Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume34 Chapter5

Little Horrors III

"What ever are you doing?"

Not understanding what she was seeing, Nana took a step forward, prompting Yoshino-sama to call out:

"Stay back!"

"Huh?"

It was an immediate reaction, but a moment too late. Nana stopped moving just as the tip of her indoor shoes landed in a puddle of water that had sprayed onto the floor.

Splish.

"Ah – "

"That's why I warned you."

Yumi-sama and Yoshino-sama cried out in despair. The light in the room was still flickering on and off, so Nana had a frame-by-frame view as their expressions turned from impatience to despondence.

"What happened?"

Naturally, the wise Red and White boutons did not repeat Rosa Foetida en bouton's mistake. They didn't advance beyond Nana's position as they questioned the Roses.

"I was just about to tell you there's a puddle there, Nana."

Noriko-sama snorted at Yoshino-sama's grumbling.

"So you're saying poor Nana-chan jumped in before you had a chance to warn her, then?"

Setting aside what it was doing there to begin with, the fact that it was a puddle of water was at least a small blessing. If it had been black ink – Nana shuddered just thinking about it. It had also splashed onto a couple of things, but since it was only water it wouldn't matter as long as they dried.

"Couldn't you have given that warning before you said to turn the lights off?"

Feeling slightly relieved, Nana fired off a complaint to see what response she got.

"Oh, but it was Yumi-san that said to turn off the lights."

"No, it was unmistakably your voice, onee-sama."

Nana looked to Yumi-sama for confirmation, but Yumi-sama turned her head away, as though she didn't want to get into a childish fight between soeurs. Of course, that was confirmation in itself.

"Why would you lie about that, when it's so easily disproven?"

"My, such a disgrace."

Yoshino-sama said, then stuck out her tongue. Was she really in the same grade as Shimako-sama? And then, how did she become Rosa Foetia? From time to time, it completely boggled Nana's mind.

"So, what on earth are you two doing, onee-sama?"

Touko-sama asked, facing the two Roses. The Yellow Rose soeurs were always having meaningless little arguments like this, so their exchanges were typically ignored.

"What are we doing? Can't you tell just by looking?"

Yumi-sama answered with a question of her own.

"By looking, you say?"

Touko-sama leaned forwards, prompting Nana and Noriko-sama to do the same, so that they could tell just by looking.

In front of the boutons was a puddle of water, about three feet long. On the opposite shore, the two Roses were squatting down facing each other, next to the wall. They were both gripping on tightly to a handkerchief that was wrapped around a metal bar that ran along the wall.

"No way."

Noriko-sama muttered.

"The water pipe burst, or something like that."

Surprised, Nana turned to look at the bob-haired girl beside her. Was what she said really true? Could water pipes burst that easily? However.

"Well, you're not entirely correct, but you're not far off the mark, I guess I should say."

Yumi-sama answered with a sigh.

"It is an old building."

Touko-sama agreed, her voice too conveying a sense of acceptance.

"At first it was just trickling out, so I didn't think it would end up like this."

To summarize Yumi-sama's explanation, it went like this:

Today, when Yumi-sama went to the storeroom to get something, she heard the faint sound of water. Wondering what it was, she went in search of the source of this noise and tracked it down to this location. It was coming from inside the wall, but because it's an old wooden building, the paneling was really easy to remove. She looked inside and found a water pipe running horizontally, with water trickling out of it. It was then that Yoshino-sama arrived on the scene. She noticed the storeroom door was open and, finding that strange, came to investigate.

"But it was just trickling out, wasn't it? So it would have been wet inside the wall, but there wouldn't have been a puddle in the room at that point, right?"

"About that."

As she spoke, Yumi-sama turned just her face towards them.

"We decided to put in a temporary fix, so we tied this handkerchief around it to see if that would work. But we must have put some unexpected stress on it, because the water suddenly started spraying out into the room, like from a hose."

"And that's what made the puddle?"

Yoshino-sama said, "Pretty much," and shrugged her shoulders.

"From that point on, we've had to keep our hands covering it to stop it from spraying out – from two different spots even."

"The trickle turned into a spray … "

That made sense – they would have wanted to go and get some help, but they couldn't move from that spot.

"I'll go to the staff room."

Noriko-sama did an abrupt about face. Indeed, now wasn't the time to be distracted by the details, they should go and get help from an adult. Nana volunteered to accompany her, but Noriko-sama quickly declined, saying, "I can go on my own."

"Besides, didn't you have to talk to Yoshino-sama?"

"Right."

They did have to talk. Not some pointless argument, but about today's kendo club meeting.

"In that case, Noriko-chan, can you turn the lights off when you leave? The haunted bulb's kind of unsettling, I'd prefer the darkness."

Yumi-sama said.

"Haunted bulb?"

Noriko-sama's tone seemed to say, "What are you talking about?" as she looked back over her shoulder.

"Oh? You don't call it that?"

"Hmm?"

Still looking puzzled, Noriko-sama did as she was asked and turned the lights off as she left the room. Remaining in the room were the Red and Yellow Rose soeurs.

"You must be getting tired, onee-sama. I'll take over for you."

Touko-sama detoured around the puddle of water over to the wall.

"Ah, me too."

Nana smoothly jumped over the puddle. Even though the lights in the room were out, it was still a while until dusk. The storeroom didn't get much sunlight, so it was gloomy, but there was enough light to make out the shape of objects and people's expressions.

"But."

Yumi-sama seemed unwilling to switch places with her petite soeur.

"Please don't hold back, onee-sama. I'm here to help at times like this. Don't worry, I definitely won't mess it up."

"… Are you sure?"

Yumi-sama probably wasn't worried about Touko-sama messing it up. It seemed more like she was hesitating because she didn't want to push a physically demanding task onto her cute little sister.

In contrast, Yoshino-sama was –

"Well, I wonder if I should swap with Nana too, then. You know, I'm starting to feel really tired myself."

– Like that.

"See? Put your hands here and here, then grip it tightly when you feel it start to loosen."

"When I let go, you've got to grab on at mach speed. If you mess up, it won't just be another puddle, you'll get your uniform wet too."

After receiving lectures from their respective onee-samas, the two boutons took charge of the water pipe on the count of three. The transfer was a complete success. The handkerchief was damp, but no spray of water came out, so naturally there were no new puddles either.

"Nana-chan, it'll be fine as long as you hold onto the handkerchief tightly, you don't have to keep watching it."

Yumi-sama smiled, as she watched Nana's focus immediately swing back to the water pipe.

"Ah, okay."

But, still. Now that she'd taken responsibility for the water pipe, it would be unforgivable if they were splashed with water, so she'd keep her arms strong and eyes sharp until the end.

"It's starting to get dark."

Touko-sama mumbled. Hearing this, Nana let her gaze drift around the room and it certainly seemed darker than it was before.

"It feels like there's something in the air."

Yoshino-sama rubbed her arms for warmth.

It may have been due to the water scattered around, or it may have just been her imagination, but the air in the room seemed heavy and oppressive. It felt like something bad was about to happen, and while that may be true, it wasn't something she should say out loud at times like this.

The room fell deathly silent. Nana wanted to lift the atmosphere by telling a funny story, but couldn't come up with anything suitable. But then:

Squeak.

They heard the sound of a door opening, and everyone turned to look simultaneously. And then screamed in unison.

"Gyaa!!"

The reason for that was because there was a disembodied head floating there.

"Ah, sorry, I must have frightened you."

The severed head said. Although, on closer inspection, it was actually a familiar face – Noriko-sama.

"The sun's going down, so I thought you'd be better off with this than without."

Everyone in the room relaxed when they saw what she'd brought them.

"Oh, it's a flashlight."

She was holding it upright, so only her face was illuminated, but now that she held it out they could confirm that the rest of Noriko-sama's body was obviously still there.

"You did that on purpose."

Yoshino-sama glared as she took the flashlight.

"On purpose?"

"You brought that flashlight down here just so you could scare us."

"Don't be absurd."

Noriko-sama shook her head earnestly.

"I turned the flashlight on out in the hallway to check whether it had batteries in it or not, and I was carrying it in that unnatural pose because of these other things I brought too – "

As she spoke, Noriko-sama placed the other items she was carrying on the floor.

"A bucket and cloth? What's this for?"

Yoshino-sama pointed at them.

"First of all, weren't you going to the staff room? Why were you wasting time with … mmf."

"Ah, thanks, Noriko-chan."

Sensing something, Yumi-sama put her hand over Yoshino-sama's mouth. The dignified Rosa Chinensis ignored the muffled squirming of her friend and continued.

"We're fine here, so can you go and call a teacher?"

"Alright, I'll leave the rest to you. I'll be back soon."

Noriko-sama bowed then left. They heard the sound of the entry door opening and closing, so she had to be going to the school building this time.

"What was that about?"

Yoshino-sama asked indignantly, freed from her restraints.

"Noriko-chan's a conscientious girl, so she couldn't just leave the puddle of water lying there."

Yumi-sama picked up two washcloths from in the bucket and soaked them in the puddle. Nana couldn't really get a good look from her position, but it appeared as though Noriko-sama had brought them an empty bucket and some dry cloths.

"Hmph."

With a snort of resignation, Yoshino-sama picked up one of the waterlogged cloths.

"Talk about bad timing, we totally misjudged when to take over this task."

Touko-sama said, looking dejected. Mopping up the puddle was definitely something that the petite soeurs should be taking the lead in, and not leaving up to their onee-samas. But since they had to keep a tight grip on the water pipe and couldn't move, they couldn't help out even though they wanted to.

After thoroughly drying the floor, the flashlight was placed on the ground standing upright. The Roses then sat down, with the flashlight in the middle. Four people huddled around a small campfire. Although, looking like it did, it was more reminiscent of a candle.

"It's like the "100 Ghost Stories.""

Touko-sama said in the stillness. It wasn't like they had been having a lively conversation, but now it had turned as silent as a grave.

"Ah, but it's okay, since we're starting out with a flashlight."

Yumi-sama said, as though to persuade herself. But Touko-sama answered coldly:

"Or, depending on how you look at it, we could be ending with a flashlight."

"Ah, but, unlike a candle, it won't just flicker out."

Yumi-sama wasn't shrinking from her positive outlook, so this time it fell to Yoshino-sama to make the final blow.

"Until the battery dies."

"Stoooop!"

Yoshino-sama and Touko-sama were probably teasing the scaredy-cat Yumi-sama. Her fear would feed on itself, making her even more afraid.

"I've got it. We should tell funny stories – that way, even if it does go out, it won't be related to the "100 Ghost Stories.""

"Or, we could tell scary stories. That way we'll be safe, as long as the candle doesn't go out."

What kind of rationale was that? Besides, it was a flashlight, not a candle.

Still, Yoshino-sama and Touko-sama both cared for Yumi-sama a great deal. As she was thinking this, a voice suddenly called out, "Nana."

"Yes?"

"You've been quiet for a while now, which way do you think we should go?"

"Which way – "

In her heart, she wanted to go with Yumi-sama. But, frankly, it was tough to oppose her onee-sama, Yoshino-sama. As a result, she hadn't been participating in this battle so far, instead she'd been watching on to see which way it went.

"Well then, why don't we start with you telling us a story, Nana? Naturally, it has to be a scary story."

Yoshino-sama grinned knowingly. Good grief, she was such a troublesome person.

"A scary story, you say?"

"Yeah. Anything will do."

She had no other choice.

"Well then."

Nana fixed her gaze right on Yoshino-sama.

"I'll tell you the story of my onee-sama's lie."

"My lie? What, are you still going on about that, "Turn off the light," thing from before?"

Yoshino-sama had been expecting something exciting, so when she thought Nana was going to rehash their earlier conversation she got bored and tried to wave away the topic.

"No."

Nana said.

"It's about the kendo club."

Yoshino-sama's complexion changed fractionally when she heard this.

"Hold on, Nana – "

"You said that anything would do, onee-sama."

All Nana was doing was answering her onee-sama's request for a scary story.

"It's common for habitual liars to end up like the boy who cried wolf. There's also tales of them turning into evil spirits."

Nana's hands were closed, but she made her voice sound like she was calling forth a spirit at a séance.

This story would be of no concern to the Red Rose soeurs, but it was something that would definitely send a chill down Yoshino-sama's spine.

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Forward to An Honest Lie

Forward to Little Horrors IV