Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume5 Chapter4 2

The thirteenth of February. Part 2.

"'All of your worrying and perplexing will simply pave the way to a better future, both next year and the year after.'"

As she ran down the hallway, Shizuka-sama's words kept repeating in her mind.

(It was no good, Shizuka-sama.)

How could she expect good memories now?

Her self-hatred and her despair, along with her tear-drenched, sloppy face, no matter how many years and month passed, she would never be able to look back upon this and smile.

"'Then why are we sisters?'"

Sachiko-sama must have lost patience with Yumi this time, once and for all.

Yumi was absorbed in finding a place to be alone. From Rei-sama's expression, she could guess she looked to be in a bad shape. There would probably be some people left in the classroom, so she couldn't go back just yet. They'd try to get to the bottom of things, and that'd just make things worse.

Anyways, she didn't want to see anyone.

Eventually she found herself at the corner of the building, where the emergency exit in front of her blinded her with its green lamp. Yumi opened the door and stepped out.

The cold air felt a bit painful, but that was just a surface thing. Avoiding the students leaving through the rear gate, she hurried to that place. Because she knew most people didn't go near it.

The old greenhouse, it'd been a while since she'd come by. It hadn't changed much. The flowers had all wilted, so the leaves were by their lonesome, so it looked a lot more dreary, but as it was, most people avoided coming here, so no one had bothered to fix any of the cracked glasses. So even though it was a greenhouse, she wasn't here to be cheered up.

It was a crumbling greenhouse, but it was a good windbreaker, so she was able to settle down.

The day before the school festival, Sachiko-sama had also come here, escaping from Kashiwagi-san and everything he symbolized. Come to think of it, Rei-sama had come here, too, after Yoshino-san had returned her rosary.

She wondered why. Did this greenhouse have the power to heal wounded hearts?

"-Rosa Chinensis."

They were there, between the dead branches and the skinny trees sleeping winter away. They weren't in a pot, but rather were growing from the ground, where someone had pried away a piece of floor tiling. The greenhouse was darkening, but it seemed like there was a single spotlight shining down upon them, so Yumi could see them clearly.

It wasn't like there was a nameplate, but Yumi knew. Because someone she loved had taught her. Yumi stepped close and placed a hand on that strong trunk. That's when she realized she'd come here to see that rose bush.

"So, you bloom every season."

But unfortunately, the red flowers from back then weren't there. She realized she was bitterly smiling. It almost looked like there was some kind of apocalypse.

"I wonder if onee-sama hates me, now."

Her feelings for Sachiko-sama hadn't changed since that day she was taught about this plant. No, maybe it was even stronger, the more she'd come to know Sachiko-sama. But then, how did things come to this?

Thump, thump. She raised her head, hearing the knocking sound from outside. Her eyes, barely getting used to the darkness, made out Rosa Gigantea through the dirty glass.

"I knew you'd be here."

She walked around and poked her head in through the entrance. What an uncommon occurrence: Rosa Gigantea asked, "May I come in?" before she took a step in.

"I wondered if you'd prefer to be alone, but Yumi-chan is scared of the dark."

"… I'm sorry I'm such a bother."

How strange. She'd been so adamantly against seeing anyone, but the moment Rosa Gigantea appeared, she felt relieved and comforted.

"Not at all, not at all."

Rosa Gigantea chuckled, walked to Yumi, and also squatted down by the Rosa Chinensis bush.

"It's not like I'm part of the meeting, so I had to walk out anyways. Plus, that happened in the middle of our conversation, you know? It left a bitter aftertaste."

The conversation before Shimako-san had come to the Rose Mansion. She still remembered.

"But wow, that felt like a complete flashback."

Fidgeting around with a dead branch she'd picked up, Rosa Gigantea sounded nostalgic. Yumi didn't know what "that" was exactly pointing to, so she stayed silent.

"Yumi-chan, you might think you're totally unlike Sachiko, but from my perspective, you two are stunningly alike."

"… That we're always one step too slow?"

"Ahh, I did say something like that before, didn't I. Well, roughly speaking, yeah, but I think the nuance is a bit different."

For example, Rosa Gigantea said.

"Sometimes you'll always feel differently about something with someone else. When that happens, Yoshino-chan immediately brings forth an aggressive discussion, to make sure the other person knows her stance, and sometimes even to make them a turncoat. But Yumi-chan closes her mouth and leaves. Sachiko, too. You two are similar like that."

"Sachiko-sama always says what she thinks."

Yumi interjected almost reflexively. Rosa Gigantea, aren't you thinking of someone else?

"Because Rosa Chinensis really disciplined her, she's improved."

But she used to be dead silent, and tough to get along with. Hard to believe.

"But she's probably still fundamentally the same. The type that doesn't like to explain how she feels, for fear of it being rejected. Like, Kashiwagi, she'd kept that bottled up for a really long time. So when she realizes she can speak out, she kinda flaunts it. Like, I can speak out in front of this person, that sort of thing. I guess in the end it just means she's not really self-confident."

Rosa Gigantea freely went ahead and broke down Sachiko-sama's personality.

"And, what I meant before was that Yumi-chan and Sachiko was almost exactly like Sachiko and Youko a year and ten months ago- you know, the current Rosa Chinensis."

"What?"

"I think it was right after they'd become sisters? Or maybe it was before. I didn't really care about other students back then, so I don't really remember the time and stuff too well, but it was right around the beginning of the first semester, when I saw Youko saying 'if you want to say something, say it clearly!' in really harsh tones."

"To Sachiko-sama?"

"Yup. Because you know, Sachiko, I guess her upbringing plays a part in it, but she's really bad at expressing her opinions. So she'd just silently brood over it. So one day Youko strongly told her, that's too hard to understand. And it must have hit Sachiko hard. And she started trying to express herself after that. So her hysteria is more like a remnant of that, or maybe just the kick-back from everything. And that's why no one really gets bothered by it."

"Ah."

"So she's probably getting irritated."

"Irritated… Sachiko-sama?"

"Yup."

"Why?"

"Well, because she must feel like she's staring at herself."

That's when Yumi remembered Tsutako-san's words from some time ago. That Sachiko-sama probably didn't want a sister just like herself.

People seek things they don't have-. That was one of the reasons why she was attracted to Sachiko-sama, so Yumi knew full well what that meant.

Then, what if. What if she'd found someone close to her that had the exact characteristics she hated of herself? It would feel like she was looking at a mirror, and it'd obviously be quite discomforting.

"So, forgive Sachiko's harsh behavior."

"I wasn't even thinking about that…" She shook her head vigorously.

"Then, you don't hate her for it?"

"O-Of course not."

This time she nodded vigorously. Even if Sachiko-sama were to hate her, she'd never be the one hating back. Ever.

"Good girl."

Rosa Gigantea ruffled Yumi's hair and laughed.

"Alright, let's go back then. I don't like this greenhouse too much."

Hoisting herself up, Rosa Gigantea patted down her own skirt. It'd already become quite dark, so she could hardly tell what sort of face Rosa Gigantea had. Luckily, one of the lamp-posts littered around the school managed to reach the greenhouse, so she made it outside without tripping. There might have been a light switch somewhere, but they were easily able to get out before they could find it.

"Yumi-chan, there's a step here, so be careful."

Rosa Gigantea reached out with her left hand. Yumi took it, and then grabbed the arm it belonged to.

"What am I going to do?"

"Hmm?"

"Rosa Gigantea is going to graduate soon. What am I going to do then?"

There would be no one left to help her through tough times like these. No one who could scoot in between her and Sachiko-sama like this.

"That makes me feel so happy, Yumi-chan."

Rosa Gigantea didn't show any signs of displeasure at finding her arm suddenly grabbed. So Yumi, despite feeling a bit bad toward Shimako-san, decided to keep borrowing this kind arm.

"It'll be alright."

The right hand lightly pinched Yumi's cheek.

"I was worried when my onee-sama graduated, too. But you know, you'd be surprised at how everything ends up working out."

"Ends up working out-"

Will things really end up working out? She was this anxious over tomorrow, so she couldn't even begin to imagine beyond that.

"In Yumi-chan's case, you just need to tell Sachiko how you feel, even just a little more. As long as you can do that, no matter what happens, you two can overcome everything."

"But…" "You can do it, Yumi-chan. See, we both managed to express how we feel to each other, right?"

Rosa Gigantea seemed to point to herself as a practice dummy, but that's not right. Because to Yumi, speaking to Rosa Gigantea was the real deal, too.

"Alright then, homework for Yumi-chan. Making up with Sachiko with your own strength, okay?"

"… Yes."

She wasn't confident, but she replied anyways. Because Sachiko-sama and Yumi were sisters. They shouldn't need someone else to come in for them to make up.

It was just the two of them when she accepted the rosary. When it came to matters involving sisters, they had to work it out with just the two of them.

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