Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume24 Chapter4 3

Explanatory Meeting and Clandestine Meeting. Part 3

"Touko-chan, why are you – "

Yumi managed to squeak out, watching as Touko-chan sat down in the chair the committee member indicated, next to her.

"Attending the information session will be useful for the election."

In other words, she wasn't here to be an observer, she was planning on running in the election.

"But you're a first-year."

"Oh? But then, Shimako-sama was a first-year last year. There's nothing unusual about it."

But that was because there was a two year gap between Shimako-san and the previous Rosa Gigantea. As Rosa Gigantea en bouton, it was only natural that she'd follow in those footsteps and run as a first-year.

(But.)

Thinking about it, wasn't the "tradition" at Lillian's, where the boutons became the next Roses, itself kind of strange?

Of course, in a democracy, the question of whether that "tradition" was okay would be answered by an election. Nonetheless, the boutons were typically promoted to Roses.

Like last year, when the second-year Kanina Shizuaka-sama, Rosa Canina, lost the election.

In Shimako-san's case, she was very level-headed and generally held in high regard, so she may still have been elected even if she wasn't a bouton. But there must have been some that weren't cut out to be student council leaders (or didn't win their elections).

Given that, what about her own situation? Yumi pondered this.

She had attended the information session because she'd been ordered to do so by her onee-sama. But was that enough for her to become one of the next Roses? She'd become close to everyone as a bouton, but wasn't that a measure of the greatness of her onee-sama, Ogasawara Sachiko?

Yumi believed that she was the only one who could be Sachiko-sama's petit soeur.

But that was different to being a student council leader.

She wouldn't say it was Touko-chan, but couldn't there be someone out there somewhere in high-school that was more fitting than her?

Yumi remained silent as Touko-chan opened her pencil case, took out a mechanical pencil and thumbed down on the end of it.

Click, click, click.

Why was it that Touko-chan was running in the election?

"Well then, let's resume the information session. The print-outs – "

She could hear Hanae-san's voice from somewhere far away.

The words the first-year committee member wrote on the blackboard seemed like cryptic codewords and didn't stick in her mind either.

That said, she wasn't feeling sleepy. Her mind was surprisingly clear. But it wasn't turned outwards.

Why, why, why?

Her thoughts were turned inwards, repeating this question over and over.

She heard soft scratching as someone wrote a note on their print-out. Maybe the topic being discussed was something important.

She heard Shimako-san's voice clearly, her hand raised as she asked her question. But she couldn't understand what she said.

Everyone was standing up, so she stood up and bowed her head too.

"What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Yoshino-san shook Yumi's shoulder.

Touko-chan left the room first. The five committee members had started tidying up, wiping clean the blackboard and moving the desks.

Despite attending the information session, nothing had made its way into her brain.

"Did your mind go blank because of Touko-chan?"

Shimako-san whispered. Indicating that she had been surprised too.

"Oh wow, Yumi-san really is blank."

Yoshino-san laughed, looking at Yumi's print-out.

"No helping it now. You can copy ours later. If there's anything you don't understand, just ask. We're friends, so we've got to help you."

"Yeah. Thanks."

She'd said they were friends, and Yumi really was thankful. From the bottom of her heart. But not really for allowing her to look at the notes she'd forgotten to take herself. Even if they hadn't been able to do anything for her, just that in itself was enough to be thankful for.

And so, as thankful as she was, she was just as apologetic towards someone. That sort of feeling.