Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume7 Chapter1 2

The Beginning. Part 2

Testimony of Club Member A (Alias)

This happened Saturday last week. I'd gone to the amusement park.

Well, obviously it wasn't a school holiday, so I went in the afternoon. I was coming back the next morning, so I changed my clothes before leaving. Our house is almost exactly halfway between Lillian's and the amusement park, so that was no big deal.

Ah, I went by train. Just like I always do. I left an overnight bag at my cousin's house, then went straight to the amusement park. One of my older cousins, an amusement park buddy. I've got an annual pass, so I go whenever I've got the time. It took pretty much all my New Year's gift money. Well, I enjoy it, so what can you do.

Right, right, about Rosa Foetida.

I was about to enter the amusement park when a couple came walking over from the carpark. Very lovey-dovey. Arms joined. Bodies close together.

It's rude to stare, so I turned away from temptation and went to the entrance, but that girl's voice wafted past from behind, and I felt like I'd heard it somewhere, so I instinctively turned around. At that point, I knew it was Rosa Foetida.

Boy was I surprised.

It seemed like a completely different person to the usually cool Rosa Foetida.

Are you sure it really wasn't a different person, you say. Perhaps. It was quite dark.

But I don't think I'm wrong.

Because it stuck in mind, although there wasn't anything I could do about it, but then I spotted the couple in the crowd watching a parade while I was lined up for one of the rides.

When I saw them I thought, "Ah, that's Rosa Foetida." The couple were in their own private world, completely oblivious to me.

The man's appearance … Let's see, his height was about 170cm. Mid to late twenties … I don't think he would have been thirty. I'm not sure. Depending on the location, his impression seemed to change … if it was dark, or he was beside the light, or he was in a shop in the arcade, that sort of thing.

Oh, my cousin's house? It's about ten minutes walk from the train station near the amusement park … no, more like fifteen minutes.

It's really lucky. You can't fully enjoy yourself if you're always worrying about the time. It's not like I'd be able to stay overnight at a hotel or anything.

Come to think of it, I wonder what Rosa Foetida did.

It seems like they stayed there quite late. I wonder if her companion drove her home. Ahh, I wish I was going out with a guy with a car too.

(Sigh)

Testimony of Club Member B (Alias (Obviously))

Last Friday.

I saw Rosa Foetida at an art gallery in the city. Lithographs, I think they're called. An exhibition of woodblock prints. I'm not all that interested in it, but one of my dad's work clients has some connection to the gallery, so I went with my mom using the free tickets we got.

I tell you, my dad's even more clueless about art than me. So he makes us go, listens to our opinions, then acts like he went and saw it. Sneaky, right? Because of that, we don't have a single art book that hasn't got his notes scrawled all over it. Such a pain.

Ah, you got me. That's the reason I missed club activities on Friday.

It closed at 7, so going there after club activities wouldn't have been possible. I could have gone straight there, but I stopped at home for a little while, then went out still wearing my school uniform. All this just so my parents could show off, it's a tough life.

Rosa Foetida was wearing plain clothes.

At this time of year, third-years come and go from school as they please. For exams and the like. Rosa Foetida may not have even been to school that day. Or maybe she was there in the morning, then left sometime in the afternoon.

Her partner was lanky, with silver-rimmed glasses … How can I put this, he had a sort of less fashionable look about him. Ah, his hair was parted to the side too.

If I had to say, he seemed a bit old-fashioned or stiff. But he wasn't old as such. About 30. Like a civil servant, or a bank worker, or a researcher … that sort of type.

Ahh, dowdy. That sounds about right.

He was holding hands. With Rosa Foetida.

Holding hands with a high-school girl, I'd call that pretty flashy. But a date at an art gallery is kind of dowdy. Anyway, they seemed to be enjoying it. Both of them.

Me?

It was tough.

Rosa Foetida was a little bit ahead of us, so I had to go slowly, staring at the boring display items and restraining my mom so that I wouldn't be spotted.

Because it'd be a pain, right? It'd be awkward for Rosa Foetida if she saw me wearing the Lillian's uniform, and if my mom knew that the girl in that couple was Rosa Foetida, she'd make a scene –

Right?

Testimony of Club Member C (Alias (This is getting annoying))

Indeed, he was tall, which did give his body a sort of lean impression overall. But I wouldn't say he was lanky.

His hairdo? Let's see, it had been lightened and flowed in a loose manner.

He was smartly dressed. He didn't have silver-rimmed glasses either. In his black, brand-name long coat, he looked like a model.

Yes. I saw them at a restaurant. A French restaurant, a short walk from the station, that turns down TV and magazine coverage, relying on word of mouth. Some time back, one of my relatives was married at the church behind it and the reception was held there, with all the families eating together. The atmosphere and the food was so good that we all wanted to go there again.

Last Sunday was my parents' wedding anniversary, so they made reservations, and our family of four went together. Ah, no. That was the day of Rosa Foetida en bouton and Rosa Gigantea en bouton's half-day date, and we were on a stakeout around K station well into the evening, so I'd arranged to meet them there.

No way, I wasn't scoping out the restaurant. It was just a complete coincidence that I saw Rosa Foetida. I noticed her when she left her seat during dinner, and when she came back I confirmed it was her. She was seated at a table about 5 metres from ours.

Right, just her and the gentleman.

I only saw them as they were going past, but it looked like they ordered the most expensive dishes. From the outset, my parents said some dishes were off limits, and it seemed like these expensive dishes were carried past me over and over again.

Huh? If they were in a restaurant, why was he wearing a coat? Ahh, well obviously he left his coat in the cloakroom when he came in to the restaurant.

They finished eating before us, so I saw him put it on as they were leaving. He put his arm gently around Rosa Foetida's shoulder.

Come to think of it, Rosa Foetida had the women's version of that coat … if they were a couple, I wonder if it was a present from him.

He was young, but he must have been pretty rich.