Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume15 Chapter3 2

Friend's Affection and Onee-sama. Part 2

The third-years took the place of the second-years, for their "Ball Toss" game – which was played in the conventional style.

The teams' baskets were each fastened to a pole, and they had to throw balls into their own basket. In contrast to the "Ball Escape," the winning team was the one with the most balls in their basket. Naturally, the balls were beanbags.

"Hey, doesn't it seem like the third-years have it easy?"

Yoshino-san said, as she played with the cheerleading props nearby. They were encamped right at the front of the spectators area. She was comparing the third ball game to the previous two, where the first and second-years had run themselves ragged.

"Yeah, I suppose."

Indeed, since all they had to do in the "Ball Toss" was stand beneath their basket and toss the beanbags upwards, it didn't seem like it would burn all that much energy.

"It's fine. The third-years are retired, after all."

Tsutako-san said, suddenly appearing behind them.

"What?"

Yoshino-san looked a bit sullen at this defense of the third-years. Yumi had thought that Yoshino-san would have sweated out at least some of her stress, but it looked like her bad mood still persisted.

"Well, when you're a third-year, you've got a lot to deal with."

As she said this, Tsutako-san reached deep into the cardboard box of supporter gear and pulled out her personal camera.

"What do you mean, a lot to deal with?"

"Like choosing a course for priority entrance, or entrance exams, or getting ready to study abroad, or job hunting. It's a lot. With all this going on, they're usually exhausted most days, so it'd be kind of pathetic if we didn't show them some compassion."

After saying this, Tsutako-san quickly excused herself and left. By the looks of things, she had only come over to retrieve her camera.

Tsutako-san usually kept her camera close at hand, but not even she would walk around taking photos during their game. It seemed like she could have left her camera with someone on the green team in a different grade, but since the morning games were mandatory and ran one after the other, there was no-one that would stay in the supporters area for the whole duration.

For any valuables that hadn't been left in the staff room, the school wouldn't do anything even if they went missing. But it went without saying that if she left her camera in the staff room, she wouldn't be able to go back and get it easily.

The camera was valuable. But she wanted to take photographs.

As a last resort, it looked like she'd imitated a dog hiding its treasure, and buried her prized camera deep in the box of supporter gear. Having quickly dug up her camera, she was now flitting around everywhere, taking photos of the third-year's game. This was Tsutako-san at her most animated.

"Planning their future, huh."

Yumi muttered as she watched the ball-toss game. Basically, she was saying that the third-years were retirees and normally exhausted.

"What's Sachiko-sama doing after graduation?"

Yoshino-san asked, picking up on Yumi's comment.

"I haven't asked."

After responding, Yumi returned the question.

"How about Rei-sama?"

"You haven't heard that she's going to Lillian Women's University? She decided on it a long time ago."

"Really? Lucky you."

"If you've got the time to sit there and say, "Lucky you," then why don't you hurry up and ask? In a lot of cases, you'll lose your chance if you just fritter away the time without asking. Like with the role for our school festival play."

"Ooooh, don't say that."

She hurriedly covered her ears. For Yumi, their school festival play had recently become an unmentionable topic. Well, that was a matter for the future, so she set it aside for now.

"It'll be an even bigger shock if you only find out at the last minute that she's applying to other universities."

"I know … but."

She could postpone the shock by not asking.

"Good grief. Why are you so passive when it comes to Sachiko-sama? She's your onee-sama, you have to meet her head-on."

"… Yeah."

But, regardless of whether she asked or not, Sachiko-sama had probably already decided upon her path. So the matter of losing time that could never be recovered was only an issue for Yumi's heart.

The green beanbags sprung up into the sky, like water from a water fountain.

White too, and yellow, purple, pink, and of course red.

This continuously boiling water of beanbags was Yumi's anguished heart.

Sachiko-sama had been at Lillian from kindergarten all the way through to high-school. Yumi's baseless expectation was that this would continue on to university.

But, no matter how much she might wish for this, life didn't have to conform to her desires.

Sachiko-sama's father often went overseas, so she may even have chosen a foreign university.

Onee-sama, what are you planning on doing after graduation?

It was merely a short question, but it would clear everything up in an instant.

The main point was that this wasn't the first time she'd lacked courage. Yumi was well aware of this, without Yoshino-san having to point it out.

Bang, bang.

As soon as the pistol rang out, the various colored water fountains disappeared.

Each team's basket was lowered and the count began.

"One. Two. Three."

Since the teams couldn't impede each other, the "Ball Toss" game was more a measure of their ability. In the end, Rei-sama and her yellow teammates had given it their all and achieved first place, making up for their previous crushing defeat in a single event. Unfortunately, the green team finished in fifth place. Was this a measure of their true strength? Although, using phrases like "true strength" in relation to the "Ball Toss" game felt a bit strange.

"That's so annoying. How did we come fifth after throwing so many of them?"

Sachiko-sama grumbled, after returning to the green team's area.

The response, "Well, that would be because the other teams got more beanbags in their baskets," was almost out of Yumi's mouth before she managed to hold it back. Since her onee-sama was not expecting any sort of response.

She was merely frustrated by losing, so she had to say something to someone or she wouldn't be able to calm down. So at times like these, it was important to listen and not say anything.

"On my way back here, I ran into Rei, looking triumphant. Ah, it makes me so mad. We have to turn it around, and triumph over them somehow."

"That's right, onee-sama. Please bring us back in the "Centipede Race.""

"We could. We should. We shall."

Sachiko-sama said, as though she were practicing verb conjugations, then clapped her hands together. Then, looking like she'd completely recovered, she put her boy's uniform costume on over her PE clothes and joined the other cheerleaders.

Hurray, Huray, Gree-ee-een.

Bang, bang, ba-ba-bang, bang, ba-ba-bang.

"Yumi-san, you've completely become Sachiko-sama's parent."

Yoshino-san teased, but in her heart, Yumi thought, "Maybe she's right." After all, she felt she'd become quite proficient at handling Sachiko-sama when she was sulking or hysterical.

And yet, she couldn't ask about the most crucial topic.

When she saw her onee-sama's happily smiling face, she just wanted to stay like that for a little while longer, and not think about any difficult matters.

On the oval, the first-year's massed calisthenics performance was starting.

The V-shaped Boat pose, the T-shaped Warrior III.

Supported handstand.

Folding fan pose.

Two-level pyramid.

It may have been called group gymnastics, but it was by no means acrobatic. Even so, each time they changed poses a round of applause bubbled up from the visitor's seats and from the supporters.

Fweee, fw-fwe.

The sound of the whistle was refreshing.

To call it an intermission would be rude, but there were no points attached to it, so the performers moved in a relaxed manner and the audience were at ease as they watched.

Kanako-chan, Touko-chan, and Noriko-chan were all there in the sea of first-years.

They may have been carrying all sorts of burdens in their hearts, but for this single moment, all the first-years were acting as one. Yumi was overjoyed by this thought.

Since it meant the athletics festival wasn't just a competition. There was another side to it, of banding together and working towards a common cause.

The group gymnastics came to an end, to a round of applause from everyone – a massive success.

Checking her schedule, the team cheerleading contest was up next.

"First up is the red team's cheerleaders."

The red team bubbled with excitement at this announcement, and three students clad in red dresses crossed over the rope fence from the supporters area and burst onto the track. They clasped bright red flowers between their lips and held castanets in their hands. The other students were also holding the same small instruments.

The red team's theme this year was "Carmen."

The cheerleaders danced nimbly to the sound of a guitar, as they led the rest of the students in clapping to the beat.

"Olé!"

They finished the performance by throwing the flowers they had held between their lips up into the air. On closer inspection, the flowers weren't roses but plastic camellias. That made sense, the red team was made up of the camellia classes.

"Up next is the green team."

For the cheerleading contest, the teams went in order from last to first. Sachiko-sama and the rest of the boys-uniform squad stood in a line on the track. Standing with their feet shoulder-width apart and their hands behind their backs. Their spines straight, brave and imposing.

As they'd arranged, Yumi moved to the front, in the cheerleaders' seats, and waited next to a taiko drum. Yoshino-san was also on stand-by, a short distance away.

"Hooray."

The center cheerleader raised her right arm.

"Hooray."

This time it was the left arm.

"Gree-ee-een, go."

With that as their signal, the entire green team shouted, "Hooray, hooray, green. Hooray, hooray, green," and clapped to the beat.

Yumi beat the taiko drum as hard as she could, in time with the hand movements of Sachiko-sama and the other cheerleaders – thump, thump, thump-thump-thump – while Yoshino-san waved the flag furiously.

The 3-3-7 beat continued. The five girls in boy's uniforms took out folding fans and led the others. The folding fans were, of course, green in color.

It was an orthodox cheering style, but the way they nailed all the important details was incredibly cool.

Yumi hoped she'd be in the green team next year, so she could lead the cheering in a boy's uniform like her onee-sama. It was a well established tradition that the green team's cheerleaders wore boy's uniforms, so there must have been a lot of second-years that felt the same as Yumi throughout the years.

After the green team was the pink team.

Their theme this year, "Momotarou," was written on large signs. Since they were from the peach (momo) classes – it was rather straightforward.

It may have seemed like they'd have Momotarou and his followers – a dog, a monkey, and a pheasant – but instead they had three Momotarous. Their followers were in the stands.

After putting on their cardboard masks, a whole bunch of dogs, monkeys, and pheasants started calling out in unison, "Momotarou-san, Momotarou-san." Hearing this, the Momotarous called out, "Now let's vanquish those demons," and menaced the yellow, white, and purple teams with their folding fans.

It went without saying that the three teams they were likening to demons were those ahead of them. But this didn't anger any of the targeted teams, instead they seemed to find it amusing. In second-to-last place, it really hit home to Yumi how much more annoying it was to be ignored at times like this.

After the pink team it was the white team's turn.

Their theme was "Angels." – At least, that's what they said, but since their wings were attached to their arms and not their backs, it made them look more like doves than anything else. Still, even though they were cheering, those wings were an unexpected display of skill. All they had to do was raise their arms slightly and the wings would flutter in a very eye-catching manner. It was hard to describe the spectacle of five winged doves leading a 3-3-7 cheer. …. No, they were really angels though.

Following them was the purple team with the kabuki dance, "Fuji Musume."

"Oh?"

The cheerleading squad was usually made up of third-years, but wasn't that the second-year Shimako-san right in the middle of them?

"… They even sweet-talked her into doing this?"

Yoshino-san groaned, with her arms folded. It went without saying that Shimako-san was Rosa Gigantea. A perfect fit for a leadership position.

"But their theme is Fuji Musume, so doesn't it make sense that she's there? Shimako-san's a master of traditional dance, after all."

"But they could have picked Fuji Musume because Shimako-san's there."

"Hmm."

Which came first, Shimako-san or Fuji Musume? The chicken or the egg?

"It feels like it was a more complicated decision than which came first."

Shimako-san danced brilliantly, with a branch of purple wisteria draped across her shoulder, and completely oblivious to her good friends' gossiping. They'd heard that the kimono was simply machine sewn from cheap cotton, but from a distance it looked like a fine long-sleeved kimono. The hand-made traditional conical hat was also quite the sight.

The ground sighed in admiration at the beguiling dance of the young ladies.

Now then, the last to go was the yellow team.

Yumi had made an effort not to look at Rei-sama because of Yoshino-san's plea, but it would be impossible not to see her in the cheer contest.

Tweee-twe-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-twee-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-twee-tweee-twee.

Suddenly, a cheerful whistle rang out, and Rei-sama and the other cheerleaders entered onto the track in their showy yellow costumes. Their bodies shook energetically, in time with the upbeat samba rhythm.

"Canary … "

The sleeves, made up of many layers of frills, really did resemble the feathers of a canary.

Canary, certainly. Which made "Canary Carnivale" the perfect phrase.

" – right."

Yoshino-san couldn't bear to look at it any longer. She was staring straight at the ground and waiting it out, no doubt hoping it would end soon.

"I don't think it's that bad."

Rei-sama was enjoying it. Their whole team was getting excited by the latin beats. Because they were men's costumes, they were certainly evocative of carnivale, but they didn't show any skin at all.

"You can only say that because it's not your onee-sama, Yumi-san."

"M-maybe you're right."

"I am. Just try to imagine it."

Yoshino-san said. In other words, try to picture Sachiko-sama in a fluttering yellow blouse, shaking her body as she danced around.

So Yumi made an honest attempt to picture this scene. But no matter how she tried, she just couldn't see it. Instead, the scene that popped into her mind was her onee-sama throwing away the costume, saying, "There's no way I could wear something like this."

Yes, indeed.

Yumi glanced at her onee-sama in her boy's uniform outfit and thought that that outcome seemed far more likely.

Tweee-twe-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-twee-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-tweee-twee, tweee-twe-twee-tweee-twee.

The Canary Carnivale was still going on.