Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume4 Chapter7 1

The hatsumoude on the second. Part 1.

They say the population of Tokyo is going down, but I think overcrowding is a bigger problem in some areas than others, because there're tons of people in some places and almost no one in others.

Really, if you go to place that's just a housing district, it's quiet, like the world just ended, so despite walking almost seven minutes to the bus stop, the only living being I crossed paths with was a stray cat.

Maybe most people don't think about going to hatsumoude on the noon of the second. Speaking of which, the postal services are probably on break, too, so the New Year's cards wouldn't be sent out today.

The bus routes that were so clogged with traffic during work days only had a few household cars passing by, and even those cars were sparse, so the streets were quiet. Even the air felt like it was trying to vanish.

Only I was waiting at the bus stop.

I looked right, at the direction the bus was supposed to come from. Nothing.

I lowered the shoulder-bag that hung over my right shoulder on the bench, and then sat down. The timetable for New Year's was a sheet of dyer paper pasted over the usual plastic timetable, but I didn't bother looking at it. This bus route went between JR Station and the private railway tracks, and because it went through a number of big crossings and picked up and dropped off people from schools, apartments and hospitals, it rarely matched up with the schedules.

(I wonder if father and mother have gotten to Yamanashi by now.)

I cradled the box of pastry on my thighs. Last night, mother went out and bought it. Because I was intruding in on someone else's property. So she bought three boxes of the same pastry, giving one to me and one to Yuuki, and then departed. These days, the number of department stores open on New Year's Day had increased.

Yuuki departed one step ahead and was lightly packed. I think all he took was a paper bag with the box of pastry. Men have it easy.

(Oh yeah, Yuuki said he was staying at Kobayashi-kun's house?)

He's a lively, nice kid. Well, we're the same age, but I nodded approvingly, in nee-san mode, and that reminded me of the New Year's card, the one with the familiar name.

However.

(Huh…?)

Because it was after a night's sleep, I couldn't remember anything about the name, much less what kanji it may have been made up with.

(Hmm. I guess I'll start from "A.")

Aikawa, Aizawa, Aida. … Oh jeez this'll take forever.

Just as I thought it probably wouldn't have started with an A, the bus came. Fitting the New Year's mood, it had a Japanese flag plate on its front end.

It was more crowded than I expected, but lots of people got off at that stop, so I was able to find a seat.

(Iida, Ikeuchi, Itakura-)

The roads were empty, so the bus went smoothly, like a monorail at an amusement park.

(Ueki, Usami, Uchida, Umezu-)

The temple you could see from the bus was surrounded by paper shides hanging from stretched-out, thin ropes, and you could even see the temple festival carts.

The temple you passed by when riding on the circulation bus that left M Station and went to Lillian Girls' Academy, I wondered if that one was also like this on New Year's. Temples dressed up on New Year's quite a bit, so it was a bit like Maria-sama being dressed up during the Maria festival.

(Etou, Enatsu, Enoki, Endou-)

While I did that, the bus reached the north exit of M Station. It usually took twenty minutes, but it only took at most half that today, so it was shocking. When I got off the bus and looked around, I noticed there were still a lot of people wearing kimono, because it was still the first three days of the new year.

(Oikawa, Ooki, Okano…)

-Ogasawara.

My heart skipped. Maybe I could see her today, I thought, and even my legs trembled with excitement at the thought, as I tried to climb the stairs. (O is Ogasawara's O.)

-Ogasawara. Ogasawara Sachiko.

It'd been a quick three months since we'd performed the sœur ritual. Yet, I still didn't feel "calm" around Sachiko-sama. Having my sailor scarf tied had become more of a daily ritual, so I was getting used to that. But Sachiko-sama would always do the unexpected, and that would subsequently leave me scrambling to figure out how to respond.

Walking while holding my hand, untying one of the ribbons in my hair.

Sachiko-sama might not realize how I become petrified when she does something like that.

There were many people in front of the convenience store I was told to wait at, but no one I recognized.

(Did I arrive too early?)

There were more than twenty minutes left until the time I was told. Because someone else might come, in the meantime, I stood in front of the convenience store instead of waiting inside. I wanted to see someone I recognize quickly. I wanted to welcome everyone.

(Okuyaam, Osada, Oda, Onizuka.)

I was bored, so I resumed the name-finding quiz.

(-Onda.)

But my memory wasn't even slightly stirred. It probably was from the A-line. Just as I was about to start down the K's, the automatic door behind me whizzed open. I tried to instinctively turn around, but the person who came out of the convenience store was way too fast, as that person embraced me.

"Gyauh!"

"… You sound like the child of a monster."

Sounding exasperated, the "degenerate" loosed her arms that had been wrapped around me from behind.

"After all, you are a Lillian student, so you should at least tone that down to 'Kya.'"

She didn't even need to look. That voice, and the feel of those arms.

"Rosa Gigantea-!"

When I spun around and knocked Rosa Gigantea's arms off, I felt like jumping, so elated I was to see her. It'd just been a week, but it felt so nostalgic.

"Alright! Happy New Year's!"

Rosa Gigantea opened a bag of candy mix, which screamed "I was just bought at this convenience store," with its logo'd tape, then reached in, grabbed a handful and stuffed it into my pocket.

"Ah, gochisousama."

I bowed.

"Eat it whenever you feel like it."

"But how about everyone else's share?"

A handful of candy might have been over half of the bag.

"Oh don't worry about it, I bought it for Yumi, the sweets-lover."

Rosa Gigantea unwrapped a maccha candy, tossed it into her mouth, and then rolled up the considerably emptied bag and smartly stuffed it into her own pocket. I wondered if she'd bought the candy, and then didn't feel like holding onto it, leading to the sharing. After all, she only had a small handbag, so there was nowhere for her to put it.

"What-?"

Rosa Gigantea glared back lightly, like she was scolding me, for my ill-mannered stare at her.

"Ah, sorry, it's the first time I've seen Rosa Gigantea in casual clothes, so it feels like it's something really fresh."

"Mmm."

Maybe she took care of the hair ends today, because her features looked especially sharp. She wore dark brown boots to go with her caramel-colored long coat. And she casually wrapped a condensed-milk-like white muffler, resulting in her looking really like an adult… or maybe more like a gentleman from outside the country. It was cool.

"Yumi-chan, you look cute, your navy duffle coat suits you well."

"Eh, oh, hardly, I'm nothing compared to Rosa Gigantea's expensive coat."

What was I hurriedly returning a compliment for? And who uses such a cheap term like "expensive" in such a situation, anyways? -As I depressed myself, I flicked my own forehead. In this sort of situation, Sachiko-sama would just smile and say, "Thank you."

But this was Rosa Gigantea. "Yup, it was expensive. It's cashmere. Last year, no, maybe the year before that, I begged my parents to buy it for me. A combined Christmas and birthday present. And maybe my New Year's gift, too."

Rosa Gigantea was just as cheap. I felt like I was with an associate.

"But, dang, Yumi-chan's bag is stuffed. Do you have your pajama and change of clothes in there?"

She sniffed. Gosh, she's totally like a perverted old man.

"… Yes, I do."

Plus, my bath towel, my tooth brushing set, and other things like that. Personally, I thought Rosa Gigantea's setup was the bigger question. Because we were sleeping over, and not at a hotel, but at a home, right?

"But you came early, Rosa Gigantea, you came by train, right?"

I asked, while distancing my bag from Rosa Gigantea.

"Nope, I came by vroom vroom."

(…)

Vroom vroom, would be the kindergartener's way of saying "car." Gosh, an old man, or a baby, Rosa Gigantea really needed to pick.

"But there's no bus from M Station to Rosa Gigantea's house, right? Wow, you got driven by your parents? How wonderful."

"What, Yumi-chan, you want to ride a car?"

(… No, that's not it…)

I think Rosa Gigantea's wrong, here. But if I were to try to correct her, I'd end up confused, so I decided against it.

Sa.

Sa is Satou's as.

Satou Sei. –Also known as Rosa Gigantea.

"Okay, let's get going, then."

When I reached into my pocket for a peach-yogurt flavored candy, Rosa Gigantea said that, despite it being before the meeting time.

"Eh, what, but…"

I was about to ask about the other people, but she dragged me to the north gate.

"Did I ever say anyone else was coming?"

"Huh?"

"All I said was, let's go on a date."

"Eh!?"

"Fufufu. Gotcha, Yumi-chan."

Rosa Gigantea made a slurping sound and terrified me.

"B, but, didn't you say lodging…?"

I asked, frightened.

"One stick is still called a carrot. Two people is still lodging."

(Eek…)

"G, good bye."

I turned around.

"Oh dear. Do you think I'd actually let go of prey that easily?"

Rosa Gigantea grinned, as she dragged me back.

"Yumi-chan, you're sooooo cuuuuuuute. There there, let's go somewhere nice, with onee-san.'

"Please have mercy!"

Usually this would be when Sachiko-sama showed up. … However.

"Searching for Sachiko is futile. She's at home right nooow."

"Then, seriously?"

"Yumi-chan is all mine. How shall I cook you tonight?"

"Stooooop."

I squirmed, as Rosa Gigantea whispered into my ear, and she responded by hugging me like a doll.

"Hey! Didn't Sachiko teach you? When you act like that, it just serves to please me."

(… She might seriously be sadistic, Rosa Gigantea.)

And I'm masochistic because I enjoyed being scolded by Sachiko-sama, so we were a perfect fit. –Wait, what am I thinking?

"-Anyways, leaving sexual harassment at this…."

After touching me all over on her own accord, Rosa Gigantea either became satisfied or got bored, let go completely, like there was some sort of time trigger.

"Let's get going."

(…)

I feel like I heard her say that just a moment ago. I hope this person doesn't intend to repeat every action since then.

"Come on, let's go."

Rosa Gigantea went down the steps, first.

(…)

"Yumi-chan, hurry up."

(Ahhh!)

That's when I realized. The time between the first "let's get going" and the second "let's get going," Rosa Gigantea intended to act innocently, like nothing ever happened.

"Rosa Gigantea, you're sneaky!"

I caught up to Rosa Gigantea and lightly whacked her arm. The candy was swaying in my pocket.

I won't be deceived by this!

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