Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume5 Chapter5 2

St. Valentine's prank. Part 2.

There were six class periods that day, but unfortunately for the teachers, most of the students' minds were way out of the classroom.

Part of it was because of lack of sleep, but part of it was also because of their excitement of the afterschool event.

The students understood this, though, so the classes were spent with the teachers talking about their own Valentines' experiences. They never opened their textbooks the whole day. Even the teachers who thought it was outrageous spent their whole classes scolding everyone about it, so either way, the lessons never actually got underway.

And finally, we'd come to that afterschool day we'd waited so eagerly for.

The students who were participating quickly finished their cleaning duty (while also making sure to check places they thought the cards might be hidden) and gathered in the courtyard in front of the Rose Mansion.

Yumi arrived slightly late and slid into the mob. She noticed Rosa Gigantea and Yoshino-san standing close by.

Facing the participants, the three boutons and the newspaper club were on standby, their backs to the Rose Mansion. Some teachers were also looking at the courtyard from the school buildings, but their expressions were more of curiosity and amusement. That was probably because Minako-sama had formally presented an event proposal. At least she always did what she needed to do, Yumi thought.

"Shall we begin then?"

Minako-sama glanced at her wristwatch, confirmed it was three forty, and raised her voice.

"As of now, we're closing registration for the event participation."

On cue, the newspaper club students began passing out A4-size papers to participants. That included, of course, Yumi.

She looked at it with excitement, and noticed there was a dotted line running across halfway down, and there was the symbol of scissors next to it. In other words, you were supposed to cut along the line. This paper was destined to be cut in half.

"As you can see, the left side has rule explanations for this game. And on the back it has a map of the school, please be sure to look through these."

When she flipped the sheet over, she saw the map clearly explaining which places were potential hiding spots. That left the right side of the sheet unexplained.

"After cutting the sheet, the participants will bring this side with them."

Mmhmm. As with everyone else, Yumi folded the paper in half and creased it with her fingernails. There'd been no instructions about it yet, but everyone was preparing the sheet for cutting. Human behavior is pretty funny.

"We have some scissors and pens available over here, so people who are in need of them should come and use them after we start."

The courtyard began bubbling with excitement, but Minako-sama fought hard to keep her voice heard. At the same time, the three boutons, Sachiko-sama, Rei-sama, and Shimako-san, raised the scissors and pens in their hands to indicate where they were. It looked like those TV assistants on the sales shows.

That caused the participants to look straight at the boutons. They were just showing where the stationery was, but the participants swelled with excitement again, and when Rei-sama put a finger to her lips, everyone went silent.

(… W-wow.)

She knew the boutons were popular, but she didn't realize how charismatic they were. Yumi realized once again that she was surrounded by amazing people. After all, the courtyard was filled with students. Just with a brief glance you could guess there were at least 200. Some of them were here just for the fun of it, of course, but most of them were here because they were attracted to the boutons. Otherwise you wouldn't waste this special day just to hunt for cards. The prize was a date with the boutons, after all.

"-So please write your class and full name in this space."

While she was admiring the boutons' popularity, Minako-sama's explanation had proceeded quite a bit.

(Filling what out?)

When she looked to her side, she noticed a first-year from a different class pull out her student notebook, use it as a mat, and begin writing something on her sheet. That something was her name.

Speaking of which, Minako-sama did mention scissors and pen. Yumi skimmed the right side of the sheet, and realized it was a vow. (A vow…?)

When she looked closer, she noticed it was titled "Additional Registration Record." It was basically a direct copy of the important points page on the left, but at the end there was, "I vow to participate in the games with the above rules firmly in mind," and under that was the space for your class and name.

Smart move, Minako-sama. By forcing everyone to sign a vow, she was protecting herself from any reckless actions.

You couldn't register without signing the vow, so everyone had to sign it. And because they signed it with their own handwriting, the "I didn't read it" excuse wouldn't work. If something were to occur during the game, and it was caused by the student not following the rules, it would just be their own fault. At the very least it'd make sure the students restrained themselves to a fair degree.

"The boutons' handwritten cards look like this."

Minako-sama raised a blue sheet of paper. So the people in the back could see, the other newspaper club members also raised the same sort of sheet around the crowd. It was around the size of a paperback book, but because it was folded in half, the actual sheet was probably twice that size.

"Because this is an example, it's blue, but the rest are colored in respect to each rose."

Sachiko-sama was crimson, Rei-sama was yellow, and Shimako-san was white.

"The crimson, yellow, and white cards are hidden somewhere in the school. If you find one, please bring it directly to the Rose Mansion headquarter. We'll confirm the student notebook and the registration card, and if there're no problems, we'll confirm there's a winner. Along with the card, we'll present you with the bouton dating ticket on the spot."

A sound erupted from the crowd, one that couldn't be described as "Wah" or "Kya" or "Wooh." And because the courtyard was surrounded by buildings, it bounced back and forth for a long time.

"If something comes up during the game, please talk to a newspaper club member. We'll be posted at the Rose Mansion and at spots around the school. You can find the locations on your map. … Does anyone have any questions?"

Having finished her explanation, Minako-sama swung things to the crowd.

"Yes."

Several students raised their hand, so Minako-sama began with the person closest to her.

"If more than one student finds the card at the same time, what happens?"

Oh, that's a good point, Yumi thought. With this many people, it would be possible more than one person decides to search the same place at once. People will just look "in the area," after all.

"Hmm. The only way we can decide things is 'whoever touched it first.' If the situation were to arise that both people really get their hands on it at the same time, and they can't let go, they should come to the Rose Mansion, and we'll do rock-scissors-paper in front of the boutons. Sound good? … Next question."

"Are we allowed to donate the cards?"

If a Sachiko-sama fan were to find Rei-sama's card, for instance, would that student being able to give the card to her friend.

"Well fundamentally we'd rather that not happen, but there's no way we can tell if that were to happen. Again, as long as the student notebook and the contract line up, we'll confirm the winner. All that said, because of the time limit, I think giving the card to a specific person might be difficult. Also, the dating ticket can't be used by anyone other than the winner."

Minako-sama's answer was complicated, but basically, if Yumi were to find Rei-sama's card, it might be difficult to find Yoshino-san and give Her the card.

If she could track down Yoshino-san and give the card to her without anyone seeing, and Yoshino-san were to report that she found it, then they'd have no choice but to accept it. But it would be a difficult task to find Yoshino-san within the time limit. And people not looking for Rei-sama's card might find Sachiko-sama or Shimako-san's card in the meantime. Whatever the case, you'd still need to be the first person to find the card.

"Any other questions?"

Minako-san glanced around the crowd and made sure there were no other hands.

"If you don't find the card before four forty, the card will become void. … Well, I guess we shall start now, but if the boutons' sœur are here, please step forward."

"-Eh?"

Boutons' sœur included, of course, Yumi.

As she tilted her head to the side, Yoshino-san and others went to Minako-sama.

"Here, Yumi-san, you too."

Pushed forward by her classmates, Yumi joined them. Rosa Gigantea, Yoshino-san, and surprisingly, Rosa Foetida.

"Did you finish your exams?"

She whispered, and Rosa Foetida responded, "Not yet." Well, it was Rosa Foetida, after all, it wasn't surprising she'd decide not to miss out on an event like this.

"I apologize to the boutons' sœurs, but we'll have them start five minutes later, for fairness' sake." "Eh-!?" The boutons' sœurs all booed. But as Minako-sama hoped, the other participants rejoiced.

And because they'd been told right before the start, Yoshino-san couldn't rampage in protest. She was complaining, but the crowd drowned her out.

"Well, hand in your forms and let's start."

Minako-sama blew into a whistle you'd expect to see at an athletics event.

And the participants began moving.

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