Maria-sama ga Miteru:Volume15 Chapter3 4

Friend's Affection and Onee-sama. Part 4

"It's only a five point difference."

Yoshino-san grumbled, looking at the scoreboard.

"It may only be five points, but a win is still a win."

Sachiko-sama declared, after hearing Yoshino-san.

While it was good that they were winning now, did she understand that those words would be thrown back at her if they ended up losing by a slim margin?

No, this was Sachiko-sama, so it felt like she'd know this but still coolly disregard it.

Something like, "So you think a five point difference is a victory, what a laugh."

"Can the participants in the club relay please move to the track entrance gates."

Now it was time for the jewel of the morning, the club relay.

The race was between six clubs, with six members each participating in a relay that went two laps of the oval. The six clubs had won through via qualifying races, which had been held prior to today.

First up were the cultural clubs. Apologies to them, but compared to the sports clubs, these tended to add an element of levity to the proceedings. Instead of a baton, they ran with a small prop that symbolized their club.

For instance, the rakugo club ran with a folding fan.

The art club with a paintbrush.

The flower arrangement club with a flower.

The brass band with a clarinet.

The handicraft club with a wooden ruler that was used in traditional dressmaking – or so they said.

"Oh, why aren't you down there, Mami-san?"

The teams made their way on to the field as they were announced. In lane six was the "Lillian Kawaraban," the school's newspaper club. They were using a rolled up newspaper as their baton.

"I passed. I just don't have the stamina. It's better for everyone if I stay here and take notes on the relay."

Since they'd made it through the preliminary heat without Mami-san, the other team members must at least be decent. And even though she should be retired at this point, the third-year Tsukiyama Minako-sama was on the team – perhaps having to make up the numbers.

"Then why were you on the athletics festival organizing committee?"

"By being on the committee, I could make sure I wasn't chosen for any events."

"Hoho."

That was a good point.

"I'm on the committee, but I'm still participating."

Yoshino-san cut in, sounding bored. Against her better judgment, Yoshino-san ended up being chosen to participate in the athletics festival's final event, the team relay.

"That's your fault for not saying you couldn't do it."

Oh my, that Mami-san was quite the critic.

"Pfft."

And Yoshino-san was easy to understand. Having this pointed out to her, she'd get violent … at any rate, Yoshino-san was losing her temper rather easily today. Why could that be?

"L-look, Yoshino-san. They're about to start."

Yumi-san tried to distract her, pointing at the track.

"I know that already, geeze."

Yoshino-san ran her fingers through her bangs.

"Of course I know that. You don't think I've thought about that?"

"… Huh?"

"Right. After all, it's my own fault for not saying I couldn't do it."

What Yumi saw hidden on the other side of a deep sigh was regret, mixed with some self-loathing.

"But it's too late to back down now."

It seemed like Yoshino-san was talking about something else altogether.

Ready, set.

With the bang of the starter's pistol ringing out, Yoshino-san started to speak about that matter, little by little. She said that she'd made a reckless promise.

When Yumi heard, "reckless promise," she was momentarily startled. Because the promise she'd made with Kanako-chan briefly crossed her mind.

"So who's it with? This promise. Is it Rei-sama?"

Yumi asked, lowering her voice a little.

"No."

Yoshino-san shook her head.

"Torii Eriko-sama."

"Eriko-sama … ah!"

Yumi covered her mouth with her hand, to stifle her shout. However, Yumi's voice was swallowed up in a sudden cheering of voices, so she didn't stand out at all. Sachiko-sama had already moved away, and the sharp-eared Mami-san was cheering on the newspaper club's relay team with all her might, so hadn't noticed the two boutons having a secretive conversation. A fiercely fought back-and-forth contest was unfolding on the track.

"Did you meet her too, Yumi-san?"

Yoshino-san continued their interrupted conversation.

"No. I didn't meet her, so much as see her in the distance … you know?"

Her "someone" from earlier was Eriko-sama.

Yumi had only seen her from a distance, and she hadn't been wearing a school uniform, so she hadn't immediately recognized her.

Hearing Yoshino-san say, "Eriko-sama," just now had convinced her. That it had undoubtedly been Eriko-sama.

"Right. So she only appeared in front of me, like I thought."

The way Yoshino-san said this made it sound like she was being visited by a ghost.

"I thought everything had been settled when she graduated. I guess we're going to be lifelong rivals after all."

"Rivals? You and Eriko-sama?"

"That's right. Who else would it be? She stands on the other side, with Rei-chan between us."

"–"

Well, for Eriko-sama, it was probably more of a curiosity.

Naturally, Rei-sama had a lot of fans at school, but by and large they weren't Yoshino-san's enemies. Yoshino-san and Rei-sama were blood relatives, had known each other for seventeen years, and their homes were so close that they practically lived together, which meant that none of those fans could ever compete.

But there was one person. Eriko-sama was the sole exception.

Just by being Rei-sama's onee-sama, Eriko-sama could unconditionally order Rei-sama around. Someone that could freely move "Yoshino's Rei-chan." There was no way that Yoshino-san would allow there to be someone like that other than herself.

"So when did you meet Eriko-sama?"

Yumi asked. In the relay race, the batons were being handed off to the second runners.

"It was pretty early. Before the "Ball Escape," I think. She called out to me as I was heading to the entry gate."

"I see."

That would explain why Yoshino-san had been in a foul mood all this time.

Yoshino-san was aware that the promise she'd made to Eriko-sama was reckless. Then she'd probably fallen into an equivalently large pit of self-loathing. So it was no surprise that her irritation peaked when Rei-sama's carefree "Canary Carnivale" jumped into her field of view.

The causes of Yoshino-san's irritation were numerous. But it seemed like there were also many emotions mixed in with it that she couldn't put into words.

"So, what did you promise?"

"A petite soeur introduction."

Yoshino-san looked off into the distance as she played with the front of her headband. She said it with so little emotion that Yumi thought she'd misheard and asked, "Whose?"

"Mine. To Eriko-sama."

Yoshino-san would introduce the petite soeur. And the other person was Eriko-sama. – Yumi tried to arrange it into a complete sentence. When she did, ohhh how wonderful. A piece of information that she'd never heard about suddenly sprang to light.

"… Congratulations. Who's your partner?"

"There isn't one. Come on Yumi-san, you know that."

Well, that's true. But she thought she might as well ask.

"How are you going to introduce a non-existent petite soeur?"

"That's why I said it was reckless. Weren't you listening?"

"I was listening."

That was indeed a reckless promise. Or, rather, the promise was worthless as soon as it was made … huh?

"I just blurted it out without thinking. She kept nagging, nagging, nagging at me, saying that a bouton only came into their own when they took a petite soeur. Then she was saying that Rei-chan was to blame because she was spoiling me. Then to top it off, she was saying that you had some petite soeur candidates, Yumi-san – although I don't know where she heard that from."

"M-me?"

Flustered, Yumi shook her head – that was a misunderstanding. Although, that said, it wasn't as though Eriko-sama was there with them.

"It doesn't matter if it's true or not. She was just using it to provoke me. I wonder if things aren't going well with her boyfriend. In the past, she used to needle me like that to stave off boredom."

So if you understood all that, Yoshino-san, why did you still take the bait?

"And then it just slipped out of your mouth that you'd introduce Eriko-sama to your petite soeur?"

"Pretty much. I said it wouldn't happen right away, but there were first-years I was interested in, and I'd probably give one of them my rosary."

"I'm sure she was insistent, but as a general goal … "

"I didn't say that it was a general goal. Obviously."

Hold on. What would typically be considered obvious was that you'd at least have a candidate in mind before you made a promise to introduce your petite soeur.

"But, now that you've made that promise, isn't Eriko-sama going to visit at some point soon for that introduction?"

"No doubt."

"No doubt? Yoshino-san, don't tell me you organized the date and time … "

"We did. Because, she kept going on and on, asking when it would happen."

Eriko-sama the hound. Yumi suddenly remembered that nickname. Although she couldn't remember who had said it or where.

"So when did you decide on?"

"There's a lot of disruption coming up with the school trip and the school festival and what not, so we agreed that it should be after those. So then I said, "In that case, how about at the inter-school kendo tournament the month after next?""

"Huh? Huuuh!?"

The kendo tournament was less than two months away. So in less than two months, she had to find a petite soeur somehow. Despite having no leads.

But Yoshino-san said that this two month time limit wasn't altogether bad.

"I'm sure Eriko-sama wanted to tell me to introduce my petite soeur right away, but she would have known full well that that was impossible … Right, she would have known. But on top of that, by giving me this time, she gets to amuse herself speculating about whether or not I will clear the task. Such a wonderful personality she has."

Yoshino-san's bitterness seemed to double as she remembered their conversation. However.

"What are you planning on doing?"

"What else can I do? I'll get a petite soeur. It's too late to back down now."

"You'll get a petite soeur?"

"I'm not going to allow Eriko-sama to mock me with something like, "You're introducing me to air." At any rate, I think the time is right anyway. I'm ready to make a serious effort."

The time is right. A serious effort.

Those were words that Yumi had to come to grips with herself.

"Thinking about it, since I couldn't instinctively find a partner in April or May, I might never find a petite soeur without this sort of pressure. I mean, after all, when Sachiko-sama took you as her petite soeur, it was the question of whether or not she'd be able to resign from Cinderella that spurred her into action. And think about Shimako-san, both with Sei-sama and Noriko-chan, it was only the meddling of those around them that led to them being soeurs."

Ah, such a positive Yoshino-san. The horse that had been forcibly led to water was gallantly drinking.

"Hey, you two."

She turned to see who had poked her in the upper arm, and waiting for her was Mami-san's forced smile.

"You might be having your private conversation out in the open because you thought I couldn't hear you, but I totally can. Is that okay?"

"Uh."

It didn't matter if it was okay or not, they couldn't do anything about being overheard now. It looked like the cultural club relay had finished at some point while they'd been engrossed in conversation. Even though it had unfolded right in front of her eyes, Yumi had absolutely no idea which team had crossed the line first.

"But you wouldn't turn something as trivial as this into an article."

Yumi said, as a response to Mami-san's earlier question of, "Is that okay?"

"What on earth gives you that much self-confidence, Yumi-san?"

"Because, knowing you, you're going to want the full story, so I think you'll wait until Yoshino-san's petite soeur is decided before running it. You're the type to hold firm until the time is ripe. Of course, before it appears in the "Lillian Kawaraban," you'll diligently gather data, but you'll also get Yoshino-san's permission."

So there was no need to worry about something like this. That said, she could be quite persuasive, so when the time came to negotiate there was always the possibility that she'd skillfully wheel them around to her position.

"Uhh, Yumi-san, you've hit me where it hurts. If that's what you expect of the Lillian Kawaraban's editor-in-chief, then I've got no choice but to do as you say."

Mami-san made a show of snuggling up against her and pretending to grieve. But even if Yumi hadn't said anything, she probably wouldn't have run the story.

"Well, the Yamayurikai makes for good articles, but I don't want to ruin it by rushing or biting at everything. At the moment we've got plenty of material, so I can let this conversation go for a little while."

Just like she said, Mami-san had only just finished jotting down the results of the relay in her notebook.

The athletics festival, the school trip, then the school festival. There were a lot of events around this time, so they had plenty of things to write about. But when all that came to an end in November, Yoshino-san would have to show her results. Just as the Lillian Kawaraban was running into a content drought.

"Look, the sports clubs are about to start."

The last event of the morning, the club relay between sports clubs. The rules were the same as for the cultural clubs, but they were using regular batons. Using a racket or a ball would just get in the way as they ran.

"Where's the kendo club?"

"They lost in the preliminaries. Just like every year."

Yoshino-san said, sounding bored.

"They're stupidly honest, so they run in full kendo armor, except for the face guard. Which means they have no hope of making it to the finals."

"… I see."

Even so, it appeared that the kendo club resolutely took up the challenge each year. They were to be applauded for their efforts. Although, given how it turned out, perhaps it was just their stubbornness showing.

The clubs that had made it to the final were the athletics club, the tennis club, the basketball club, the softball club, the gymnastics club, and the judo club.

"The athletics club are pretty much guaranteed to win."

Mami-san said, snapping her notebook shut.

A relay was the athletics club's bread and butter. Their six relay team members would all be sprinters, aiming for victory. Naturally, Yumi's classmate Itsue-san was one of these, and she was scheduled to run the third leg.

"Ready."

All of the clubs were burning bright with fighting spirit. Not a hint of levity to be seen. In this regard it was a massive departure from the earlier cultural club relay.

Their disposition seemed to say, "How could a sports club not do their best at the athletics festival?"

Bang!

There was no false start, they all took off cleanly.

The distances between each of them were small, as all competitors flew around the track.

Fast, so fast.

In the blink of an eye, they were heading into the second baton change.

The athletics club was on top. But the tennis club hadn't given up just yet. They were about two body lengths back, with a firm grip on second place.

"Finally, it's Itsue-san's turn. Now we get to see just how fast she can run."

Yoshino-san muttered. Checking on Itsue-san's condition, to estimate how well she'd go in the afternoon's team relay.

There weren't that many well known runners in the green team. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that their sole track team member, Itsue-san, was their key to victory.

Still in first place, the athletics team's baton was passed to Itsue-san.

"Waah."

Itsue-san was fast too, as expected of the athletics club.

"Oh? It looks like Itsue-san's stalled."

"Huh?"

Even with this pointed out, Yumi didn't understand at all. The gap to the tennis club wasn't shrinking, in fact it looked like it had grown slightly. But Yoshino-san said that this was just because the tennis club's third runner was slow. Indeed, the softball club did seem to be gaining on the tennis club.

"I'm a fan of all sports, although I can't do them, I just watch."

Shimazu Yoshino. Hobby: Watching sports.

"Maybe Itsue-san's not feeling well."

Yumi said. Although, even an unwell Itsue-san was significantly faster than Yumi in peak condition. Soon enough, Itsue-san handed the baton to the next runner, still in first place.

In that case, what would an athletics club member look like when in peak condition? As she was pondering this, their last runner, the anchor came into view.

As soon as the baton was handed over, the whole crowd gasped.

(What is this?)

The speed wasn't that of a girl, or a high-school student, or a Japanese person. She'd never seen a student run with this sort of speed in PE class.

(Ch-cheetah?)

But that cheetah didn't have any prey in front of her. The only thing ahead of her was the white tape at the finish line.

"The athletics club's president. Rei-chan's classmate."

Yoshino-san quietly informed her. With someone like that on their team, no wonder the yellow team was favored for overall victory. Yoshino-san also said that even with that speed, they hadn't made it past the regional level – which just goes to show that there's always someone better out there in the world.

In the end, the athletics club won with a commanding lead, their anchor finishing far ahead of the others. A happy ending, with them having lived up to their reputation.

So with all the excitement of the club relay, the morning part of the athletics festival came to a close without incident.