Maria Sama Ga Miteru:Volume12 Chapter5

Searching in the Mist

Part 1

"Red pine. Larch."

Sachiko-sama pointed out the different trees in the woods.

"Judas tree."

Informing Yumi of their names as they slowly walked together.

"Maple … its leaves turn to red in Autumn."

Sachiko-sama had an incredible knowledge of the trees in their vicinity. But her knowledge wasn't just limited to trees – every faint bird cry would cause her to stop and say, "That was a narcissus flycatcher," or, "That was the call of the blue-and-white flycatcher."

It was Thursday.

Sachiko-sama had awoken unusually early and invited Yumi on a pre-breakfast stroll.

"Watch out, there's some broken branches over there."

Fog had rolled in and they were enveloped in a white world.

They should be fine as long as they kept going straight ahead, but the thick milk-colored fog completely cloaked everything around them to the point that Yumi felt her confidence slipping, even though they were actually walking along a path.

That said, even if they did veer slightly off course, they'd feel the cool morning dew on the ferns and other ground cover against their legs.

"I like the fog too."

Her eyes were partly closed not because she was squinting, but because she was smiling. It seemed like the fine spray of water surrounding them had sharpened her senses.

"I wanted to show this to you."

At that moment, Yumi understood that Sachiko-sama didn't simply like everything about this region.

What she loved was the woods surrounding her villa.

Sachiko-sama probably thought of everything in the guidebooks – all the shops, walking tours and art galleries – as being in some distant town, since none of them were here. Basically, it didn't matter to her whether they existed or not.

The delicious pastries that Gensuke-san fetched on his bike for their daily breakfast.

All the locally sourced meat and vegetables that Kyo-san cooked with.

The handmade jam from one of the neighborhood ladies.

The rich honey from an old retiree who had taken up beekeeping as a hobby.

Fresh wasabi from a marsh a short distance away.

Sachiko-sama liked all these things. But that was the extent of it. She didn't go out and buy them herself, nor did she go and visit where they were made.

As a result, spending all day in the villa didn't bother her at all.

To Sachiko-sama, this place must be like a familiar childhood room. She was inviting Yumi in to a space that she'd spent so much time playing in on her own.

"Onee-sama."

Yumi grabbed onto the arm in front of her. She vowed to never let go of her onee-sama again, even if it was painful, or her arm got hot.

"What's the matter? Is the fog scaring you?"

Yumi shook her head at Sachiko-sama's question.

"We'll be fine if we stay like this. The mischievous fairies only come for people traveling alone, you know."

They walked on, arms tightly linked.

On the other side of the fog, Gensuke-san's bike light shone as he made his way home.

Part 2

Kikuyo Ayanokouji-sama came to visit Sachiko-sama shortly after 10am.

Kikuyo-sama was the same age as Touko-chan, and staying in her parents' villa about 500 meters down the road from the Ogasawara estate.

"Can you help me with my homework?"

With a thump, Kikuyo-sama dropped a stack of books, including an English translation of "The Tale of Genji" plus a couple of Japanese-English dictionaries and some B5 notebooks, on the terrace table.

"We have to translate the chapter "Young Murasaki" back into Japanese. It's tough because the English translation has changed some of the nuances slightly and we have to translate it back into modern Japanese."

A Japanese classic translated into English that they had to translate back into Japanese. Sure, different schools had different homework, but even so, this would surely be a shock to its original author, Murasaki Shikibu.

"… Kikuyo-chan, homework is something you're supposed to do yourself."

Sachiko-sama put a bookmark in the book she had been reading and closed it. She'd already finished Dazai's "Tsugaru" and had moved on to Shakespeare.

"But you've always helped me out in the past. Every year, I look forward to studying with you, Sachiko-onee-sama. It's why I come to the villa. I'm not asking you to do it for me, I just want to do my homework by your side, so I can ask you questions if there's any parts I don't understand. Or, is it that – "

Kikuyo-sama shot a withering glance at Yumi.

"You don't care about me because you've got Yumi-sama this year?"

Yumi was thrown into confusion, since she had considered herself to be completely uninvolved in this matter. After all, the issue of whether or not Sachiko-sama would look over Kikuyo-sama's homework was just between them, and Yumi just happened to be in the same place.

"This has nothing to do with Yumi, though."

Sachiko-sama said, naturally.

However, Kikuyo-sama lost her temper and said, "So that's what you think? You're too greedy, Yumi-sama."

"Huh!?"

"Day and night, you're monopolizing Sachiko-onee-sama. And yet I can't even get a tiny sliver of her time. It's just unfair."

"Kikuyo-chan."

"But it's true. You've never called me selfish before, or looked at me with such a scary face. You've changed, Sachiko-onee-sama. I just know it's because of Yumi-sama."

Kikuyo-sama flopped down onto the table, sobbing. Confronted by this sort of behavior, even Sachiko-sama had to give in and offer consolation, placing her hand on Kikuyo-sama's back and speaking tenderly, saying, "There there, don't cry." At which point Kikuyo-sama, with tears streaming down her cheeks, turned and pressed her face into Sachiko-sama's chest. Then she kept sobbing, crying, "Onee-sama," "Onee-sama," over and over. She just kept going on and on, like a cicada in a tree.

"I'll go and read upstairs."

Unable to stay there any longer, Yumi closed her book and stood up.

"Yumi … I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

Yumi somehow managed to force out a smile in return, then she kept going into the hallway and up the stairs, as though she were running away.

Yumi didn't think she'd done anything wrong.

Even so, she understood that she was probably responsible for Kikuyo-sama's tears – just like Kikuyo-sama had said.

A newcomer had appeared, and become Sachiko-sama's petite soeur.

It was easy to imagine that those who had known Sachiko-sama before wouldn't be particularly pleased by that.

She'd been likened to Cinderella for some time after becoming Sachiko-sama's petite soeur.

However.

Now she was starting to wonder whether the Cinderella in the story had really lived happily ever after.

Wouldn't she feel out of place, leaving her home to go and live in the prince's palace? Wouldn't she long for her old life, that had gone up in a puff of smoke?

Returning to her room, she lay down on the bed. She only had about ten pages left in "Kokoro" but she didn't feel like opening the book.

She liked Sachiko-sama.

But them liking each other, just by itself, wasn't enough for her to be happy.

Just by being next to the person she liked, she was making someone else sad.

They were surrounded by lots of other people – that's what society was made of. Although, that wouldn't be the case if they were shipwrecked on some deserted island together.

Looking up at the ceiling, Yumi gently closed her eyelids.

Still, loving someone was a precious thing.

On the away team, Yumi became her own supporter and cheered herself on with a, "Keep at it."

Part 3

Kyougoku Kieko-sama came to visit that afternoon.

After crying herself out over Sachiko-sama, Ayanokouji Kikuyo-sama spent about an hour studying then headed home in good spirits.

Given the way Sachiko-sama usually conducted herself like a queen at school, Yumi never would have imagined her soothing and placating someone like that. Internal and external, public and private. The way people interact with each other varies based on their relationship.

Now then, as for Kieko-sama: She invited Sachiko-sama back to her family's holiday house for tea. Kieko-sama said that her mother was under the weather, so she wanted Sachiko-sama to come over and pay her a visit while she was there too.

"That's true, it has been a while since I last saw your mother … I wonder what I should do."

Sachiko-sama seemed to be having trouble making a decision. She probably thought she should go, but she was being reluctant. Yumi thought that Sachiko-sama was probably hesitating because she didn't want to trouble her – although that may just have been conceit on Yumi's part. Probably the after-effects of the incident with Kikuyo-sama.

Therefore, Yumi decided to give her a little nudge in that direction.

"Why don't you go and visit her, onee-sama?"

"What about you, Yumi?"

"I have to read the book for my book report, so I'll stay here."

In truth, she'd already finished reading "Kokoro." But she thought it was okay to lie, if that lie would let her onee-sama feel at ease about leaving.

"Oh? You could come too, Yumi-sama."

"I'd just be in the way, since I don't know her, and I wouldn't want to harm her recovery."

"Really? That's a shame."

Kieko-sama said, but her expression clearly said, "That's a relief." Yumi was certain she wasn't just imagining it.

Taking the pound cake that Kiyo-san had made for their afternoon tea, Sachiko-sama headed out, accompanying Kieko-sama back to her family's summer house.

After seeing them off and returning to the entry, Kiyo-san looked a bit uneasy.

"Yumi-sama, do you have a moment?"

"Sure."

She motioned for Yumi to follow her into the kitchen. Once there, Kiyo-san looked around the area nervously. Although, no matter where she looked, there wasn't any space for a person to hide in the cozy kitchen.

"It's about Miss Kyougoku."

Kiyo-san said.

"Yes?"

By "Miss Kyougoku," she presumably meant Kieko-sama, who had just departed with Sachiko-sama.

"When she first arrived, I directed her to the terrace, but she followed me to the kitchen and asked me all sorts of questions."

"What sort of questions?"

"She was asking about you, Yumi-sama."

"About me?"

Would anyone in this day and age be happy to find out that someone was asking questions about them behind their back? Naturally, Yumi was not pleased to hear this. Especially since the person that had been asking all those questions hadn't been all that amicable towards Yumi. To put it bluntly, she was displeased. Or, more accurately, spooked.

"At first I thought she was asking those questions because she wanted to know more about you. But then she started asking about your family, and your school grades, and I became more and more concerned."

"She asked about my family and my grades … "

"Of course, I don't know about those things so I didn't answer her. But I did let some things slip accidentally."

Kyo-san bowed her head as she confessed this.

"I'm terribly sorry. I should have been more cautious."

Kyo-san said that she'd talked about Yumi and Sachiko-sama's arrival on Monday, and the three days they'd spent here, and other such matters. It didn't seem like she'd said anything of much significance.

"Thank-you for telling me this, but it's okay, you didn't say anything that would embarrass us."

"Yes, yes, that's right. But."

"But?"

"How can I put this? Those young ladies that visited the other day are overly preoccupied with things like family pedigree and social standing."

That was a bit troubling. Kyo-san put her hand to the cheek of her face and sighed deeply.

"You should take care around those ladies."

But even with that warning, how on earth should she take care? Yumi had absolutely no idea.

Part 4

Sachiko-sama was not in a good mood when she returned home from the Kyougoku's villa. As soon as she entered the house, she went straight up the stairs in silence, not bothering to stop by the salon or terrace. Yumi had been writing a rough draft of her book report at the table in the salon, but one look at Sachiko-sama's displeased profile had her chasing after her wondering what had happened.

"Did something happen?"

"Oh did it ever."

Sachiko-sama went into her room and threw the hat she'd been wearing on the bed.

"What do you think I saw when I got there? Kieko-san's brothers and sisters were there, along with her extended family, having a garden party."

"Um, so Kieko-sama's mother was – "

"Her mother? She was fine. She'd hardly be slurping down champagne in the middle of the day and stuffing her face full of barbecued meat if she was sick, would she?"

"I don't know, I was just asking."

Her flare up was quite intense, perhaps because it had been a while since the last one.

"… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken it out on you, Yumi."

"Don't worry about it."

Yumi was used to it. She thought it was probably because Sachiko-sama could let her guard down around her.

After all, Sachiko-sama was lenient with strangers but strict to those close to her. And understanding that, it was her petite soeur's job to support her.

"How about we go home? To Tokyo."

Sachiko-sama said, out of nowhere.

"Is something the matter?"

"Not particularly. I'm just fed up with it all. This farce of a friendship between certain people."

Sachiko-sama placed her left hand on the bed railing and covered her right eye with the palm of her right hand.

"All I wanted was to have a relaxing time here with you, Yumi. Just the two of us."

Her voice was shaking.

"Why can't they just leave us alone?"

Could she, perhaps, be crying?

"The Ogasawara name can be such a burden at times."

Yumi didn't dare to look at Sachiko-sama's face as she listened to her words in silence.

"I love my parents, and my grandfather too. And I'm grateful for the extraordinary amount of money and effort they've put into raising me. But sometimes I dream about how nice it would be for the four of us to live together in a house about the size of this villa. So, when I was young, I was always happy when we'd come and stay out here during the O-bon vacation. It was comforting to be in a small enough place that you could know where everyone was, even if you didn't know what they were doing. My father and grandfather would seek out the coolest spots in the house and sit there and read. And at least while they were here, they weren't off seeing their mistresses."

"And that's why you like this place."

Sachiko-sama gave a small nod of her head.

"And that's why I'd like to stay a bit longer."

After Yumi said this, Sachiko-sama spoke in a voice that seemed to fade to nothingness.

"I can't protect you here …"

"Huh?"

"They were talking about you at the party."

Yumi wasn't all that surprised, after what Kyo-san had told her about Kieko-sama. While she didn't know the specifics, she was sure they would have been saying something.

"What sort of things were they saying?"

"It was ridiculous."

The memory of it seemed to stir up Sachiko-sama's anger as she became agitated once more.

"Not even the Lillian Kawaraban would publish something that stupid."

There it is, the Lillian Kawaraban.

Still, in this situation, what could they have said to draw a comparison to the school newspaper?

"Then, can you tell me what they said, regardless of how stupid it was?"

Because Yumi wanted to judge that for herself. Deep in her heart she was a bit troubled, but she did her best to be cheerful as she asked. From what Kyo-san had said, there shouldn't have been anything too embarrassing if it got out.

"It was about the rice. That should be enough, right? It's of no value to you to hear anything more than that."

The rice.

The rice? Ohhhh, so that was it.

They could probably turn that episode into a funny story by expanding and embellishing on it. Yumi's feelings were, "If they want to laugh, let them laugh," but –

"I'm sorry onee-sama, for embarrassing you like this."

"It's not that – I've never once felt embarrassed by you. Don't you understand? I don't want to see you hurt. I hate that you have to suffer through this just because you're my petite soeur."

Sachiko-sama stamped her feet on the ground and waved her arms around in the air, like a young child getting angry because they couldn't properly convey their feelings. With nowhere for her arms to go, her hands eventually closed into fists and she lowered them.

"I just want you to always enjoy our time together."

"I do enjoy it."

Sachiko-sama raised her voice, getting angry. But for some reason, Yumi was able to calmly regard her onee-sama, even as she considered it strange that she could maintain her composure.

"Liar."

"It's true. I enjoy it all, even the tough times and the sad times."

Sachiko-sama's clenched fists loosened just a little.

"Just being with you makes me happy, onee-sama. Why can't you see that?"

"Yumi … "

"So if you want to go back to Tokyo, then of course I'll go back with you, but if you decide to stay then I'll remain here with you until the end."

Yumi smiled cheerfully as she said this, and Sachiko-sama's grim expression finally softened as she took a deep breath.

"Alright. If that's how you feel, then we'll stay here until Monday, like we planned. I really do hate running away, after all."

Hearing that last sentence, Yumi thought that this was just what she expected from Sachiko-sama.

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