikes are shiny and new."

Yoshino-san puffed her chest out with pride, saying, "It's great isn't it?" Across from her, Sachiko-sama asked Rei-sama:

"Oh, you got a new one too, Rei? What happened to the bike you had last time?"

"It broke."

Rei-sama answered ruefully.

"My uncle bought me a new one at the end of year sales."

"It broke? Haven't you had many years of riding and fixing bicycles?"

"The damage was bad enough to write it off, so it was decommissioned … that sort of thing."

Rei-sama glanced at Yoshino-san. But Yoshino-san was looking firmly into the future. It looked as though she was heavily involved in whatever events led to Rei-sama's beloved bicycle being decommissioned. Especially since the uncle that Rei-sama mentioned was Yoshino-san's father.

As for Sayako-oba-sama, who had been called earlier.

"Welcome."

She appeared carrying a tree branch of some sort, with lots of red berries in the green leaves. She was wearing a black kimono, so the scattering of red made it look like a pattern drawn onto the sleeves.

"Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, Yumi-chan. And, you two are – "

Sayako-oba-sama turned her gaze to the White Rose soeurs.

"I'm Toudou Shimako."

"I'm her petit soeur, Nijou Noriko."

"Pleased to meet you, Shimako-chan and Noriko-chan. You can call me Sayako. The household staff are having a break today so we can't offer you much hospitality but let's have fun together."

"Okay."

It went without saying that the White Rose soeurs were immediately struck by Sayako-oba-sama's charm.

"Mother, you're dripping water."

Sachiko-sama pointed at the branch Sayako-oba-sama was carrying, where water was trickling to the stem and then dripping down.

"Ah, oh no. I was right in the middle of a flower arrangement. I asked Rei-san to pick some coralberry from her garden and bring it along."

The beautiful lady said, "This is a disaster, such a disaster," as she unhurriedly returned to the hallway, while the younger visitors watched on enraptured.

Except for one, her daughter Sachiko-sama.

"She's the same as ever, isn't she?"

She sighed, then took a tissue from her kimono and wiped away the drops of water on the tatami mat.

Then, like a detective, or police dog, inspecting the scene of the crime, she followed after Sayako-oba-sama, carefully wiping up each of the drops that had fallen to the floor.