Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume7 Chapter8 2

Thursday. Part 2

The art club's room was on the second floor of the arts building.

Still feeling the effects of my recent sprint up and down the Rose Mansion stairway, this completely normal staircase was tough on me right now. The two punch combo of shortness of breath and sore calf muscles.

"Oh, you're on your own?"

"Yeah. Shimazu Yoshino-san will be along in a bit."

"I see."

For some reason, the two girls there were chewing on something. On closer inspection, it turned out to be nothing more than plain white bread.

"Ah."

Noticing my rude gaze, the club president offered me some, saying, "Want something to eat?" but I politely declined her offer. I wasn't particularly hungry, and the smell of oil paints permeated the art room, removing any desire I may have had to eat.

"You use white bread instead of an eraser when you're doing charcoal sketches."

So that's what it was.

There was a plaster bust of the Venus de something or other between them, which they were sketching. There were a couple of things that looked like pencils, but were probably charcoal, scattered around the table.

"But you can only use the white, fluffy bits. Which inevitably means the crusts are left over."

So, not wanting to waste it, they ate it. That made sense. The charcoal mustn't have stuck to it.

"That's really good."

I mumbled, peeking at the picture on the easel. Using just the white of the paper and the black of the charcoal, they'd drawn something that looked like a black and white photograph.

"Thanks."

They were probably used to being praised, as they casually acknowledged the compliment.

"But rather than this, praise that."

The club president pointed at the signboard for the "Third-Years' Farewell Party." It was leaning against a corner of the wall, probably so it wouldn't get in the way of classes.

"Wow, that's incredible."

The letters really jumped out at me.

"I know, right. Rei-san told us to do it however we wanted, so we went with the high impact lettering they use for sumo matches."

"Sumo matches … ahh, the one they use for the professional rankings?"

"Yep. I'm pretty proud of it."

I thought I'd seen it somewhere before, and it was the font known throughout the country for displaying the names of the famous sumo grand champions and challengers. The dark black lettering on the white signboard read, "Third-Year's Farewell Party." It goes to show, simple is best.

"Mmm, it looks really professional."

They were as skilled with their lettering as they were with their charcoal sketches.

"More praise, more."

Cheerfully, they requested more compliments from me.

"It's very bold."

"One more."

"It's a masterpiece."

"Alright, take it, thief."

There were still plenty of interesting people in the school.

They handed the signboard over as though I'd just bought it cheap at an auction.

"But on that note, Shimazu Yoshino-san hasn't come."

"I think she's probably on her way here."

I strained and picked up the signboard.

They said they'd used quick drying paint on it, and I was relieved to find it dry to the touch.

"Are you okay? Sure it's thin, but it's about as tall as you, Yumi-san. Do you want us to help?"

"Ah, I'm fine. My energy's my sole redeeming feature."

"Oh my, there's nothing else?"

"Hahaha."

It was sad that I couldn't puff my chest out and say, "Sure there is." But my energy was my main selling point. Especially when these tough days kept coming one after the other.

"In that case, we'll clean up and head home."

The two art club members washed their hands and picked up the plaster bust.

"Oh, you're not having club activities?"

"Not today. We were just sketching to kill some time."

So normally there would be more club members. Thinking about it, that made sense.

"… Ah."

I'd figured it out. Since we told them we'd come by and pick up the signboard, they'd opened up the art room and were waiting. They didn't know when we'd get there, so they'd brought some white bread and spent the time sketching –

"Ah, don't drop it."

"Right."

I'd intended to farewell them with a respectful bow, but with the encumbrance of the signboard, all I could manage was a small nod.

The signboard artists, like all the behind-the-scene participants, were responsible for the cost of their materials, but they didn't have to handle delivery of the final goods. The thought, "That sort of distance must be nice," idly floated across my mind.

"Alright, let's do this."

Leaving the art room, I descended the stairs.

But climbing down the stairs holding the signboard was even tougher than I'd thought. Never mind restraint, if I went back and asked for help they'd probably give it, but regrettably it was too late now. If I had the strength to climb back up the stairs I'd just descended, then I could struggle down to the first floor.

One, two, three, four. One foot in front of the other, I silently walked on.

I left the arts building and persisted down the hallway, and, when the Rose Mansion was finally in view, Yoshino-san appeared.

"Don't tell me you've been carrying that all by yourself!?"

"Yeah."

I leaned the signboard against the wall and took a breather.

"I'm shocked. Since you were by yourself, shouldn't you have done the task that can be done by one person first?"

"Huh?"

"The vases from the flower arranging club. At they very least, I'm sure they'd be easier to carry than that."

"Ah, right."

I hadn't even thought about that until now.

"Don't just say, "Ah, right.""

As she spoke, Yoshino-san helped lift the signboard. It was a heck of a lot easier with two people carrying it.

As decided in an earlier meeting, the signboard was going to be kept in the storage room on the first floor of the Rose Mansion until Saturday, so it wouldn't get dirty. There was already a pianica case in there, from a previous visitor.

Pianicas came in many types, but signboards were more simple and while they came in various sizes, they all had the same structure. Naturally, Yoshino-san had borrowed the pianica with the largest keyboard. She liked to be prepared for any eventuality.

"Yumi-san, you can take a break if you want."

Yoshino-san said, mindful of the heavy labor I'd done earlier, but I shook my head.

"I'm fine."

I posed with my arms up, like a bodybuilder showing off their muscles.

"My energy's my sole redeeming feature."

That had become my pet phrase recently. I'd say it when I was feeling tired so my body would think it was fine, and I could keep pushing on.

Incidentally, speaking of the vases we borrowed from the flower arranging club. They were about the size of hibachi ovens, and just as heavy to boot, so there was no way one person could have moved them.