Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume9 Chapter3 3

Maria and Maitreya. Part 3.

Despite its name, the Shouguu Temple was apparently a gargantuan place.

At any rate, it was large and permanent enough to have bus routes traveling to "Shouguu Temple – North" and "Shouguu Temple – Central."

"Number 7, number 7 … ah, here it is."

After checking the piece of paper with Takuya-kun's notes, she boarded the Number 7 bus headed to "Shouguu Temple – Central."

The bus was surprisingly empty. While the Shouguu Temple certainly wasn't as famous as the temples of Kyoto or Nara, there didn't seem to be any tourists heading there even though it was Sunday.

After fifteen minutes of gazing at tranquil scenery the bus arrived at the temple, which was spread out across a large plot of land situated in front of a moderately sized mountain. From the weathering of the temple gate, she could surmise that it was quite an old temple.

As she passed through the gate, Noriko called out to a temple worker who was sweeping the path, informing him of her name. He'd apparently been told to expect her, because he obediently ushered her in.

Noriko was led to the main temple building, and she let out a sigh when she sat on the tatami mat floor.

(Thank-you Takuya-kun!)

While you could have a look inside tourist temples just by paying the entrance fee, it was usually quite difficult to get inside normal temples.

The temple worker said the chief priest would see her, then left for about five minutes. While it certainly wasn't a long time to wait, Noriko couldn't help but get fidgety being left alone in the splendid temple building.

Finally, standing up, she walked over and stood in front of the principal image of the temple.

"Amitabha Tathagata … "

From within the gloomy temple building, the dazzling golden statue of Amitabha Tathagata rose to the surface. Right hand elevated from the elbow, the fingers making a symbolic gesture, the left hand motioning towards the lotus flowers beneath. Since the figure was flanked on the left and right by Kannon and Seishi, it appeared to be the Amitabha triumvirate.

The gold-leaf was peeling off in places, but that just emphasized the sense of age.

"Incredible … "

While she had been attracted here by Maitreya, Noriko found the principal image, which was about 2 metres tall including the pedestal, completely captivating.

"Does it please you?"

Noriko turned when she heard the voice and saw a middle-aged priest in monk's robes standing there smiling. He must be the temple's chief priest.

"You are, I presume, Nijou Noriko-san?"

"Ah, yes."

Noriko straightened her back and answered. Standing to attention. She didn't even stand like this during gym class.

Calm down, Noriko. She repeated this command in her mind. Standing before her was a human, not Maitreya.

"I see. You're … "

The chief priest tapped his smooth head and then let out a single, "Ha."

"Oh, sorry. Shimura-san told me you were a lady, but I didn't think you'd be so young. From your appearance, it doesn't look like you're one of his university friends."

"My apologies. Shimura-san and I share the same hobby."

Shimura was Takuya-kun's surname.

"Ah, that's right. You came to see the Maitreya, didn't you? It's not in the temple, it's at the house. Please, follow me."

The chief priest said, then turned and started walking. Apparently he found it incredibly amusing that this young girl in her teens had the hobby of viewing Buddhist statues, because from time to time his shoulders would shake with suppressed laughter, as though remembering this.

"Um, did Yuukai really sculpt it?"

As they walked down the corridor, Noriko asked the question that had been bothering her. The chief priest then stopped and turned to face her.

"That's how it's been handed down, but that doesn't really matter, right?"

"Doesn't really matter?"

" … To people in general. It matters a great deal to scholars and appraisers. But you just came to view it, right?"

Regardless of who made it, something good was good. On the flip side, even a famous sculptor could create a Buddhist statue with no soul. – That was what the chief priest was saying.

"Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Noriko nodded.

"You're saying that when viewing a statue, I shouldn't consider extraneous matters. Is that right?"

"Exactly."

He smiled, looking satisfied, then resumed walking along the black timber hallway.

The chief priest's house was connected to the temple by a hallway. The inside was as large as she'd expected based on the outward appearance, and there seemed to be a number of people working in both the temple and house.

Noriko was ushered into a Japanese-style room where an attractive kimono-clad middle-aged lady brought her tea. From her bearing and the way she spoke, Noriko could tell that this was the chief priest's wife.

"Hey, what's Shimako up to?"

"She went to the train station on an errand earlier, but she returned a little while ago."

"Then call her over. I have to give a sutra reading at Muranishi-san's house."

"That's right."

"Um … "

Noriko couldn't follow the conversation he was carrying out with his wife.

"Quickly now."

After he said this, his wife left the room immediately. Presumably, Shimako was their daughter and the chief priest intended to leave Noriko in her care.

Less than a minute later, a young woman's voice called out, "Father, I've brought the Maitreya statue," from the corridor, then slowly opened the sliding screen.

She was dressed in a kimono, just like her mother, with her eyes on the ground as she entered the room carrying a wooden box and then she bowed deeply.

"I'm Shimako."

"Ah, I'm Noriko."

Terrible as it may be, she'd unintentionally introduced herself with her first name – a bad habit she'd picked up at school. A portion of her usually depressing school life had reared its head in a strange situation. Less than a month in and she was already indelibly stained by it. Usually when meeting someone for the first time, she would introduce herself with her surname.

" … ?"

As expected, because of Noriko's puzzling behavior, the other girl slowly raised her head.

The moment their eyes met, they both caught their breath at roughly the same time. That neither let out an audible gasp was remarkable.

(What's she doing here!?)

Between them, an invisible cherry blossom blizzard whirled. No, rose petals seemed more appropriate in this situation.

– Because the person that had appeared in front of Noriko was the Maria-sama statue's exact double, "Rosa Gigantea."