Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume15 Chapter1 5

The Danger of Excess Cuteness Today. Part 5

And so, the agreed-upon after school arrived.

After cleaning, she went to the Rose Mansion and informed those gathered on the second-floor that she had a matter to attend to, then left.

"Take care."

"Don't worry about us, take as long as you need."

Nobody asked for the reason. They probably all had some idea of what Yumi was attempting.

"Yumi."

Sachiko-sama said, having followed her out the biscuit door.

"I won't intrude this time."

So, do your best on your own.

"Okay."

Yumi nodded.

"But, onee-sama. Back then, on Saturday, I was glad that you came. I didn't think you were intruding."

Instead, she was thankful for her assistance. If her onee-sama hadn't miraculously appeared, then the deep wounds Yumi had received from Kanako-chan's sharp, stinging words probably would have taken a couple of weeks to fully heal.

Yumi knew full well that the reason she had recovered so quickly was due to Sachiko-sama's timely first-aid and subsequent care.

"I see."

Sachiko-sama fixed Yumi's tie, then softly stroked her cheek, before going back into the room. Yumi also turned around, and went down the stairs.

Perhaps it was due to her onee-sama's encouragement, but as she went down the stairs one by one, she felt like she could give it her all. That confidence remained with her as she left the Rose Mansion, and by the time she arrived at their arranged meeting place behind the school building, Yumi had already won the attitude battle. It was like how Ivan felt in the folk tale, "The Little Humpbacked Horse," with his good-luck charm, the humpbacked horse.

A figure was already present in the old greenhouse.

"Since you enlisted my classmates like that, it was hard to shake them off, Yumi-sama."

As soon as Yumi entered inside, the girl standing in front of the Rosa Chinensis plant voiced her complaint, without even turning around.

"Did they think you were were running away?"

Yumi smiled as she slowly advanced.

"Yeah, but that said, I wasn't about to bring them here either. Because I wouldn't be able to stay calm if I kept seeing onlookers out of the corner of my eye. So it was a real help that you were so vague about our meeting place."

Complaints, one. Thanks, one. Overall score, one win, one loss.

At any rate, the fact that they were able to have a conversation together like this in private meant Yumi had taken a couple of steps further than yesterday.

"So, you said you wanted to talk."

"I don't want things between us to stay like they are, Kanako-chan."

" … What are you saying?"

Kanako-chan furrowed her brow. But Yumi continued on, unconcerned.

"I know we won't be able to return to the kind of relationship we had before, but I hate how things are now."

"You're no longer the Rosa Chinensis en bouton I admired. You completely shattered the image I had of you as an ideal person. And now, after all that, you have the gall to say you want us to be good friends."

"No, I'm not saying we have to force ourselves to be good friends."

"Then aren't things fine the way they are? Just let it be."

It looked like even Sachiko-sama's rebuke hadn't been enough to get Kanako-chan to reconsider her position, let alone apologize and admit she was wrong. As for Yumi, no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't find anything she had done that would justify Kanako-chan's anger towards her.

They both thought they were in the right. In that case, even if they wanted to approach, they might keep running in parallel no matter how much time passed, like train tracks. If they couldn't come to an agreement no matter how much they discussed things, then in some sense Kanako-chan was right to turn her back on Yumi.

But it wasn't a matter of logic. Yumi felt that she didn't want to cut her ties to Kanako-chan.

"Can't you just leave me alone?"

If Yumi could answer, "Yeah, okay," to this then she never would have called Kanako-chan out like this to begin with. What would be the point of doing something she was so unaccustomed to, like using her status as an older student to coerce a junior, just to have this opportunity to talk?

"You know, I don't like having this sort of ill-will. If you hate me so much that you can't stand to see my face, then so be it, I'll step back for the sake of your mental well-being. But, if that's the case, then I want to hear you say it clearly. It's not knowing that gets me. So, what do you say? Do you want to run away because you can't stand to look at me?"

"… Not really. I don't care either way. To me, the way you are now, you're not worth thinking about in that way."

"So, in your mind, people are split into two groups – those you love, and those that aren't worth thinking about?"

"Two groups? No, it's not as crude a split as that."

Turning around, Kanako-chan spoke coldly.

"There's also those people I hate so much I want to kill. So, to be accurate, there's three groups."

Whether it was two groups or three, it was still a crude split.

"And now, I've been demoted into the group of people that aren't worth thinking about."

Yumi didn't think she'd had that much effect on Kanako-chan's life to warrant being put into the group of people she wanted to kill.

Although, taking her at her word, it meant that there were people in this world that Kanako-chan hated so much she wanted to kill. But her attitude towards Yumi seemed different than it would be to someone she wanted to kill.

Kanako-chan's likes and dislikes were wide and deep. The truth may be that, for people that she needs from the depths of her soul, "someone she wants to kill" was just the flip-side of "someone she loves."

"At the very least, couldn't we move to somewhere between "love" and "not worth thinking about?""

"You're so annoying. Couldn't you just leave someone like me alone?"

"You're running away."

"Running away?"

"Am I really that scary?"

After Yumi said this, Kanako-chan's expression twisted as she repeated, "Scary?"

"It's just unpleasant. Because, one day, the Fukuzawa Yumi-sama that I admired suddenly had her personality changed."

"I had my personality changed … "

This time it was Yumi asking for an explanation. As the person in question, she had no memory of changing her personality, or having her personality changed.

"The Fukuzawa Yumi that disappeared was my twin, who became an astronaut, and is on her way to Mars right now."

"Huh?"

"… If you think about it like that, we can build a new relationship, can't we?"

"Don't joke about this."

"But I'm being completely serious."

The moment Kanako-chan realized that the picture she had drawn of Fukuzawa Yumi in her mind was mistaken, it meant she no longer existed in this world. That was, undoubtedly, something close to death. But that was a bit morbid, so Yumi thought it was better going with, "She's gone into space." Because, even though you couldn't reach out to her, she was still out there somewhere.

"So, first of all, Kanako-chan, will you help out at the school festival? With the Yamayurikai play?"

"Why me?"

"You're not in a club, right? We can work around your class' schedule."

"I have no obligation to help you. It's like I'm paying the penalty for losing a bet."

"Alright then, let's make that the penalty. If you lose, you have to help out."

"Huh?"

"Let's see, what should we bet on … ah, right. The athletics festival is coming up soon."

Yumi thought she'd hit on a brilliant idea. There was plenty of time between the athletics festival and the school festival.

However.

"What event would we make our wager on? We're in different grades."

"Oh, right. We won't be competing directly. Ah, but there are some events where all grades compete together. I'm in the scavenger hunt race."

"The scavenger hunt race … "

The corners of Kanako-chan's mouth rose slightly.

"What?"

"No, it's nothing. I was just thinking that was fitting for you."

The scavenger hunt race in a high-school athletics festival. Being told that it was fitting for you was not a compliment. Because, while integral to the event, it played a secondary role.

"What about you, Kanako-chan?"

"The color team relay."

"How fitting."

This time around it was undoubtedly a compliment.

The tall Kanako-chan was, naturally, a fast runner. And being a fast runner was a huge advantage in a foot race.

"Then how about we bet on which of our teams will win?"

Kanako-chan's camellia class was on the red team, Yumi's pine class was on green.

"Isn't that beyond our individual ability to control?"

"Right. I suppose you could call it a gamble."

"If we were gambling, then I'd want to bet on the yellow team."

"That won't work. You have to give it your all to get even the smallest amount of points in the hope it brings your team victory."

"Alright."

Kanako-chan agreed to the conditions surprisingly easily.

"And? If I … in other words, if the red team wins, what will you do for me, Yumi-sama?"

"Uh."

"It would be strange if I was the only one risking something. In a bet, the two outcomes have to be evenly balanced, don't they?"

"That's a completely reasonable position."

Yumi wiped the sweat flowing over her temple with the back of her hand. It was a spur of the moment idea, so naturally she hadn't thought it through to the end.

"How about this – I'll do one thing you ask, no matter what."

"No matter what?"

"Ah, well. Nothing that involves someone else, like asking me to return my rosary to Sachiko-sama. Also, nothing that I couldn't do by myself, like asking me to give you a million yen. And don't ask me to kill myself, or anything like that."

"That's quite a lot of conditions to add on to "no matter what.""

"The two outcomes from the wager should be balanced."

"I'll think it over carefully and let you know. Thanks to this, I'm actually looking forward to the athletics festival."

Smiling boldly, Kanako-chan left the greenhouse.

When she was left on her own, Yumi said:

"Did I just made a crazy promise … ?"

– It was too late for regrets now.