Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume10 Chapter2 5

Raindrop. Part 5

The raindrops gently brushed past the new growth on the cherry tree then fell into her hair.

"Tell me what to do."

The raindrops in her hair slid down Shimako's face to her cheeks, where they mixed with her tears. Despite standing under the biggest branch of a large cherry tree, the sparseness of the leaves meant it wasn't very useful as a shelter from the rain.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay out in the rain."

There was the sound of one set of footsteps advancing steadily across the moist ground. Since choosing this place to flee to, Shimako had probably been waiting for this person to arrive.

"I learned something today. Shimako-san, you're greedy. Because of that, you want everyone to like you."

Noriko made her way to Shimako's side, and squatted down next to her. There was still a section of dirt beneath the cherry tree that remained dry, although the raindrops slipping through the branches of the tree were progressively painting it a polka-dot pattern.

"Right."

The pair didn't look at each other, instead focusing on the rain in front of them. The rainfall inside Shimako was different to the rain outside, more like a roof leak, without even the benefit of the branches or their fresh leaves. As though she'd already caught the cold that Noriko had warned her about.

"Since you're greedy, you've tried to live a life free from desire. Because it's tough to let something go once you've held it in your hands."

Perhaps at a loose end, Noriko picked up a nearby twig and started doodling in the damp ground.

"What are you saying?"

Shimako didn't look at Noriko's face, but at the lines she was drawing.

"It's like this, Shimako-san. Back when you were keeping secret the fact that you're a temple daughter, you were determined to leave the school if it ever came out, right? That sort of thing."

"… Ah, I see. Perhaps you're right."

She wanted to be as free as possible. If she knew she might lose something eventually, thinking about that made her lose the courage to reach out for it. If fate meant that she would inevitably have to leave it behind, she couldn't pick it up, let alone actively seek it out.

"But in the end you hesitated, right? You were reluctant to go through with it?"

"Yeah."

"Because you already held your friends in your hands."

Beside her doodle, Noriko wrote 'Yumi' and 'Yoshino.'

"These people are indispensable to you, Shimako-san."

Noriko continued to write the names of the people that Shimako was friends with. 'Sachiko' and 'Rei.' At that point, Shimako looked at Noriko's face for the first time.

"Don't tell me that I should cut myself off from you because of that."

There was no way she could cast aside her irreplaceable friends. But the one she wanted by her side right at that moment was Noriko.

Blame it on her greed, but Noriko was one of the treasures that she had held in her hands. Shimako definitely didn't want to let her go.

"I won't. Because I'm indispensable to you too, Shimako-san. Although saying that might be a bit conceited."

Noriko set aside her twig and turned to face Shimako. Not only turned to face her, but also grinned at her, setting her mind at ease.

"My easily flustered Shimako-san."

Noriko whispered, as she wiped away a drop of water that streamed down Shimako's face. While the rain had mixed with her tears, how did it look to Noriko?

"Rosa Chinensis gave you an extreme example. You don't want to let go, so you won't force yourself to cast aside either of us, right?"

"But, that – "

Shimako grasped her hands together tightly and brought them to her chest. Cast aside neither of them. How could she achieve that result?

"I know one way this could be resolved."

Beneath her even bangs, her eyes shone with a strong will. It shot straight through Shimako.

"Place that rosary around my neck."

"Huh!?"

Noriko was pointing towards Shimako's right wrist. She'd received it from her onee-sama, a memento of their six-month long dream.

That rosary had released Shimako from her isolation. After being welcomed into the Yamayurikai, she'd been able to make some precious friends. Even though her onee-sama had graduated, things had probably turned out how they had because she had that rosary.

"To me, it's just a piece of jewelery. But if that will resolve everything, and everyone accepts it, wouldn't it be better to end it quickly by placing that on me?"

"But, Noriko."

"I think I understand, sort of. The reason you haven't already given me the rosary, that is. It's because you know the weight of it, right? But for all that, it's something that I'd never even notice."

Noriko's guess had been fairly close to Shimako's true feelings. To Shimako, the rosary was, indeed, quite heavy. But it could be said that it was the weight itself that made it valuable.

However, she was reluctant to hand that heavy rosary over to someone else. If it was to someone she cared about, then it was only natural she'd be troubled.

"So having said all that, is there anyone you're going to hand your rosary to, Shimako-san?"

One option was to remain without a petit soeur until graduation, but that would be somewhat difficult given her position as Rosa Gigantea.

"Since I don't know the weight of it, it won't put me out. Think of it as lending it to me, and if you find yourself lighter without the rosary then it's all good, right?"

"Lending it to you?"

Just with that phrase, Shimako found her heart lightening.

"Right, like the juzu."

Perhaps that way she'd be able to relax. Surely everyone must feel more at ease once they became soeurs. If they didn't, Lillian's soeur system would have fallen apart years ago.

"But."

After taking the rosary off her wrist, Shimako reconsidered. Was it really okay to give this to Noriko? Would having Noriko take care of the rosary really resolve matters?

"Why are you hesitating? Is it because I'm a Buddhist, not a Christian?"

"That's not it. It's just … "

If Noriko became Shimako's petit soeur, she'd also gain the title of Rosa Gigantea en bouton. Would she be able to get along with the other Yamayurikai members, starting with Sachiko-sama? When Shimako put this into words, Noriko looked at her with a blank stare and responded with:

"I think we'll get along fine, don't you?"

"Huh?"

"At the very least, I thought we'd established a good relationship."

Noriko tilted her head in thought, as she asked herself, "I wonder if Rosa Chinensis thinks so too?"

"But what about that fight earlier?"

"Fight? That was an affectionate scolding. I don't hold anything against Rosa Chinensis."

"Oh … really?"

"Don't worry about it. I think we'll get along fine. You too, Shimako-san, as an onee-sama you should be more strict on my manners. If you tell me to do something, I'll obediently listen. Even Rosa Chinensis would show some restraint towards Rosa Gigantea's petit soeur. So we won't come in to conflict."

Noriko looked up slightly, as though in thought. Here and there the raindrops fell on her face and black hair.

"To liken it to a lunchbox, at the moment there's no compartments so all the dishes are going every which way, making it a mess. Rosa Chinensis doesn't seem to be the kind of person to tolerate getting the rice mixed up with the soup."

"A lunchbox?"

Shimako blurted. Noriko's example was quite peculiar. But she found herself agreeing with it.

"That's why she nudged me out after you."

"Sachiko-sama did?"

"Yeah. I think she's probably already accepted me into the group. That's why she could say what she did."

Ah, that was true. If she wasn't interested in someone, Sachiko-sama was the kind of person to ignore them completely. Their fight was one form of communication to Sachiko-sama.

"You're quite perceptive."

"Yep. Because they're the people you like, Shimako-san."

Shimako sighed as she compared that to her own actions. She'd been in such a rush not to lose anything important, that she lost sight of everything. Even though they'd become so close. Even though she held those things important to her securely in her hands.

"Ahh … I'm sure you're right."

Even though she hadn't noticed, Noriko had always been holding her hand, lighting her path through the labyrinth.

Therefore Shimako didn't have to walk alone any more. If she wanted to share the burden she carried on her shoulders, it looked like she could rely on Noriko.

Shimako spread the rosary out.

"Is this okay?"

The rosary could become a set of restraints that shackled Noriko. But in front of Shimako was a petit soeur who would not be bothered by that, so there was no need to worry anymore.

The names written in the dirt were slowly being erased by raindrops.

"I'll stay with you until you graduate, Shimako-san, never leaving your side."

Noriko smiled happily. Raindrops fell on the rosary hanging around her neck, sparkling like the beads.

"That's why I'm not cold any more."

They huddled together beneath the cherry tree, watching the rain fall.

Despite the rain falling around them, inside Shimako's heart there was brilliant sunshine.