Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume15 Chapter3 1

Friend's Affection and Onee-sama. Part 1

White, purple, yellow, pink, green, red.

Under their respective flags, the young girls wearing matching colored headbands stood in rows in the center of the track.

The school principal's opening remarks.

The team captains' pledge.

Then radio calisthenics.

It wasn't just the athletics festival, any event, once it started, ran non-stop. While it was happening, those involved were completely absorbed by it, so they didn't have time to worry about how they were feeling, or their body, or the time.

Supposing it were possible to put a numeric value to enjoyment, then they'd probably have to get 7 or 8 out of 10 enjoyment points from the preparation for the event, in order to get a sense of accomplishment out of it.

The family seating area was on the outside of the track, near the curve, and it was so jam packed that it seemed like they should put out, "Thanks for the full house," banners, like they did at sporting events. There were so many that there were still plenty of parents standing and watching even after the teachers had offered up half of their area.

Just as Yumi was exiting the stage, she felt as nervous as she did on parent's visiting day, and glanced into the family seats. Although they were seats in name only – her parents were in that crowd, sitting on a plastic groundsheet. Her eyes jumped to her conspicuous father, who was holding a camera and waving happily. Yumi quickly turned away.

Why did she feel so embarrassed by seeing her family at school? She thought about this as she hurried to the green team's area, but it didn't look like that riddle would be solved any time soon.

The students' barracking area was also on the outside of the track, but they were on the straight.

It was roped off into six blocks, one for each team, on a hill that sloped gently upwards towards the back. There were nylon sheets spread about, but they weren't separated by grade, so all the students in the team mixed freely together.

At the back stood large signboards, emphasizing their team color.

It didn't end with the signboards, the teams worked hard to ensure they had color-coordinated groundsheets, megaphones, folding fans, and the like. Although, not all items came in every color, so some of the teams had to dye or stick colored paper over some of their things.

Now then.

The first event was the first-years' mandatory participation "Ball Rolling Race."

This is slightly different to the more commonly known "Giant Ball Rolling Race."

The track was split into thirds, with ping-pong balls being followed by tennis balls, and then basketballs. The giant balls were waiting for them to return to the start line, at which point they would be rolled around the track – basically, it was a relay.

Last year, Yumi's cohort had found the ping-pong balls surprisingly difficult to roll. Since "roll" was in the name, the rules stated that the ball had to roll along the ground. They were allowed to use their feet, so they kicked them along using a soccer dribbling technique – except for the giant balls, which required two to three people to move. So another name might be the "Ball Kicking Race."

The four-ball cycle was run six times, with teams awarded from 25 to 5 points based on their order of arrival.

"Take your marks, get set … "

The pistol went off with a bang and the lead runners took off.

The balls were painted with the team colors, but because they were ping-pong balls it was impossible to see them from the spectators' seats. They could tell who to cheer for because of the color of their headband and the sash the runners wore.

Ping-pong balls are light. So when they kicked them, they rolled further than expected. Sometimes they'd lose sight of their ball, and inadvertently kick a different one, furthering the progress of some other team, and these repeated accidents made it fun to watch the ping-pong ball race.

Even though she knew she had to support the green team, Yumi's gaze kept straying to the red team.

Noriko-chan, Touko-chan, and Kanako-chan – the first-years she was familiar with were concentrated in the camellia class, so her eyes were always drawn to their location.

It was the fourth lap that had her palms sweating. Touko-chan was on stand-by at a ping-pong ball, Noriko-chan a tennis ball, and Kanako-chan a basketball.

At that point, the yellow team was in first, pink in second, purple in third, red in fourth, and green in fifth. The white team being in last place was a bit of a surprise – earlier they had been fighting it out for the lead, but a wayward kick sent their ball off course into the family seating area and they'd lost a lot of time looking for it.

The red team completed the third lap with their giant ball and passed the sash to Touko-chan, who started the fourth lap.

Touko-chan carefully kicked the ping-pong ball, using the instep of her sneaker.

Rolling lightly and then stopping.

It was a painstaking task, because she'd lose everything if it went flying too far.

Kick! Roll, roll, roll, kick! Roll, roll, roll.

By maintaining a good tempo, the green team steadily gained on her.

"Go for it!"

As she shouted out her support, Yumi wondered just who it was she was cheering on. The green team's first-year, or the red team's Touko-chan?

Yumi terminated that line of thought immediately. In the unlikely event it was the latter, she'd be making an enemy of every single person in the green team's section.

"Say, don't you think Touko-chan's usually more forceful?"

Yoshino-san said idly. Yumi thought she was right. Discovering this unexpected side of Touko-chan may have been a byproduct of the athletics festival.

In the end, she was overtaken by the green team before handing the sash over to Noriko-chan. But Noriko-chan looked to dispel her good friend's regret with a single kick.

"Ohhh …. "

Powerful and accurate, she kicked the ball so it would land in a good position to run to.

"Look at Noriko-chan go."

Kicking the ball hard meant it went further faster, but there was more risk too. The ball could hit one of the runners up ahead and go off track, or bounce off in an unexpected direction, resulting in an unrecoverable loss of time.

But Noriko-chan wasn't worried about that as she vigorously kicked the ball. Her control was perfect.

When she got close to the green team, she switched strategy to dribbling the ball and gradually shortened the distance between them.

Moving with no superfluous actions.

Her footwork made it look like she was making all sorts of instantaneous calculations as she moved.

Distance, speed, time, angle, friction … Yumi wasn't quite sure, but it looked like various math and physics formula were flitting around her.

In the end, Noriko-chan caught up to the green team and handed the sash over to Kanako-chan with a narrow body-length lead.

But, when it came to Kanako-chan. She took off, and flew. She didn't bother with control, and when the ball went a long way off course she caught up to it and righted its trajectory, but she never slowed down.

Cheers rang out from around the ground.

The conspicuously tall young lady flew around the track, not worrying about the people ahead of her, or how she looked.

Yumi turned to follow what most of the cheering was about, and saw the purple team's runner momentarily stop as she was overwhelmed by the force with which the red team overtook her.

One down, then a second, then a third, before the sash was handed over. In other words, Kanako-chan had single-handedly taken the red team from fourth all the way to the front.

"… Incredible."

As Yumi looked on in amazement from the green team's area, Mami-san quietly scooted over and whispered, "The red team's secret weapon, huh? What's really going on, Yumi-san?"

"With what?"

"Is she going to be your soeur, or not?"

" – I've told you already."

Yumi was about to add, "That she said no," but stopped. If the green team's final score was lower than the red teams, and Kanako-chan said, "Please make me your soeur," then what would she do? Even Yumi didn't know the answer to that.

Yumi pondered this as she sat on the floor grasping her knees, when Sachiko-sama's voice came from overhead.

"Yumi. That's enough chatting, it's almost time for you to go. The second-years are up next."

"Ah, right."

Yumi stood up and turned around, and there was her onee-sama wearing her cheer-leading outfit.

"Oooooh."

""Ooooh"?"

Sachiko-sama raised an eyebrow, unable to discern the meaning of Yumi's utterance.

"Onee-sama, you look so dashing … !"

"Really?"

Sachiko-sama nimbly raised a hand and spun around, modeling the outfit. Her expression showing that she wasn't too dissatisfied.

A traditional boys uniform, made from cloth the same color as the Lillian uniform, white gloves, a green headband that was significantly longer than the regular ones, topped off with a tight sash in the same color as the headband. There were a handful of third-years in the same outfit, but none of them wore it as well as Sachiko-sama. Of course, Yumi was well aware that that was a "petite soeur's folly" … but it had to be said.

"I was completely disinterested when it was first decided. But when I say you wearing one at the Hanadera school festival, I thought maybe it wouldn't be too bad."

"Yeah, it looks good on you, Rosa Chinensis. Us second-years will do our best to live up to the expectations of the third-year onee-samas cheering us on."

Mami-san said, after bowing. Then she grabbed Yumi by the scruff of the neck and practically dragged her over to the entry gate.

"I know you're so very reluctant to part, but you can run back to your beloved onee-sama as soon as the "Ball Escape" is over."

"But then it's the third-years' "Ball Toss.""

They would trade places as participants with the third-years, so even though they were in the same team they couldn't have a leisurely chat because they were in different grades. On top of that, Sachiko-sama was one of their cheerleaders, so when she was in the green team's seating area, she was at the front, on standby.

"… You two really are close, aren't you."

Mami-san said, sounding honestly amazed.

Incidentally, the athletics festival always started with the three ball events, "Ball Rolling Race," "Ball Escape," and "Ball Toss," to get the ball rolling, so to speak.

The second-years had already started assembling into their teams near the entry gate.

"You're late."

Yoshino-san was already waiting there and looked up angrily. Even though she said they were late, the first-years hadn't finished exiting the oval yet, so their tardiness probably didn't warrant that level of anger – as Yumi stood there looking confused, Tsutako-san drew close and whispered in her ear.

"The princess has been in a foul mood for a little while now."

"Do you know what caused it?"

"All sorts of things, from what I can tell."

"All sorts of things, huh."

Yumi glanced at the scoreboard.

From the "Ball Rolling Race," the green team was second from the bottom, in fifth place. But the red team, their rivals for the wooden spoon, had slowly dropped back after Kanako-chan and finished fourth, so it wasn't too bad, all things considered.

"Have you seen Rei-chan's outfit?"

Yoshino-san muttered abruptly, sounding subdued.

"Huh? No, not yet."

They'd walked behind the yellow team's supporter area, but she hadn't had time to look around because she was being pulled along by Mami-san.

"It's like, geeze."

Yumi thought, "So that's it?"

She wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like Yoshino-san was irritated with Rei-sama. And since she couldn't vent to her directly, her irritation built up inside, so she was getting upset over minor things – like, for example, her classmates being slow to arrive.

"And Sachiko-sama? You must have seen her, right?"

"Yep."

Yumi nodded. She was probably referring to her boys' uniform outfit.

"Your onee-sama looks stylish, but my Rei-chan is, my Rei-chan is, my Rei-chan is – "

A broken record, is usually how her actions would be described. If left alone, she'd just keep repeating that over and over.

"What does she look like?"

Yumi threw Yoshino-san a lifeline. And then.

"Like she's partying at a canary carnivale."

"C-canary?"

– Yumi asked, but she'd already concluded that Yoshino-san must have been speaking about those familiar little birds that were good singers. Rei-sama's team color was yellow, after all. But she'd never heard the combination of canary and carnivale before now.

She turned her head towards the yellow team's supporter area, wondering what that looked like, but Yoshino-san grabbed her head and firmly turned it back.

"Don't look."

"Huh?"

"Show some warrior's compassion, please, Yumi-dono. At the very least, don't look in front of me."

Well, if she was willing to go that far, there was no way Yumi could look. As a warrior, no, as a friend, she had compassion, but frankly speaking, Yoshino-san's retaliation after being wronged was terrifying.

"Here, Yumi-san, Yoshino-san."

A large basket was passed to them. Inside were soft, spongy balls, about the size of a tennis ball, which were wrapped in a cloth of their team color, and easy to hold in one hand.

Yumi took four and passed the basket along.

Yoshino-san took some too. Mami-san and Tsutako-san were already holding some. The basket was passed around, as most of the people were on the "throwers" side.

So then, since it was called, "Ball Escape," just who would be escaping?

That would be three people per class. Those chosen for this role were the tall, the fast, the quick-witted and agile. The duty of those chosen was to carry a basket upon their back and fly, with single-minded devotion, to escape the balls.

In contrast, those on Yumi's side had to pursue the enemy, with single minded devotion, in order to get their balls into the opposition's baskets. Ultimately, the team with the fewest balls in their baskets was the winner.

Having completed the "Ball Rolling" race, the first-years left the oval. This was followed by the second-years entering the oval, so they could perform the "Ball Escape." Their game used the full area inside the track. The teams arranged themselves as though they were protecting their basket carriers and waited for the start.

"We're attacking the red team. Got it?"

Yoshino-san instructed her nearby teammates.

"At any rate, we won't be bombarded by the teams looking to win. Since we're in last place, with hardly any points."

Just earlier she had been like a warrior, but now Yoshino-san had transformed into a military tactician.

"I suppose you're right."

"Okay."

The classmates nodded along with what she was saying, but all strategy would be out the window once it started. They all knew that.

It would be chaos, with all six teams mixed together. Spotting who had the baskets would be difficult, and not long after it started the grounds would be transformed into a battlefield with balls flying every which way. – They'd already experienced this in practice.

"It's starting."

The sound of a pistol roared. With that cue, multicolored balls started flying from every direction.

The balls were light, which meant they didn't travel as far as expected. So the most effective tactic was to get as close to the target as possible.

For defense, they wanted to surround their basket carriers with teammates, to block any balls thrown at them and drastically lower the chances that a ball would get into the basket.

But, if they were defending, they couldn't attack. And if they were attacking, they couldn't defend. That dilemma was part of the game.

"Ooh, that's not fair."

Yoshino-san spotted something and cried out, as she defended the green team's basket alongside Yumi.

"The purple team has Shimako-san carrying the basket."

Yumi looked where she was pointing and, sure enough, there was Shimako-san looking flustered as she ran carrying a basket. However.

"Why's that not fair?"

Yumi asked, and Yoshino-san answered as she swatted away an incoming ball.

"Have you ever heard of Shimako-san being a fast runner? Or incredibly tall? Is she nimble, like a dancing mouse? If anything, she's like an old cat, sunning itself on the porch. And yet they made her take that role, how pathetic."

"…"

Yumi thought it was far more pathetic that someone would talk that way.

"Don't you get it? You couldn't say Shimako-san is qualified to do that even as flattery, so there's only one reason that they asked her to carry the basket. The majesty of Rosa Gigantea."

"Majesty?"

"When you go to throw the ball, you might momentarily hesitate, thinking you might hit Shimako-san. That's what the purple team is aiming for."

"But it's a tactic, isn't it?"

Yumi didn't really understand how it was different to Yoshino-san saying they were going to exclusively target the red team, but, at any rate, it looked like the basket attached to Shimako-san's back had raised Yoshino-san's ire.

"I'm heading out."

"Huh!?"

"I'm not going to hold back against Shimako-san."

Immediately after saying that, Yoshino-san dashed off towards the purple team's basket.

Hold on, Yoshino-san. What about our tactic of targeting the red team?

But even if Yumi were to call out to her, Yoshino-san was the reckless sort of person that wouldn't stop.

Seeing no other choice, Yumi joined in the attack on the red team. Since her height wasn't anything to boast about, perhaps she'd be better suited to finding a gap in the enemy's defenses instead of protecting her allies.

On the way, she picked up some balls from on the ground. Turning up the shirttail of her sports uniform made a pouch that held a surprising number of them. The balls were all color-coded, but that didn't matter for the game itself. The game was scored by the number of balls in the basket, so they didn't bother checking who was throwing which colored ball. So she picked them all up, even those that weren't green. Throwing with all her might. Sharing the balls she'd picked up with her classmates, they aimed for the red team's basket. Only that.

Not because of Yoshino-san's tactic – Yumi's enemy was the red team. Since Kanako-chan had taken it so seriously, Yumi had to respond with all her strength too. She felt as though that was a way of showing her sincerity, or something along those lines.

While she was absorbed in the game, the ending pistol rang. Looking around once it was all over, there was no vestige remaining of the camps that had protected the baskets. It looked like everyone that had been on defense suddenly surged towards the enemy camps when the time limit drew near.

Then they started counting out the number of balls that had been gathered in each team's baskets.

"One, two."

Everyone counted as the balls from the baskets were tossed into the air. Since the goal was to have the lowest number, the team that ran out of balls first was the winner.

"Seventy-eight, seventy-nine."

Compared to the relay and similar races, being fast didn't give as much of an advantage, so there wasn't going to be a difference of 30 or 40. Typically, the difference between first and last was less than 20.

"Eighty-five, eighty-six."

The first team to run out of balls was, surprisingly, Yumi's green team. Followed closely by the red team, the white team, the pink team, and then the purple team.

"What's this? The yellow team, that's generally considered the favorite to take overall victory, has come in last place? What an upset."

The student commentating called out from the broadcast booth. Even though they still had some balls still visible in their basket.

"It's tough to be the favorite."

Mami-san mumbled as she watched the balls being tossed into the clear sky, one after the other.

"They become every team's target. Since they can't match them in the other events."

"And you published the rankings in the "Lillian Kawaraban" knowing this?"

As Yumi asked in surprise, the balls kept flying out of the yellow team's basket. One hundred.

"Of course. Those out in front deserve a handicap, don't you think?"

Mami-san nodded.

So in that case, the green team may have won the "Ball Escape" because none of the other teams saw them as a threat.

"I'm not sure whether to feel happy about that or not."

"Since we went unchecked and got the best score, other teams are going to start targeting us. Things are about to get interesting."

"Hey … "

"Don't worry. If they take a moment to look at the situation, our true strength will be evident. They'll quickly realize it was a fluke."

"…"

Those words of consolation weren't particularly comforting.

The yellow basket was finally empty. The scoreboard was updated to include their results and the order to exit the oval was given.

As the students clumped up to exit through the gates, Yumi ran into Shimako-san. When asked her impressions as one of the basket carriers, she had only one thing to say.

"Yoshino-san was scary."

– Right.