Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume5 Chapter5 4

St. Valentine's prank. Part 4.

"Hmm, I get it."

When Yumi laid out the rag by the entrance after Yoshino-san had wiped her shoes, as Sachiko-sama had instructed, and wearily stood, she found Rosa Gigantea standing right next to her.

"What do you get?"

"I finally figured out why Yumi was running around."

Had she been watching this whole time? She was standing around just inside the foyer, where there was a level difference. Yoshino-san had dashed away immediately, but Rosa Gigantea…

"Thank you for your time, shall I say? Well, I guess I'll start calling people."

But Rosa Gigantea had stayed behind, and now began flirting with students that were still in the courtyard.

"Heeey. Wanna talk inside? The boutons are in."

The students seemed to have been pondering whether to go in or not, so they graciously jumped at the opportunity and carefully stepped into the Rose Mansion. Yumi remembered the first time she'd come here, looking for Sachiko-sama. Had Shimako-san not spoken to them, she and Tsutako-san may have stood outside forever. The students walking in now probably felt as Yumi did then.

Still, what was with the students still in the courtyard? Yumi tried inviting them, "Would you like to come in?" but the five or six remaining shook their heads and smiled, "No, thank you."

"How about Yumi-chan?" Rosa Gigantea asked.

"I'll pass, thanks."

There were only thirty minutes left. She would be starting incredibly late, but she had "an obligation to participate." Plus, considering how Minako-sama had given them a handicap, being the sœur must have an actual advantage. "Rosa Gigantea, are you not going to look for it?"

"Look for what?"

"Shimako-san's card."

"Hmm."

Apparently it'd become too much of a hassle. But Yumi could understand her feeling after seeing the number of participants.

"A date with Shimako isn't that attractive, you know. Plus, I have no idea where she would have hidden it."

"You're kidding."

Because Rosa Gigantea was supposed to understand Shimako-san really well. Which was why Shimako-san wanted to make sure she hid it well, Yumi thought. Or maybe they were playing mind games with each other, so it'd really be a toss-up.

"The only thing that comes to mind with Shimako is piety. But the sanctuary is off-limits, right? Well, even if it was allowed, I doubt Shimako would use such a place for a game, anyways. Which means it wouldn't be anywhere near Maria-sama's statue, either. … I'd have to sit down somewhere quiet and think about it."

She yawned without covering her mouth with her hand. "Thinking about it" was just an excuse. She was completely ready to take a nap.

(Errgh, but Shimako-san's card should be in there.)

Yumi stared at the first-floor room of the Rose Mansion.

When they'd run into each other in the morning, Shimako-san was clearly flustered. Something was there. What other than the card? But telling her would be against the rules. Not that such a rule was actually printed, but it was a fact Yumi had accidentally run into as a sister of a bouton.

"-Yumi-chan, is there something in that room?"

"What!?"

And she thought, shoot! She had the same reaction as when she pulled a joker in baba-nuki. This was like saying "yes, you're right." Well, her face had probably told everything anyways…

"Thanks, I'll check it out."

She jumped and walked straight to the door.

"Yumi-chan, good luck."

"Ah, Rosa Gigantea!"

It was too late to regret her reaction, and her facial expressions.

(… What did I just do?)

She felt a bit down, but she also decided to leave that for later. Time was ticking, and the time limit of four forty was inching closer. She'd have to put introspection for later and go treasure hunting. She felt a bit proud about her ability to set priorities, this time.

When she stepped outside, that group was still there.

(?)

Without knowing what they intended, she walked toward the school buildings. And then for whatever reason, the six girls followed Yumi.

(What…?)

At first it was just a subtle shadowing. But the faster Yumi walked, the faster they began to follow, and when she jumped up the stairs they followed in full pursuit. Yumi felt like a fugitive.

As she ran around the school, she ran into Yoshino-san, who'd come running from the other way.

"Yumi-san, it looks like you've got goldfish droppings, too."

"Eh?"

Yoshino-san had a number of students chasing her, too.

"What do you mean?"

"They think we have an idea of where the card is, being the boutons' sisters. So they're probably hoping we'll lead them. A stupid strategy."

"Eek…"

Yoshino-san's explanation was quite harsh. But it was probably around the mark. Even if they wouldn't be able to get there first, they'd at least have the possibility of winning it through rock-scissors-paper. So they were banking on that probability over the probability of finding it first.

"Lose them somewhere. Otherwise you won't be able to go where you want."

Leaving such advice, Yoshino-san ran to where Yumi had come from. Then a group of students followed her like a flock of ducklings. They were probably Rei-sama fans. One of them was Yumi's classmate, and she had an onee-sama, from what Yumi remembered. But this was probably an unrelated matter. What would she do if she found the card?

(But…)

Yumi sighed, turning around and looking at her pursuit. Treasure-hunting with that sort of group would be impossible. "Losing them," as per Yoshino-san's advice, would be necessary after all. But, and this wasn't especially worth bragging about, she knew, but she wasn't very confident in her leg speed. She might be able to sprint a bit, but she had no stamina whatsoever. So in marathon festivals it was always easier to count her position from the back, not the front. In short, she didn't think she could lose them.

"Umm." Yumi decided to talk to them instead. To the fans of Sachiko-sama.

"I don't think it's worth following me around. The boutons' sisters really weren't told anything."

"Oh, we know that."

A student with thick brows – that was Yumi's first impression of her – stepped forward, perhaps being the group's leader, or perhaps just being relatively self-confident, and replied. Yumi vaguely remembered being in the same class as her once in elementary school, even if she couldn't remember her name.

"But Yumi-san must have ideas, right? At the very least, better ideas than us."

"That's not true. I have no idea where to look."

She had no idea, but she'd run because she was being chased. She'd spend all night working on chocolate, after all. She hadn't actually given this much thought.

"Oh, come now."

They just laughed it off. They'd assumed she was running because she was trying to get somewhere. Well, she was definitely not being taken lightly, that was for sure.

"Someone will probably find it as you chase me around."

It might be futile, but Yumi tried persuading them anyways."

"You're just saying that so you can go get the card after we give up, aren't you? Don't worry, go right ahead. But there's nothing preventing us from going the same direction."

"Ugh."

That's right, it was impossible talking sense to this person. The type of person who, for example, during a class meeting, might take an opposing opinion and thoroughly hammer her points down. Someone who you might get if you were to take the "wow" parts from Yoshino-san and Tsutako-san and Rosa Foetida and make a single person using those parts.

Which meant mere Yumi wouldn't be able to win an oral battle. Which left-.

"Ahh! It was there!?" With a shout, Yumi pointed toward the sanctuary.

"What!?"

The fans of Sachiko-sama jumped and turned around in surprise. And Yumi took the opportunity to run for it. The sanctuary was the other way, so they barely caught her ducking into the school buildings.

"Hey, wait!"

They shouted at once, like cops chasing an escaping criminal, and the girls started chasing Yumi. Maria-sama would be astonished at the sight. The skirts were completely disheveled.

The distance between them began shrinking. Yumi just remembered. One of the girls chasing her was the anchor for the athletics festival relay.

(I can't keep this up anymore.)

She was running around the building but her speed was dropping. She could see students laboriously searching for treasure through the open windows. That was how this was supposed to be, so why was she playing a game of cat-and-mouse like this?

(Window?)

Before Yumi could think further, she jumped through the next open window. It was just a bit higher than her heart, but she placed her hands on the sill like you would an iron bar, and jumped. She kicked her feet, tangled with her dress, forced herself to tumble forward, and somehow made it through.

"The window! She went through the window!"

She could hear shouts outside.

She had no time to rest. She closed the window she'd tumbled through and locked it. Luckily she'd tumbled into the student bathroom, so this was the only window in. The only way they'd catch up would be for them to enter the building through a different entrance and then track her down again.

Clatterclatterclatterclatterclatter.

She heard the window being shaken for some time after that. Of the fifteen private rooms, two were being used. And one student jumped out from one shouting, "What's going on!?" Yumi recognized her, it was Katsura-san.

"Yumi-san, what're you doing?"

Katsura-san, relieved that something crazy wasn't happening, went back to flush the toilet, then spoke as she washed her hands.

"… Tag, I guess?"

Yumi didn't really know what she was doing, either.

"Treasure?"

"Not yet."

Finally, the window stopped rattling. Yumi peeked outside.

There was no one in sight. If she took too much time here, they would come in through other means and catch her.

"There we go!"

Yumi unlocked and opened the window. She felt this was a safer route than going through the hallway.

"-Yumi-san?"

Katsura-san didn't see her come in, so she was watching with her eyes widened.

"When I go out, could you lock the window, please? Oh, and could you also keep me going out this way a secret?'

"… Umm, sure."

If the window was locked, then they'd probably not think she'd have left this way, so it'd buy her some time. But she didn't have the time to explain to Katsura-san.

"Well, see you later."

Flutter.

This was the second time, so she made it out more smoothly. Although the ground was closer outside, so when she tumbled out she hit her legs on the ground, and it hurt a bit.

For now, she decided to get away from the building, and hid herself in the tree shades in the back. She didn't want to stand out.

(Now, what to do.)

She looked at her wristwatch. Four twenty-five. She'd unexpectedly spent precious time. What was Yoshino-san doing?

Considering the time needed to get back to the Rose Mansion, she had ten minutes. She'd have to find the card in ten minutes to be the winner. That meant she couldn't check around.

One place, maybe two at most. No, she should concentrate her efforts on one place.

(If Sachiko-sama were to hide something-)

Yumi thought.

Would someone hide something in a place completely irrelevant to them? It wasn't like she was hiding a number of things, she was hiding a single card.

Shizuka-sama mentioned that. She mentioned how if she were doing the hiding, she'd use either the music room or the library.

This treasure-hunt had no hints. No, the one hint was the person doing the hiding.

Sachiko-sama wasn't a part of any club. She wasn't part of any committee. Compared to Rei-sama and Shimako-san, the places she frequented was limited.

Her classroom, or the Rose Mansion.

But the classroom was off limits. And the Rose Mansion had Shimako-san's card. Would Sachiko-sama hide her card there, too?

She opened the map that she'd folded into her pocket and looked at it. At the back of the school grounds, the second gymnasium and the martial arts building were both open. Rei-sama's card might be in the martial arts building. No, she wasn't that simple.

(If I were to hide it-)

Like Sachiko-sama, Yumi wasn't a part of any club or committee. It was impudent to use herself as a test case, but she was willing to grasp at any straw.

(If it was me.)

Then I'd want Sachiko-sama to find it. Even if that were impossible, she'd want to get that feeling across.

Where the two of them spent time together.

(There.)

Yumi found where she'd hide it. She ran in a straight line.

She couldn't think of any other place. If Sachiko-sama was trying to send Yumi a message-.

The old greenhouse came into her sights.

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