Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume27 Chapter6 3

Amendment, Overwriting and an Old Photograph. Part 3

They had just exited the train station.

Out through the ticket gate to the front of the building. Most of the people that got off the train with them were briskly walking towards the bus station, or the taxi stand, or else heading over to a different railway line's train station.

However, Touko-chan was not moving. She looked at her watch, and made an action that was like a quick nod. She must be waiting for something.

Yumi too waited quietly.

Where are we going, what are we waiting for? Those questions, and more, she didn't ask as she stood by Touko-chan's side.

On closer inspection, there were a number of other people that, like them, were waiting around and not going anywhere. A car showed up not long later, probably driven by a family member, and one of them got in.

(Huh?)

Carried along by the wind from some unknown source, a sweet scent made its way to Yumi's nose.

(It's not perfume.)

It was the faint, spontaneous scent of flowers. Looking around, she spotted a lady in her twenties holding a flower basket in her hands.

Pink roses and daisies. And she could see something green, with small white flowers – probably baby's-breath. Yumi was marveling at how pretty it was when Touko-chan tugged on her sleeve.

"Yumi-sama. It's here."

"Huh?"

Yumi turned back around to see what 'was here' in time to see a small whitish bus pull into the roundabout in front of the train station.

"That (is what we're going on)?"

"Yes."

The bus pulled up and opened its door, and a few of the people remaining at the station had apparently been waiting for it as they got on board. The lady with the flower basket was among them. The words, "Matsudaira Mountain Base Hospital" were written in green letters along the side of the bus.

(Ahh, so that's it.)

As Yumi followed Touko-chan onto the bus, she finally realized what their destination was. The driver was apparently an acquaintance of Touko-chan's, as he greeted her with, "It's been a while." The 'Matsudaira Mountain Base Hospital' was obviously her grandfather's hospital.

"All those heading to the Matsudaira Mountain Base Hospital, please come aboard."

The bus driver temporarily vacated his seat, went outside and called this out in the direction of the train station building a couple of times, before returning to his seat and starting the bus once more.

Inside the bus were seven people, not counting Yumi and Touko-chan. As well as the young lady with the flower basket, there was also an elderly gentleman carrying flowers, and an elderly lady carrying something large wrapped in a furoshiki cloth. Since it was Sunday, they were probably visiting patients at the hospital.

"This bus – "

Touko-chan anticipated Yumi's question, and answered it before she finished.

"It's a courtesy bus. The hospital's a fair distance from the train station."

Then, as though just realizing it, she added, "Of course, it's complementary." Touko-chan had apparently seen though Yumi's attempt to conceal her concern about their dwindling war-chest, that is, the remains of the 4000 yen contained in an envelope. They'd spent close to 1700 yen so far. Since they'd need the same amount to get back, that left just 600 yen for two people.

With 300 yen each, they could probably buy some bread from a convenience store, but the courtesy bus was taking them away from the train station, so would there be convenience stores near their destination? Maybe they should have bought something to take with them at the train station.

(Ahh, what am I doing?)

Was it really an appropriate time to be worrying about lunch? Touko-chan was finally letting Yumi in to her territory.

"Are you hungry?"

"Yeah. Ah, no."

A flustered Yumi thought, "She's seen through me once again," and because she was unprepared, it soon showed on her face. Touko-chan laughed.

"I'm hungry. But if you could just wait a little bit longer, please."

Yumi looked at her watch and thought, "Well, it is about that time."

The bus gradually drew away from the urban areas, until it was driving down country roads. It wasn't even close to snowing, but the scenery Yumi saw out the bus window definitely felt colder than Tokyo, probably due to the proximity of the mountain.

They'd probably been in the bus for about ten minutes when Touko-chan took a single photograph out from where it was stored amongst the pages of a paperback book and showed it to Yumi.

The photo was in color, but it was easy to tell that it was a fairly old photograph nonetheless. Five girls in Lillian's Girls Academy high-school uniforms were lined up, smiling at the camera. The same happy group photograph taken throughout the ages.

"My mother's in this photo."

"Is this her?"

Yumi pointed, without thinking about it. She was the spitting image of Touko-chan, a serious looking girl with vertical hair rolls on each side of her face.

" … Yeah."

Touko-chan quietly smiled, apparently quite satisfied.

"You're right. That's my mother."

She said.